Grave Expectations

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And with the help of the only obviously not-guilty members of their host family—sexy ex-policeman Sebastian and far-too-cool non-binary teen Alex—they launch an investigation into which of last year’s guests never escaped the manor’s grounds.

I developed a real soft spot for both Claire – stumbling through life with 17 year old Sophie as her only real companion (everyone failing to get close to a 30 something year old who speaks to thin air) and Sophie – stuck as a 17 year old with a teenagers emotions but a 30 year olds life (and death) experiences.It's clearly aimed at people young enough to find constant swearing highly entertaining (rather than deadly boring), who feel that all the cool people take drugs (rather than it being for losers) and who think that they/them should be taken seriously as pronouns for a single person (rather than realising the grammatical absurdity of it).

The premise here is that Claire is a thirty-something down-on-her-luck (aren't we all (no we're not, but a lot of us are! She can see ghosts and one ghost in particular who follows her around – her best friend Sophie who has been haunting her since she was murdered when they were teenagers. It’s been a long time since a book made me LOL (check out the book) but I can honestly say it really made me laugh.A fun take on a cozy mystery, where the lead "detectives" are Claire, a thirtysomething Londoner who can see ghosts, and her teenage BFF Sophie, who's been haunting Claire since Sophie's unsolved murder when they were teens. And as an added bonus, Claire has a secret past of her own that she doesn’t want her new friends to uncover, and the biggest event in Sophie’s teen life remains a mystery to her and Claire, which remains outstanding even after the book’s dramatic reveal. Alice Bell grew up in South West England, in the sort of middle-of-nowhere where teenagers spend their weekends drinking Smirnoff Ice in a field that also has at least one horse in it.

This could be just up your alley if you enjoy the idea of a contemporary take on the country home murder. I’m so pleased to hear that author Alice Bell is writing a sequel, I adored these characters and want to see the next part of their adventures together!I have written before about how I can never quite put my finger on what makes something with paranormal or supernatural elements work for for me and what doesn’t, but from the fact that I’ve picked this you’ve probably worked out that this one worked! When 30-something freelance medium Claire Hendricks is invited to an old university friend's country pile to provide entertainment for a family party, her best friend Sophie tags along.