Clever, unpredictable and a genuinely humorous modern day country house murder mystery which left me guessing. Perfect for anyone who fancies themselves as a detective.' - Nadine Matheson Witty, addictive, and breathes some much needed (undead) life into the cosy crime murder mystery genre." - Adam Simcox The charcaters are very cool and interesting. The cast of characters have great personality and when you read this series. You get so devoted to the characters and what they do in this book. This book encaptures you and you feel drawn to these characters. Grave Expectations is the debut crime novel from author Alice Bell, following washed-up Claire and her best friend Sophie, who must solve a cold case at a stately home in the British countryside, home to the secretive Wellington-Forge clan. So far, so pat – except for the bit where Claire is a disgraced medium and Sophie is dead, having died mysteriously at seventeen and now tethered to Claire as both a spectre and a keen assistant to Claire’s amateur sleuthing. That old story indeed.

I'm not much of a murder mystery reader, but this is in some ways not much of a murder mystery. I don't mean that as a diminutive or a criticism, the 'he's not much of a player, is he?' that my dad would perhaps offhandedly say about whichever snooker person he wasn't keen on at the time, but in the sense that of the time I spent with Grave Expectations, relatively little of it was focused on the actual

Summary

Charlie and Lincoln return to London to find two supernaturals have been murdered, and Charlie might be next. As if that wasn't bad enough, the man who adopted her has escaped from prison, and the committee members have just learned some news that infuriates them. Now there's talk of sending Charlie away again. Far away. I really enjoyed the book. Even though it’s technically a mystery/thriller, and don’t get me wrong – I was on the edge of my seat often, it is also a lighthearted, fun read. There is a little bit of humor mixed in with the mystery, along with great characters. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who the murderer was throughout the book and was very surprised at the reveal. Although the book had a bit of a slow start, by the time everything began unravelling, I was drawn in and just had to know the answers. As I stated in my last review of Beyond the Grave (#3), the things that hadn’t irritated me in the first 2 novels, were starting to wear me down and send up red flags by the third book in the series. And, I think once those issues became glaring, I haven’t been able to forget them or turn them off during my time reading Grave Expectations (#4). The inconsistencies in this series are becoming too much. I really enjoyed the insight to Lincoln and Charlie's past that was revealed; where we learn who Lincoln's father and orphanage Charlie was given up to. I absolutely loved the way Seth and Gus doted on Charlie like a sister and I love the newly introduced butler at Lincoln's household. Witty, addictive, andbreathes some much needed (undead) life into the cosy crimemurder mystery genre."

There was one moment in the storytelling which caused this reader to bristle a touch and that was the statement by one character of, "One for all and all for one" with a reference to the Musketeers. Dumas has yet to write the Three Musketeers which is not completed for another nine years. But beyond that, the book is well written and the setting of 1835 London well created. 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.Full disclosure! I did not know that this was the second in a series when I started this book, but I won't let that influence my opinion. Besides, it actually works quite well as a stand-alone, just FYI. A great read, with great characters, lots of humour, some misty-eyed moments and lots of swearing. Utterly delightful - like the BBC show Ghosts mixed with Cluedo.' - Simon Toyne

That’s another reason I’m so grateful that Grave Expectations has been chosen for the Book Club. It’s a very silly book in some ways, but I wrote some nice friends in it. If someone reads it because of the Book Club and makes friends with them too, well, that’s all you can ask for, isn’t it?” Get involved

A word from Alice

I love Claire and Sophie, Basher and Alex, and how their little Scooby gang develops as the story progresses from faceless mystery ghosts to a possible murder investigation within a rich and deeply dysfunctional family. 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. A nineteenth century romance, an impoverished writer and a dastardly murder to solve. This book was a solid read, with some great mystery to it. Special thanks to Kensington Books and Heather Redmond for giving me an advanced review copy of this book It’s a really great mystery novel, a good story and all ends are neatly tied off and it was really funny and I want more of Claire and Sophie and Basher and Alex and really I want to know what happened to make Sophie a ghost. I'm not much of a murder mystery reader, but this is in some ways not much of a murder mystery. I don't mean that as a diminutive or a criticism, the 'he's not much of a player, is he?' that my dad would perhaps offhandedly say about whichever snooker person he wasn't keen on at the time, but in the sense that of the time I spent with Grave Expectations, relatively little of it was focused on the actual murder mystery. That's there, and it's competently done (as far as I can tell, having little to compare it to), but straight-up character work is what occupies most of the book. Well, that and what I suspect is a very specific type of humour particular to British people between the ages of, say, twenty-five and thirty-seven, but since I fall neatly into that band all I can really say about that is that it works for me.