BlogTour stop for this captivating thriller - 3 women, 1 family, A packed story, an absolutely amazing read!
#TheBigChill#BlogTour#TheSkelfs @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours
"Nothing as cold as the grave..."
Synopsis
Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life.
But running both a funeral directors’ and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral Dorothy is conducting, she can’t help looking into the dead driver ’s shadowy life.
While Dorothy uncovers a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles.
Jenny’s ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women’s lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly professor that is fast turning deadly.
But something even more sinister emerges when a drumming student of Dorothy’s disappears, and suspicion falls on her parents.
The Skelf women find themselves immersed in an unbearable darkness – but could the real threat be to themselves?
My Review
Whoop! the Skelfs are back! this is the 2nd book in the Skelf family series, the first been the critically acclaimed " Dark Matter" released last year.
This author has been a really find of my book blogging life, Introduced to his captivating style in "Breakers" I was hooked so much I had "Dark Matter on pre-order! so to be able to join this tours as we return to the lives of Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah is a real pleasure!
So the Skefs, a family of funeral directors who just happen to work as private investigators too. With the business thriving and secrets and lies making the world go round you can imagine that the families lives are full of drama and intrigue!
Whilst conducting a funeral Dorothy the family head is almost killed when a car out of control crashes through the cemetery narrowly missing her and landing in an open grave while the driver killed instantly with no Id and no way to name him, so many questions are left unanswered that Dorothy just needs to know who he was and why the accident happened, so Jenny Dorothy’s Daughter takes up this case.
Dorothy has her head firmly in her own investigation of a teenage student of hers who is missing, and when the students own family seems to not care about her been missing Dorothy again wants the answers
Finally we have Hannah who is Jenny’s Daughter, she is looking int the sad suicide of an old university professor who had offered her much support and guidance over the years something seems off to Hannah so again she is on the hunt for the truth
So here we are 3 women, 1 family, a packed story and an absolutely amazing read,As the author weaves his wed of intrigue and dark humour throughout you are pulled along these characters journeys and I loved every second of it.
These books feel at times to me like reading the old mystery novels of the past, piecing together the hints and clues and falling down rabbit holes filled with twists and turns, yet the story's and characters are so fresh and unique that I find myself surprised and unable to predict the outcomes at the end.
This book can be read as a standalone, though I would not deny yourself the treat of reading the first! I absolutely adore these characters and I cannot wait for the next in the series
Author Bio
Doug Johnstone is the author of more ten novels, most recently Breakers (2019), which has been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and A Dark Matter (2020), which launched the Skelfs series.
Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his work has been praised by the likes of Val McDermid, Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin.
He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions – including a funeral home, which he drew on to write A Dark Matter – and has been an arts journalist for twenty years.
Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh.
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been shortor long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
www.orendabooks.co.uk
@OrendaBooks
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Thank you to the Publisher and Author for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel and for the opportunity to review these works.
All reviews are my own unbiased opinion.
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