Review | The Big Chill by Doug Johnstone

Blurb

Running private investigator and funeral home businesses means trouble is never far away, and the Skelf women take on their most perplexing, chilling cases yet in book two of this darkly funny, devastatingly tense and addictive new series!

 

Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral director's and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that matriarch 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 sucked into an unbearable darkness – but could the real threat be to themselves?

Review

Gripping, gritty, and darkly funny!

A funeral director's & a private detective firm run by the formidable Skelf women, what is not to love?

I was really looking forward to this novel as I hugely enjoyed A Dark Matter (the first in the series). I'm thrilled to report this installment is every bit as superb!

The three Skelf's are flawed, funny, and brave characters you are rooting for from the start. Each with their own compelling storylines.

The mix of emotion, reflection, tension, and mystery is captivating. I was fully invested trying to work out how all the pieces fit together but this fast-paced novel kept me guessing until the end.

I wouldn't call it a cosy crime, the stories are far too dark for that but there is a definite warmth to Johnstone's writing. Which I absolutely love! This is a must-read for all crime fiction fans. I for one am eagerly awaiting book three.  

A huge thanks to Anne Cater & Orenda Books for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

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