Grace McGill cleans the homes of the dead - a job not for the faint-hearted. It's a role she takes very seriously, and she makes dioramas to memorialise her clients. Through Grace I learned about Frances Glessner Lee and the book "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" which I now also want to read. I enjoyed seeing the familiar streets of Glasgow and Bute through the eyes of Grace. I don't want to give any spoilers so I will simply say that I enjoyed the book. I look forward to reading more from C. S. Robertson as I really liked his style.

Sadly this one didn’t work for me. It started out well and we are introduced to our quirky protagonist Grace who is a forensic cleaner. I liked reading about her unusual job and she had an interesting narrative. However, when she starts to become obsessed with investigating a historic crime I lost interest and the way things played out was a little predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book which will win some fans and divide others.

Grace McGill is a death cleaner, specialising in clean-ups after someone has been left decomposing for a very long time. She cleans up one home and spots something which gives her pause... Did this old man die naturally on his own? Or was he involved in something bigger?

The first death leads her to more, and an age-old mystery buried in the sixties. The police aren't interested and Grace doesn't have any friends, and only a drunk father to speak of as family, so as always she must go it alone.

Grace has a distinct voice from the first pages and the world she takes us into is morbid but intriguing. Grace is also potentially neurodiverse, or at least has grown up in a very challenging way which affects how she thinks/acts, which gives her an interesting perspective on the world.

She also, over time, is clearly a bit of an unreliable narrator. Sometimes this works for me, other times I find it frustrating - especially when knowledge is withheld. I thought the first half of the book was well told if slow, and the voice/atmosphere kept me going. In the second half, or from around 60% or so, various new plot points didn't land as well with me, and I didn't enjoy the direction it went in.

However, it remains a story well-told, and I think many will enjoy the voice along with the twists and turns.

Not sure if this is a 4 or 3.5 for me. It started out very strong, but I wasn't necessarily buying all the twists it took toward the end.

I think the idea of a trauma cleaner is fascinating. This story gives us an excellent vantage point to understand their work and their lens into human nature, in particular the state of loneliness. The fact that Grace sees stories in these lonely lives makes total sense, and the reader is eager to go along with her plans to solve a mystery presented in one of those homes.

As Grace expands her sleuthing (which even she admits isn't terribly savvy. I love the trick throughout the book where she thinks something and then immediately says something else) the risk and danger increases. Add some threatening calls and someone following her and you've got the makings of an excellent thriller/mystery.

However, in the bottom third of the book, we learn new information that challenges our understanding of everything we know up to this point. Personally, this is when the book went a little off the rails for me. I BUY the twist, but I didn't DIG it because it took the book away from those opening elements that I enjoyed so very much.

Overall, this is more of a stylistic quibble than a fault of the writing. Overall, this is a well crafted, unique take on a mystery that had a very strong premise, a (largely) empathetic character and solid execution. Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling, sad, chilling and ultimately unique murder drama with many stunning surprises along the way.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

4 Fascinating and Surprising Stars

I knew there were people who cleaned after someone has died at home, but I didn’t know the particulars until I met Grace McGill. She explains (rather matter of factly) how she goes about cleaning when bodies have been left for months before being discovered. She is meticulous about her work and quite proud when she’s finished. She also thinks it’s a crime that these people are forgotten and not found for some time.

Another interesting thing about Grace is that in order to process the work that she does, she often creates miniature models of the homes she has cleaned. She is a unique character, and this was a unique book!

I read this one almost in one sitting and about half-way through there’s a twist I did not expect. I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say it kept me turning the pages! I think this one ended in just the right way, in character so to speak.

If you are looking for something a bit different with a memorable character, this one might be for you!

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for the invitation to read and review this one honestly.

Grace has the terrible job of cleaning up when somebody has died. A loner herself she is intrigued by peoples life story and the circumstances surrounding their death. Her attention to detail means she discovers things that the police might miss. An intriguing storyline that will have you captivated.

Grace McGill…a character who makes her living out of death, and the undiscovered deaths referred to in the title are not quite what we might believe. Our journey with Grace might seem quite predictable in ways, but it throws up some interesting diversions along the way.
I’ve noticed there’s been an increasing number of characters in books released over the last year or so that are likely to be on the autistic spectrum and Grace is no exception. Socially awkward, lonely, liable to become fixated on certain topics and with a keen sense of right and wrong…Grace ticks a lot of the conventional boxes that alienate her in a neurotypical world. Her choice of job exacerbates the sense of oddness that hangs over Grace, but it’s crucial to what unfolds.
Grace is a death cleaner. She is called to clean up after a body has been discovered - often having lain undisturbed for months, sometimes years. Grace cleans and decontaminates these rooms, preparing them once again to join the normal world. The details given are stomach-churning, but to shy away from them would make us part of the problem. Grace believes that these people she works with, though no longer with us, are victims. Victims of society. The ones that slip through the cracks, with nobody deeming them important enough to check in with. So Grace vows to do her duty and help them leave this world with dignity.
I’ll admit to finding the details about Grace’s work unpleasant but darkly fascinating. I was intrigued by her attitude to her work, and the revelation that she creates these beautiful dioramas of the rooms she encounters struck me as unusual. Grace’s determination to honour each of her clients in representing their final rooms showed her obsessive nature to perfection. So it came as little surprise when she started to notice patterns in the scenes...
When she goes to the police with her observations about a dried daisy being found in two of the rooms she has recently cleaned they virtually laugh her out of the station. Yet Grace is convinced there’s more to this than meets the eye. In her mind, these deaths are related and she is determined to find out how.
It was at this point - a little over halfway through - that the book takes a turn in a rather unexpected direction and shifts into more familiar territory. Grace gets caught up in investigating a decades-old mystery, determined to restore dignity to this young girl who went missing after a holiday with friends. This shift in focus jars initially, and felt a little disappointing after such an intriguing opening, but as things continue it becomes apparent why it’s been done this way.
Grace McGill is not a character that readers will necessarily find endearing. She’s not without her faults, and yet there’s something about her and her story that gets under your skin. As we got given more details about Grace and the mystery of Valerie Moodie it was apparent that there was more to the character of Grace than meets the eye. There were signs throughout the book of what was happening, but it was easy to overlook them or - as I did - think I was reading too much into a throwaway comment. However you come to view Grace it’s hard not to be affected by her final work and what it tells us about her.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this before publication. I can’t wait to see how Grace is received when she makes her way into the world in January 2022.

I’m always excited to read stories that bring something new to the table and when an author writes a book that has a protagonist with an unusual job, it grabbed my attention right away.

Now, Grace McGill is a cleaner…. and not of the daily clean your house kind.

THIS IS THE DEATH KIND…

THE CLEANING UP AFTER DEAD BODIES LIE UNDISCOVERED AND DECOMPOSED FOR MONTHS KIND.

So, right away is the warning to readers who cannot abide reading about leaking fluids and flies and blood, stay away from this riveting story but if you are one of those that can stomach reading them for the sake of an unusual thriller, then just HANG ON, this one is definitely a SIXER, as in parlance of cricket.

Grace McGill is an odd narrator…lonely and with no social skills, with only a cat called George resued from, of all places, a cemetery for company, she accepts the weirdness of her job with equanimity but believes if someone’s gotta do it, it might as well be her. She is compassionate and sad for all those lonely souls who have had no family or friends to check up on them and thus lay undiscovered for varying lengths of time. Grace’s monologue is morbidly funny, what she says and then what she does are exactly opposite and create light humor in this stark and bleak tale of death and loneliness.

Grace has OCD yes, she does know that but the first half of the book confuses the reader as to her compulsion in chasing a mystery of a photograph she discovers in Tommy Agnew’s apartment. The daisies or gowans left at the site of deaths are not just a coincidence but when the police refuse her theories, Grace takes it upon herself to unearth the hidden secrets to the extent that she organizes a 'wake' for Tommy. There is a feeling of disquiet as we discover her fascination is such that she creates stunning dioramas of the place of her client's deaths. It is this unhealthy obsession that gives the readers the first inkling that nothing is as it seems.

As Grace follows the footsteps of a girl missing since 1964, the readers are given insight into her own upbringing with an alcoholic abusive father and the lengths she could go to for reasons that could be altruistic or not. The shocking twist in the story left me breathless, and of course, had me ripping thru the story after that. It is then that title of the story becomes more than what it is. C S Robertson’s fluid writing gives a sense of Glasgow, Rothesay, and Bute, making me long to take the ferry from Wemyss Bay.

The ending of the story is melancholic but fits right in with the plot but by and large, the Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill talks about the loneliness that affects our older generation having no one to care or worry about them, thus facing the ultimate indignity of lying dead for months and years. It is a thought that bears contemplation, as Grace says, it is a CRIME!

Many thanks to Net Galley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Book Bub, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I thought this was excellent. I didn't really fancy it from the description, it sounded a bit depressing! But luckily a friend of mine recommended it and was sure I would like it so I gave it a go. I am so glad I did.
Grace is certainly what you would call a quirky character. She cleans up death scenes and is meticulous in her work. She also likes to take small mementoes to remember each client by. A photograph of a trip 'doon the watter' in one old man's house piques her interest and she soon gets embroiled in investigating a case of a girl who went missing in Rothesay decades ago.
I love the Glasgow and Rothesay settings, places which I know very well so that definitely kept my interest. Very cleverly written, this one is not your thriller by numbers, it is just that wee bit different! Very dark but also a thread of dark humour which I really enjoy. I would highly recommend this book.

A fascinating insight into what happens when people die alone and the people that clean up after them.

Grace was a brilliant character to meet. I wanted to know more and more about her. She fascinated me. All those decisions she made. Why?

A grrat mystery thriller with a shocking twist or two.

Grace McGill is a cleaner. A special kind of cleaner. She cleans the houses of people who died alone and lied undiscovered for weeks or even months. One day she discovers something, a clue to a mystery she begins to unravel. More than fifty years ago a young girl disappeared and it seems that at least two of her latest dead people were involved in it.

Grace has one of the unusual jobs I ever encountered. I was aware that there are people who clean crime scenes or houses where somebody died. I think it is an under-appreciated job and kudos to the people who do it for a living. It was quite interesting to read about it and I liked that the author choose this unusual profession.

I must admit that I was underwhelmed from the plot right from the beginning. I was irritated by Grace. I just did not understand why she became out of the blue so obsessed with the old case and how she came to the conclusion that her dead people were involved in it. The clue she found, a dried daisy, seemed so odd and I could not comprehend how she knew that this was strange. In hindsight I understand. But for more than half of the book I was wondering what was going on and what was Grace getting at. The book is more on the slower side and the confusing story was not captivating me. There was also something about the writing. I had problems to concentrate on it and I noticed that my thoughts kept straying away. But then, about 60% into the book there was the big twist. I did not see that coming and this changed everything about the story and Grace. Until then I would have given the book maybe a generous 3 Star rating. But after finishing it I will give it a solid 4 Star. It is an unusual story with an unusual main character (although I did not like her and was annoyed by her) and a surprising twist. The story still does not make much sense and I still have some questions but I always appreciate unusualness.

Grace McGill is an unusual young woman with an unusual job - she's the person that's called in to clean a property when someone has died, but Grace specialises in deaths where the person hasn't been discovered for weeks or months. Not a job for the faint hearted! She takes her job very seriously and even though the body will have been removed from the property before she starts her work she still feels a connection to the person who has died, she's even been known to go to their funeral.

Grace lives a very solitary and insular life. She carries out her work alone, lives alone and her only relationship seems to be with her alcoholic father who is needy, demanding and generally unpleasant. Grace admits that she can find herself obsessed with things and as a way of 'decompressing' from her work she's been making miniature dioramas of the homes she has cleaned. Something in the style of Frances Glessner Lee, called the 'mother of forensic science', who created dollhouse-size true crime scenes. But these are unexplained deaths not crimes...

Grace's obsessive personality comes in to play when she cleans the home of an elderly man and is intrigued by some of the things that he's left behind, stacks of old newspapers and a group photograph of five young men from the 1960s. In an effort to find out more about the man's past she attends his funeral and even hosts his wake ... and uncovers the beginnings of a mystery that stretches back decades. And Grace can't leave it alone, her obsession sees her behave out of character - stepping out of her comfort zone to follow in the footsteps of another young woman who disappeared more than fifty years ago. This then takes the reader on a more traditional crime fiction arc with Grace as an amateur sleuth who gets herself into deep water. But Grace has hidden depths herself!

There are some unexplained actions by Grace but she's such an odd and complex character that what doesn't seem logical to the reader may well make complete sense to her! It's tempting to say that she's an unreliable narrator but she's perhaps more of a deluded narrator.

Although we learn a lot about Grace's backstory, I was still curious to know more about her and how she became the person in the book. The disadvantage of a first-person narrative is the reader's inability to see the character as others see them and I'd have been interested to see Grace from someone else's perspective - to see how strange (or not) she seemed to others.

An unusual lead character, an unusual perspective and a disturbing story with some twist and turns. I did enjoy the book and can recommend it as something different (but without appearing to be trying hard to be different) however I have to say that I probably get more pleasure from reading the Narey and Winter series.

Many thanks to the publisher for the NetGalley.

This is a dark and terribly sad story, set in Glasgow, about a woman (Grace) who cleans houses following the death of their occupiers who have usually been dead and lain undiscovered for several weeks or even months. A twisty mystery tale with lots of gory details and well drawn (mostly unlikable) characters and generally a very riveting albeit depressing read. My only real criticism is that, for me ,there was an awful lot of unnecessary listing of street names, making the book often read more like an A to Z street atlas of Glasgow, which I found rather distracted from the actual story. Still a really good read though.

A tale of life and death. That’s what it is for any of us but it’s what we do for the life part that is important. It is why we are remembered. Or not. Grace McGill, something of a loner herself has the unenviable job of cleaning the homes of people who have recently died. Or rather those who have died and not been noticed for many weeks and months. A job most people would understandably shy away from but for Grace she wanted to give some respect back to these people and therefore made it her business to return their home to how she believed it should have been before death came calling. While clearing one particular home she finds some old newspapers with similar dates and this piques her interest. Making it her mission to discover why they were kept, she finds herself involved in a long buried mystery of something that happened long ago. Before long she realises she has got in too deep and her own life could be in danger. A very different story that had a clever plot with an enormous twist that has the reader asking many questions about morality.

This is a hard book to review as I really don’t want to say too much about the plot but it is definitely a book to add to your reading pile !!

Grace McGill is a ‘death cleaner’. When someone dies in their home and lay undiscovered for days, weeks or months Grace goes in and cleans the home. She is good at her job and feels as though she is doing something good for not only the person that died but also for those they left behind.

Whilst attending the latest homes Grace discovers a link and goes to the police but do they believe her or do they think she is just some crazy lady ?

This is a great book and I really loved Grace as a character. Something different to what I’ve read before and a great mystery thriller.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

I really liked the premise of this book and it didn’t disappoint. I was hooked from the beginning.

Grace is a loner with just her cat George for a companion. We discover she is obsessive as she tells us her story. She has a need to uncover the truth.

I can’t say too much without giving away the story. But it is very dark and twisted and it turned out in a way I did not expect.

I definitely recommend this book if you like a good thriller with plenty of twists.

Thanks to Netgalley and hodder & staughton for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an undiscovered, uncomfortable gem. I was already captivated by the main character when half way through the story, this book took a different turn. As someone who lives close to the settings in this story I could see every part of them in my mind. The descriptions are so familiar and at one point I shuddered as I’ve stood in the same shop they were describing. Atmospheric, unsettling and a little disturbing. Definitely a story to recommend.

Grace McGill cleans houses after a body is found. Sometimes they have lain dead for a long time and it is a horrible job to do. The book starts with the description of her work, a loner, she lives alone with her cat. The rest of her life is revealed gradually. Her father, who is an alcoholic, is dependent on her for his meals.
Grace is also obsessed with the disappearance of a young girl in 1964 on the Ilse of Bute. She starts to research what happened, causing problems for herself and others along the way.
The book and plot are interesting, Grace is a complex character who sees her actions and events in her own particular way, sometimes her reasoning is off but well intentioned, her communication with others often uneasy. The book kept me interested, especially towards the end.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is not a title for the squeamish! I had to pause eating a snack whilst I settled into the first few pages…the post mortem detail of body debris at the scene of death is graphic. That’s not a criticism; the writing is simple but all the more powerful for that. The Grace of the title is a specialist cleaner who attends property where people have died and lain undiscovered for weeks. Set in Glasgow, there is an inevitable sense of dark humour in places and with Grace, a loner, I found a surprising sense of sympathy. She takes pride in her work…she has empathy with the deceased, but more than that, she has a keen eye for detail and an enquiring mind. Her backstory is revealed bit by bit and she uses a sharp, incisive intellect to put together pieces missed by others.

This is a very original story, fascinating and sometimes repulsive in equal measure. The extraordinary, for most of us, is stripped to base level and recounted with compassion and honesty. It’s dark, intriguing and a genuinely compelling page turner. Different and I really enjoyed it.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.