This book was certainly different. I quite liked the main character, and I thought she did her best and had a good heart. I don't think this book will be to everyone's taste, but although it didn't set my world on fire, I thought it was a decent read, and I wouldn't put anyone off reading it, especially if you like slightly quirky books.

I never repeat the blurb. I know this has been a really popular book on Netgalley but I'm not going to join those who love it. It was ridiculously slow and I just couldn't bring myself to care about the protagonist. Sorry.

This was an interesting idea, and I liked the way Grace's role in the story changed as it went on. I enjoyed her most when she was being brave and feisty. I did find the end of the story quite unexpected, and sad.

I tried really hard to like this book.
Initially it grabbed my attention and I thought it was cleverly written, however that gradually became tedious and 200 pages in, I found I was skimming the words and had no further interest in finishing it, so eventually I gave up.
My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow just about sums up my praise for C.S.Robertson with this dark crime thriller with a killer twist to take your breath away.
Grace McGill is a thirty something spinster living in Glasgow with her rescue cat. After her mother passed away it fell to Grace to attend to the demands of her alcoholic father, cleaning, cooking with no thanks for her help. Her only passion was her occupation - she is a death cleaner. When anyone passes away in their own home and their body is not discovered for weeks maybe months later, Grace will be called to go in and carry out a deep forensic clean once the remains have been removed.
Every death has a different story to tell and Grace is dedicated to making sure that story is told.
Absolutely recommend for all crime lovers.

Didn't like it, don't really know why. I found the narrator weak and some aspects of the plot and characterisation distractingly unrealistic. The main plot, though, is gripping and original. I just feel sulky about it, somehow.

Oh, here's what it is: I think this is one of those 'she's secretly autistic' books. I think that can be done well, but it isn't here. If you need to insert a paragraph literally saying 'sometimes I just get fixated on things, oh and also here are some weird habits I have' then you're not doing a good job of creating your character.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC.

I started this book and, from the start, could not 'get into' it. I finally gave up after three chapters. This just wasn't for me.

4.75⭐️
A new author to me.
The title fits the book well, but it didn’t do anything to make me want to read it. Nor does the cover.

Grace is a death cleaner, cleaning up after people have died and not been found for some time. It’s not your usual deep clean rate here!

Grace is the narrator, I really like that Grace is chatting to the reader. The writing style runs with the chatty natural feel.

I love Grace’s quirky mannerisms. It’s not just Grace that’s quirky, the book has a unique quirky vibe. Grace is a social outcast, she is lonely, isolated she is compulsive.

It’s not gory as such but there are places that turned my stomach.

Favourite quote ‘my smile is sort of….wonky. It’s probably because I don’t use it much’

I was hooked from the very beginning what a story concept. Very fresh and exciting.

I started off loving Grace, her quirky character really has good depth. The story is very character driven. There’s plenty of tension, it’s got a good pace throughout.

It’s a real WTF book! There are revelations that had me reeling.
It’s dark and gritty. I was hooked from the beginning, and miffed that I couldn’t read it faster.
I’m still dwelling on the ending. I don’t know if I liked it or not. It’s certainly a book that will stay with me for some time.
One that I would highly recommended.

Grace McGill cleans up the homes of the dead who have lain undiscovered for weeks or months.
She lives alone with her cat George, and her work and the lives of the dead have a special resonance for her.
She becomes embroiled in the story behind one of the dead and sets out to discover what happened and how it relates to a centuries old crime.
But things take an unexpected turn, potentially putting Grace in the path of danger.
Roberson writes Grace with a deft hand. She is weird, quirky and thoroughly believable. This is black humour at its best.
The plot is - of course - totally far-fetched but it always keeps you interested and guessing.
Recommended for those who like their murder with an unusual heroine.

This was such a truly amazing read and I was completely taken aback by the story I loved it.
Grace McGill is a character that just stands out right from the start she is a cleaner but not just any cleaner she is one who goes to the home of the deceased and does a deep clean and many of the people have been left undiscovered for quite some time so this is no easy one at all. Grace does this job with dignity and love and she is just an outstanding character and one I fell a little bit in love with from the start.
The book is very compelling with quite a few surprises I wasn’t expecting at all and I was sad to finish it it’s a book that will stay with me for quite some time. No need to rehash the plot I would say it’s better to have no idea what to expect because this is a book that is very different to what I imagined.
Fabulously written with an amazing lead character it had everything I love in a mighty fine read and is well recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A unique tale told in first perspective of Grace McGill, a loner who has her own business as a death cleaner. She goes into properties to deep clean after a body has laid undiscovered, there are in depth descriptions of decomposition which may disturb some readers. Once at home she recreates the scenes in miniature. When she discovers a daisy at 2 scenes she goes to the police with suspicion of suspicious deaths. The police do not take her seriously. About halfway through the story completely changes and really surprised me.
This was a really dark read but once into the story I could not put it down
Many thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Intinal I just like the cover of the book. I know don't judge a book by its cover but first impressions can mean something. Now onto the story Grace is a lovely character. I like following her story and all these discovers she's making. Once I picked this book up I couldn't stop reading. Grace investagting Tommy Death. You can hear Grace mind over going all the time you feel as if your looking through her eyes. I really enjoyed this book I couldn't believe that twist.

This is quite an unusual read ,a murder mystery with a difference ,set in Glasgow the story is about Grace McGill a death cleaner .This is a bit of a slow burner but halfway through the pace picks up with a few twists and a satisfying if sad ending .Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my free copy in return for an honest review .

Craig Robertson's writes a twisted psychological crime drama with this dark character driven novel set in Glasgow. 35 year old Grace McGill lives on her own with her cat, George, she goes out of her way to not have any contact or communication with the living, her interest, or should one call it obsession, are the dead, for them she goes over and beyond in what she feels is her duty of care to the forgotten, so alone whilst they were alive. She runs her own company, Last Wish Cleaning, for Grace is a professional death cleaner, not a job I have spent any time dwelling on, and which quite frankly gives me the creeps bigtime. Grace is made of far sterner stuff than me, as she relates the forensic details of her occupation, relaying far more descriptions than I am comfortable with, you need a strong stomach for the precise details of decomposing bodies, the bodily fluids, the blood and fat, the buzzing flies, the invisible soup of pathogens, the smells and so much more.

In an age where any sense of community can be broken in the city, there are many who lie dead for interminable lengths of time prior to the discovery of their long dead bodies, some as long as 5 years. Grace is at the home of Thomas Agnew, laying undiscovered for 5 months, missed by no-one, which in her eyes is a crime. Grace is compassionate, respectful and caring of the undiscovered deaths, she says a prayer, takes photographs documenting the death scene, and picks items that she feels honour their life and memory for any surviving relatives, taking them home with her if there isn't anyone. It is when I learn of the creation of her dioramas of the death scenes, that I begin to feel that Grace's obsession with death is more than a mite unhealthy, she is coming across as seriously messed up and damaged. Which, as we are to find out, indeed she is, as she pursues the answers to the mystery of Agnew's past and the presence of daisies, following the clues that bring dangers into her life.

Robertson succeeds in creating a complex character in Grace, and in giving us a crime story that harbours fascinating and surprising twists and turns, there is far more to Grace than you might possibly have imagined, and moral ambiguities that might trouble many readers. Additionally, there is a sense of irony in the book and in the character of Grace McGill coming full circle in the final conclusion of the story. This is a crime novel that meanders into territory that you are unlikely to forsee, and for this alone I think it will appeal to many crime and mystery readers, particularly those who are feeling jaded and are looking for something a little different. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This was a slow burner which I am afraid I did not engage with at all. It was unrealistic in parts. Just not for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

I'm not sure how I felt when I started reading this book.
Interest at first, which slowly disappeared as the book continued.
Grace, is 30 years old and living and working in Glasgow, Scotland as a forensic cleaner.
Uncomfortable to read in parts, Grace is a damaged and lonely person with only her cat for company.

The storyline never 'spoke' to me and I became disinterested and struggled to complete.

I give a 3 star rating

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

Grace McGill’s job is an unusual one, but it’s something about which she feels strongly. Setting things rights, returning a home back to what it was before a body was found within, often months after the person had died. No matter what she’s faced with – and yes, it’s all manner of remains, biological and personal – she takes her role seriously. With her mother no longer there and a father who shows no affection, it’s a quiet life with her cat. Until she clears out a home of an elderly man who lay undetected for months. Another life gone, but one that prompts Grace on a journey to discover what happened and the reasons why he had so many of one item in particular. It’s not just a clever read – you’ll sail through a range of emotions and there’s no way you’ll forget Grace after you finish the final page. I’m struggling to remember reading a book like it before, and what a way to start 2022 reading.

Very weird, very wonderful: a damaged, damaging, unreliable narrator, strangely endearing

This is an edgily satisfying, very uncomfortable read, with a central character whom ‘in real life’ one would probably want to avoid – she is hardly the most socially skilful, appealing person to encounter. The clearly misnamed ‘Grace’ who seems to have none of the qualities, physical, emotional, spiritual which might go along with expectations of the qualities association with ‘Grace’, is, oddly, someone whom, on reflection, after finishing the book, had this reader wryly smiling. Grace may not be in any obvious way full-of-Grace – and yet, and yet….

Grace McGill is uncomfortable in social situations, something of a loner. It might be tempting to think that she is neurodiverse, somewhere ‘on the spectrum’ perhaps. But although she may be uncomfortable with relationship, with emotional intimacy, this is not because she is uncaring. In fact, the reverse. She feels the suffering of the lonely, the terrified, the bullied and the victims far, far to intensely.

This has brought her into an odd profession. She is a cleaner – but not of the houses of the living. She is a forensic cleaner. She gets called in, after the police, the emergency services, the investigations of possible crimes have all been, gone, and done their jobs, to those premises where some poor soul has died alone, undiscovered, unnoticed as missing, till decomposition over weeks or months creates complaints from neighbours, responsive to rank and festering odours. It is then Grace will be brought in, clad in biohazard gear, to render premises habitable again.

She has, as might be expected, dark secrets in her past, a traumatic childhood, which has left her too scared to allow intimacy and trust with others.

She is also somewhat – more than a little – obsessive. She knows she is damaged, and is drawn to others who are also deeply fearful, deeply lonely.

And she is not always the most honest of people. Not even to herself. And not to us, either.

In this case, information which we, the readers, piece together, shocking surprises we are given, don’t feel like the author playing crass games with the reader, but there are places in Grace’s memory and past which SHE cannot bear to view.

The reader is unlikely to LIKE Grace, but she excites our care and compassion – and even, our understanding.

A most strange ‘psychological thriller of the literary kind. One which did not seem contrived. I will certainly want to read more by this author, and am delighted to have had the privilege of discovering such an unusual read by a first time author, thanks to the publisher via NetGalley

From the synopsis-“When people die alone and undiscovered, someone has to clean up what’s left behind-whether it’s clutter, bodily remains….or dark secrets.”

Enter Grace McGill, from Last Wish Cleaning.

She has been cleaning death scenes for eight years, and as part of the process, she photographs the rooms in the deceased’s homes, in case relatives want to see them. She soon realizes that the pictures don’t reflect the true sadness of those who were left behind, so she begins to make dioramas of the crimes-macabre miniatures of the rooms she cleans.

She calls the scenes “crimes” because isn’t that what is it? When nobody notices that a person is gone? When nobody has checked to see if a person you haven’t seen for awhile is okay or in need of help? (The longest was a woman dead for 5 years)

Grace realizes that people end up lonely for many reasons. “Some choose it, some deserve it, but most fall into it without even noticing…Lonely lives often end in Lonely Deaths.”

BUT- Grace notices.

Sometimes she even takes a memento so the person will at least be remembered by her.
Sometimes she becomes obsessed with the secrets she learns about, and can’t share with another living creature except for George, a stray cat she rescued-so handsome she named him after Clooney.

I enjoyed meeting Grace.

She is a “special” character whose thoughts are often AT ODDS with her words and actions, making spending time in her mind, a fun place to be.

The book definitely moves in an unexpected direction (especially just past the halfway point) and kept me in suspense. It is definitely one of the most UNIQUE stories, I have read all year.

I was caught off guard by the ending-though if you think about it-it was definitely fitting.

Thank You to Hodder and Stoughton for the gifted copy-provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Available January 20, 2022.

We’ve all seen or read the sad stories about a body going undiscovered for months. Maybe the person had no living family. Maybe nobody cared about them anymore. You’ve probably wondered what it would be like to be the one to discover the body. The smells, the decomposition...But have you ever wondered who cleans up after that body?

Grace McGill will tell you. She’s a death cleaner, and she’s a very thorough one at that. She also doesn’t shy away from going into the details about what it takes to clean and disinfect an area where human remains were found weeks/months after death. Clearing up bodily fluids, removing detached fat. You get the gist.

There’s a pattern that emerges as Grace goes from house to house, and she wonders why the police aren’t looking into it. A mystery surfaces, and Grace is determined to connect all the dots.

That’s all I’ll say about the plot. This is a story that definitely went in a different direction than I anticipated. I was intrigued pretty early on, and that only increased as the story progressed. Grace is such an interesting character - awkward, loner. Her narrative can be dark and bleak, and yet morbidly humorous. She doesn’t like attention, but she’s a straight shooter. The yin and yang is very compelling.

Overall, this is an original and engrossing mystery (not extremely dark, not a cozy) that gets better as it progresses, leading to a resolution I wasn’t anticipating. It’s also fast-paced and quick to read. I recommend it if you're looking for something a bit different, slightly macabre, and quirky.

I’m glad I had Jayme along for the ride. We really enjoyed discussing our theories along the way. It definitely made for some enlightening conversation. Make sure to check out her phenomenal review, and you can see if we ended up on the same side of the fence.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 1/20/22.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com