I was invited to read this and wasn’t sure when I strayed but OMG this was fantastic. I was disappointed to finish it as, although I will reread this in the future, I will never again have the gasp out loud moments.
Grace lives a simple life with her cat but has the unusual job of cleaning properties when the owners have died and not been found for a while. Grace then thinks she sees a connection between a couple of deaths but the police are not interested.
This book has that magical ingredient of a twist that you 100% will not see coming.
It was a fabulous debut and I will never forget Grace. Can’t wait to see the authors next book.
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.#NetGalley #TheUndiscoveredDeathsofGraceMcGill

This story unfolds in Glasgow and the overlooked Isle of Bute on the West Coast of Scotland, following the actions of death scene cleaner Grace McGill, who is also an artist of sorts. She believes certain deaths she's cleaned up after are linked and tries to involve the police, before deciding to follow some clues herself, that lead her into a past no-one but her wants to uncover, and into danger. As other reviewers will no doubt mention, it's impossible to outline the plot any further without running the risk of major spoilers.
This is a strange and arresting book, and its success or otherwise depends on whether you find spiky, lonely Grace and her actions plausible. It's different in tone from Robertson's other work, although there is a shared theme of artifacts left behind. I enjoyed it very much.

I was auto-approved for this one and I impulsively accepted it because I liked the idea of a story from the perspective of a crime scene cleaner. That is what this book is, but it’s also very much not. I could never have predicted the way that this book turned out and I loved every page-turning moment of it.

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.

I couldn’t predict a single second of the book. The synopsis is very vague, and that is definitely the right way to read this book. I went knowing very little and it ended up surprising me enough that it earned a rare 5 stars. If you like thrillers with dark secrets buried in the past, and a complicated and difficult female protagonist, you’ll love this book as much as I did. Grace is not remotely likeable and that made me love her.

The twist in this book pulled the rug out from under my feet then kicked me in the teeth for good measure. That’s all I’m willing to say about the twist, because that’s all I knew going in and I had so much fun reading this that there was a point where I was sat at my desk with my head in my hands as I listened, utterly focused on the audiobook. I probably looked unhinged. Which was okay, because I felt unhinged listening to parts of this book. I’ve been reading more horror and thrillers lately, and while I was expecting a kind of murder mystery thriller, what I got was a psychological thriller more on par with My Sister, the Serial Killer and The Majesties. Intense and a little overwhelming, but in the best way.

I loved the atmosphere in this book. As the book progressed, it became progressively intense and unnerving until I was desperate for answers and equally desperate to look away before things got any worse. This book wasn’t for the faint at heart and even with my usual soft spot for intense thrillers and gross fiction, I found myself a little shivery at the descriptions of the death scenes. This is going to be one of those novels that sticks with me for a long time, haunting my thoughts, and a lot of that is due to Grace as an incredibly unreliable and uncanny narrator. I have no doubt I’ll be looking out for more from C.S. Robertson.

This book gave me chills. I found it really sad and disturbing but I did enjoy the read. Really well written and interesting.

We follow Grace who has the interesting job of cleaning up homes after a person has been found dead. This is not a crime scene job, this is a sad job, where the deceased had no one to notice their absence.

Grace goes into one apartment and she quickly becomes intrigued - why was this person keeping decade old newspapers in their wardrobe? and why is there a dried daisy left on their pillow?

Grace can't let it lie. And when she realises that she has seen dried daisies in other homes recently, she realises she has a mystery on her hands.


The twists and turns this book takes you on was so unexpected and so well crafted. Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for an e ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grace McGill has an unusual job. Actually it is quite a gruesome job. She cleans properties once the dead have been removed, sometimes they have not been discovered for months. But Grace is an extraordinary person and her journey is intriguing. This is a book I will remember for a long time.

‘The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill’ was a completely original thriller for me and there were incredible twists that I never saw coming.
Grace works as a specialist cleaner; who goes into the homes of those who have died and were often left alone whilst in life and afterwards. This occupation should be macabre but Grace’s unique personality makes her job into a calling. She treats those who have died with consideration and dignity and pieces together fragments of their lives. Grace’s character is so earnest in her actions and I think that was the biggest hook for me into this mystery.
Without giving too much away, Grace stumbles on the unsolved case of a missing girl from the 1960’s. She decides that she can make a difference for this missing girl in the same way she does in her day job. Grace is dutiful to the people she serves in her day to day life and the investigation is no different; she goes above and beyond to find the truth.
This book is a very dark and twisty story and I was quickly absorbed by the story from chapter one. It’s hard to explain how individual this MC and plotline truly is without saying too much but Robertson has crafted an ingenious psychological thriller.

This book was both interesting an unique in its storyline and characters. I was pulled in from the first page. The story is narrated from Grace's perspective. She is socially awkward and a loner who only has a cat, George for a friend. Her actions and thoughts are at odds with each other and it was fascinating to be inside her head. She is certainly flawed and
you will either love her or hate her.

The mystery was compelling and engrossing with a twist I wasn't expecting halfway through and the story quickly turns dark and sinister. The writing was fast paced and the ending was unsettling yet satisfying and left a lasting impression on me.

Sometimes a book takes you by surprise and this book is one of those. It has a massive twist in the storyline that I really wasn't expecting! I started off by feeling sorry for Grace, then my feelings changed - but I couldn't dislike her, even though I couldn't agree with what she was doing. I got immersed in the novel and kept breaking off what I was doing to go back to it. Thoroughly enjoyable and different.

This was a great read from start to finish. I loved the mystery surrounding Valerie and Grace's quest to discover what had happened. Grace herself was an unusual character and her father was the worst of the worst. How she put up with him I don't know! As the story delved more into Grace's life you could understand why she was so quirky and her past had clearly had a huge effect on her as an adult. There was a very big 'what did I just read moment' that completely knocked me sideways.

Grace McGill has a macabre job ... a job someone has to do. She goes into houses where someone has died, and in many cases not been found for days, weeks or months. She sanitises the homes of those sad, lonely people that no-one seems to miss. She takes great pride in her work and leaves those homes not only sanitised but tidy, how she thinks they would like to have had their property found.
BUT there is so much more to Grace McGill - her character, her upbringing, her hobby, her purpose in life and therein lies the tale.
Dark, twists you would never see coming and a conclusion you won't expect.
Four and a half stars!
Can't wait to read more by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley/C.S. Robertson/Hodder & Stoughton for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Grace McGill is a cleaner but not just any cleaner – she cleans the homes of people who have died and not been discovered for days, weeks or even months. Her job is to remove, disinfect, soak, decontaminate and dispose of anything relating to the remains of the deceased.

It’s an awful job, but Grace does it because she cares. She cares deeply that those who have been left alone to die and lay undiscovered deserve respect and deserve to have their stories told and that’s why when she is tasked with cleaning the home of Tommy Agnew who lay alone for over 5 months, she starts to look into why he was so alone and what secrets he kept.

Grace is an fascinating character, quirky, socially awkward and bullied by her drunken father, it appears the only place she has control is in the homes she cleans but when she notices a chilling coincidence between Tommy’s home and another apparent “victim” she starts to investigate deeper into any connections putting herself in danger.

Set in Scotland, author Craig Robertson has created a unique and clever thriller featuring a truly fascinating main character. However, it’s not for the faint hearted, because the indepth description of the homes where the undiscovered have been discovered was enough to turn my stomach and I love a bit of gore!

Once again, I thought I knew exactly where this story was going and then BAM everything changes and the plot does a full 180 leaving me reeling and grinning insanely to myself because I personally LOVE it when an author keeps me on my toes and throws in some unexpected twists.

Thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Grace McGill and would definitely recommend this to all thriller and crime lovers.

The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill is extremely well written, character-driven, powerful and immersive. An all-round 5-star crime read. I loved it. It's dark, disturbing and unusual.

The main character, Grace, leaps from the page. I found it strange and wonderful how the author built up such a vivid representation of Grace, from small details and vignettes. She's dark, intense and vivid behind a semblance of ordinariness, invisibility. At no point is she particularly likeable and yet you can't help but empathise with her.

I suppose I'm sort of used to this sort of character in crime novels, but they are usually men, and they exude testosterone and inner violence. Whereas Grace exudes pain and restraint. It's a very different vibe.

It's very difficult to talk about the plot without spoilers. There's a mystery - a girl who disappeared in the 1960s - and revenge. There are a lot of deaths, one way or another, but it is not gory (at least the killing isn't!) or bloodthirsty, and there isn't the silly escalation of 'evilness' so common in crime novels now.

I'll most certainly be looking out for more books by C.S. Robertson.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Brilliant and different read that managed to surprise me more than once

When people die alone and undiscovered, it's her job to clean up what's left behind - whether it's clutter, bodily remains or dark secrets.

When an old man lies undetected in his flat for months, it seems an unremarkable life and an unnoticed death. But Grace knows that everyone has a story and that all deaths mean something more.

Grace goes out and cleans the houses of the deceased. Its a dirty job but she does it well. Often finding herself being drawn into their lives. A case of a missing girl years ago is dragged forward and she finds herself needing to learn the truth but how far will she go?

This was an interesting read. Grace is not an overly likeable character but I think that really fits with the story as it leaves you questioning everything. By the end you're not sure if you can relate to her or if she just went too far. The plot is a slow and steady one. The ending was good if a little predictable. I had figured out her role and how the story would end but I think it really worked. The writing was descriptive but not too gory despite the work Grace does. A good read but didn't quite hold my attention enough.

Grace McGill works as a cleaner in Glasgow but a special kind of cleaner. She goes to homes where long deceased bodies have been found, the lonely and forgotten, and she erases all evidence of their deaths. Grace herself is a lonely and forgotten person, living a solitary life with only her cat for company. As Grace works a mystery is uncovered, a man who she believes has something to hide and she is determined to find out what it is.

This book starts off quite slow, the reader is drawn into the mundane pace of Grace's life but things pick up quickly when she realises she has possibly uncovered a story worth investigating. This is a very sad book, Grace is not a happy woman and she is a difficult character to warm to but the book is a wonderful story, well paced and realistically told. Although I have finished it now I feel Grace will stay with me for quite some time to come.

I found the main character's occupation fascinating (if a little gory!) and I was intrigued by the daisies left at the crime scenes. The central twist didn't really work for me - I found it slightly jarring and had me questioning the character's motives in involving the police - but it still kept me reading.

Grace McGill is a lonely girl who is a death cleaner. I googled death cleaner and it is a "real job", ugh. They sanitize, disinfect and deep clean after bodies have remained undiscovered for a length of time. Some of the descriptions were just too much for me, so I did end up skimming over some descriptions (I knew this going in though, so it was expected).

Wow. I had to take a little while to digest the ending - I wasn’t expecting it at all and it blew me away a little. I loved this book from the start and I wasn’t expecting there to be any big twists and turns, so they knocked me off my feet when they came! I loved it. I wish there was more!