Thank you NetGalley for approving me to read this book! A highly enjoyable read that is nice started I couldn’t put down.

I'm about a year behind in my ARC pile... While I have newer ones that are clamouring for my attention, I'm trying to stay true to my pile.

So, I keep finding these little gems and getting excited about finding new series. This was really fun. Claire and her friend Sophie have taken a job to host a seance at an 80th birthday party at a manor house in the English countryside. Claire and Sophie have been friends for about 10 years, but Claire can't tell anyone that Sophie, once her best friend, is now dead - abducted and murdered by someone unknown when they were about 17. Sophie is therefore perpetually a teenager, with the attitude and angst of a teenager, and Claire in her twenties struggling to make a living and be an adult.

Claire is a medium, although not technically a real one - she uses Sophie during her seances to get information from the other side - and the seance for the 80th birthday is no different. Except this time, they encounter a ghost with a very tragic past, killed during the previous year's birthday celebrations.

Claire and Sophie launch an investigation into the murder, along with the only two family members who are not potentially guilty. Along with trying to keep her secret from her two new friends, Claire gets to the bottom of the murder, although not without some withholding of information which almost loses her not only her new friends, but Sophie.

I had a bit of a slow start with this one (as you can tell by how long it took me to read), but in the end really loved it. If you're not keen on tarot cards, seances, the paranormal, etc., then this is definitely not for you, but I thought it was really well done. Fun, quirky, well-written.

Very much looking forward to reading the second (which also is languishing in my too long ARC TBR pile...).

A wonderfully lighthearted ghost solving crime mystery. What more is there to like. It was funny and and well written with quirky characters all set in an antique pile.
I loved this book and whilst it was the first time I have read anything by this author, it will not be the last.

This is an easy going, entertaining story about Claire and her best friend Sophie getting caught up in a murder mystery at a posh manor house. The relationship between the two young women is nicely portrayed and there is a twist of course - Sophie is a ghost. Aimed at a younger audience than me, but a pleasant read nonetheless.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

Not my usual read I enjoyed this one so much

A classic manor house cozy murder mystery with a contemporary twist and a fabulous alive and dead duo

I’d class this as a modern cozy murder. Modern because of the language, and the non binary character. Claire can see ghosts and works as a medium with her ghost friend Sophie. They are the entertainment at a birthday party but discover a ghost on the property that must have been killed by one of the family. An entertaining read with nice enough characters and a good ending. Thank you #netgalley

Really enjoyed this - will definitely be recommending and looking forward to the next one by this author!

This novel proved to be a rather enjoyable and comforting read. It revolves around the protagonist, Claire, who possesses the ability to communicate with spirits, and her closest companion, Sophie, who exists as a ghostly entity. The narrative presents an intriguing storyline that captivated my attention from the outset. Although the initial pace of the book was somewhat sluggish, it gradually gained momentum as it progressed towards the middle. While I found myself engrossed in the enigmatic nature of the plot, I must admit that I failed to develop a strong affinity towards any of the characters, resulting in moments where my investment in the book waned. Nevertheless, as a debut novel, it showcased promise, and I would certainly be inclined to explore further works by this author.

A contemporary cosy crime. Claire and Sophie are both thoroughly modern young women who are best friends and are dragged into solving a murder. They are bound together and never leave each others sides, quite literally as Sophie is dead. Sophie is aware she is dead as is Claire but nobody else knows that Sophie is dead as her body has never been found and Sophie has no recollection of how or where she died.
Claire is called upon to provide 'entertainment' at a posh family gathering in a country manor. Her clairvoyant skills uncover more than anyone bargained for when it becomes apparent that there has been an untimely death at the manor. Claire and Sophie try to find out who it was that died and how and when they died but it would appear that nobody is going to make it easy for them when so many people have so much to hide.
The book is humorous ( mostly dark) with likeable characters one of which is non binary.
I feel that there could be more to come from these Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) crime solving duo, more crimes to solve and definitely more of a back story to come.

With thanks to #NetGalley and Atlantic Books, Corvus for this preview read in return for an honest review of #GraveExperctations.

Fast paced, cozy and brilliant humourous. I couldn't put it down and as soon as I finished I wanted to read more by the author.

I LOVED this book! Randall and Hopkirk meets Scooby Doo in this quirky whodunnit by Alice Bell. It was funny and gripping from the start, and I would love to read more about the antics of this very complicated murder mystery team!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It's not easy to marry humour and crime fiction but Alice Bell comes up with a very clever way of doing just that. The characters are well drawn - the living and the dead! - and this is a very entertaining read

When Claire is invited to conduct a seance at a former university acquaintance's family home, Claire and her ghost best friend Sophie unexpectedly find themselves investigating a murder. Grave Expectations is a country house murder mystery combined with ghostly hijinks and is a lot of fun.

I loved this light-hearted mystery thriller,
Though a serious enough, especially in some of the less prominent descriptions of living on the breadline, it has comic overtones (I note some describe as "hilarious") populated by a delightful set of characters. True, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is definitely required, and some of the peripheral characters may be considered slightly two dimensional but this is outweighed by the overall enjoyable nature of the story. Personally I loved the fact that, as well as London, the book is set in Brighton - a town (or city as it is now) very dear to my heart, and a highly suitable backdrop for a misfit group of would-be sleuths. The main protagonist Claire is flawed personality but very appealing, who earns a meagre living as a medium - and is thus regarded generally as a charlatan. During a one-off engagement at a country house, she teams up with a few members of the - mainly sceptical - family, to investigate a death. And, no, it's not as simple as asking a ghost what happened, though you would think....
By the end of the book our heroes have (along with Claire's "spirit guide") firmly developed into a "gang" and I confidently hope and expect we will see more of them in future books.

Well, it certainly ticks the ‘plot with a difference‘ box as the two central characters are a young woman, Claire and her friend, Sophie, who just happens to be a ghost. Unsurprisingly, given the nature of the book, Claire and Sophie embark on some sleuthing as the book follows them through a series of adventures. The book is charmingly different, with a clever play between Claire, who can ‘experience’ and communicate with ghosts - and Sophie, who rejoices in being moderately irritating, as well as exceptionally useful in the sleuthing role.
OK, so ‘Grave Expectations ‘ probably isn’t going to feature in my top ten, but this unusual murder mystery will appeal to those looking for a different approach and who can quite happily suspend disbelief on demand. There is a significant list of minor and not so minor characters, but they generally slot into place without making too many demands on the reader’s memory.

I really enjoyed this fun mystery with a supernatural element. I loved Claire and Sophie's relationship and the story stayed light despite the topic.

I would read more from this series and will be looking forward to more from the author.

A great novel. I look forward to reading more from this author. I loved the characters and the plot.

3.5 stars. Grave Expectations by Alice Bell promised to be a fun and light-hearted mystery with an unusual protagonist: a spirit-medium who can actually see ghosts.

More specifically, burnt-out Millenial Claire has been able to speak with the spirits ever since her teenage-best friend Sophie went missing. Haunted by the perpetually seventeen-year-old Sophie, Claire now makes a living performing seances and has secured a last-minute booking at the crumbling country seat of the dysfunctional upper-class (but down-on-their-luck) English family. When Claire and Sophie see the tormented, unrecognisable spirit of a former house-guest, they team up with the family disappointments - disenfranchised former police officer Basher and cool non-binary teen Alex - to find out who was murdered and, more importantly, which members of the family might be involved.

Whilst the humour is very-much tailored towards fellow burnt-out millennials (like me!), Claire makes for an unusual and interesting protagonist and Grave Expectations provided plenty of madcap action that brought a smile to my face. Alice Bell also does a great job of writing unlikeable characters, with several real rotters in the book.

I did feel that the narrative got a little 'baggy' in the middle - and several of the subplots didn't feel wholly relevant - but overall this was an interesting and enjoyable debut, with a unique take on a crime-fighting partnership.

A brilliant concept of the story written so well I was gripped by what was happening and found it hard to out down

Not a fan of swearing but this book was really funny and I loved the dead! Really enjoyed it and it wasn’t my usual genre but so pleased I gave it a try!