Following the first book in the series, Grave Expectations, Claire and her friends go on a break to a remote island off the coast of Ireland to relax and recuperate.However, with this group, nothing is ever straightforward. Claire finds herself and Sophie, her ghostly best friend, surrounded by the ghosts that inhabit the island, and the hotel is also occupied by a rather odd group of university friends on their annual get together. Throw in a murder with some rather badly behaved ghosts and mayhem results. Another funny and enjoyable murder mystery that kept me turning the pages. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. for the A.R.C of this novel in return for an honest review

bickering besties, prankster pirates, and some not so gregarious guests, and nowhere to go. Classic locked island mystery, with humour, heart and just a hint of scooby-doo vibes.

Having really enjoyed the quirky “Grave Expectations”, I had high hopes for this second instalment in the series. Like before, we follow Claire and her friends Basher and Alex as they find themselves with a mysterious murder to solve – this time on a secluded Irish island where they have been double booked into a hotel with a posh group of friends who start getting picked off one by one.

What makes this different from the usual locked-room-style whodunits is that Claire can see and speak to ghosts, including her childhood best friend Sophie, who again helps with the investigation of these crimes to hilarious effect.

As with the previous book, the characters were engaging and there were some really funny laugh out loud moments. I love the relationships between the four main characters, and the story licks along at a steady pace. There did seem to be less Sophie and Basher in this book than the last, which I thought was a shame since they are great characters, but I can understand why the author chose to make that decision. There were also a few sections where the characters acted in ways that seemed slightly incongruous, in order to move the plot along, although perhaps this is less of an issue if this is read as a standalone book.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read - 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Claire, Sophie, Basher and Alex are back! And this time they are holidaying on the remote Irish island, where unexpectantly they encounter ghosts and dead bodies. I loved the first book in the series and I was very happy to read the sequel as well. There are romantic encounters, pirates, lost treasure and suspicious disappearances, as well as unexpected guests who see Claire as a main suspect. The dialogues are funny, and so are Claire’s musings, but I also like how the author manages to write about loneliness and at the same time lack of privacy that relationship between Sophie and Claire brings. Great protagonists and fun mystery to solve as well. I cannot wait for the next instalment of the series!

Claire and her side kick Sophie the ghost are back for more murder and mayhem
Claire and all her friends from ‘Grave Expectations’ decide to go on a mini holiday, but due to a booking mishap they find themselves on the island before the luxury spa hotel is actually open - one of the guests is murdered and it’s down to Claire, Sophie and the local ghost to find the culprit.
Loved meeting up with the great characters again, but the plot was harder to get involved in than the first novel
Thanks @ABeeWord @atlanticbooks & @netgalley for the chance to meet up with Claire & Sophie again

This humorous cosy mystery is the sequel to Grave Expectations, which I read almost immediately prior to this, and enjoyed. I liked the first book, so I was pleased to see the return of Claire and the other characters I'd enjoyed, such as Sophie, Basher and Alex.

I found this as funny as the first book, but I have a feeling that I wouldn't have enjoyed this one as much, if I hadn't read them both. If you did enjoy Grave Expectations, you will probably like this too, but I would recommend reading Grave Expectations first.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

I loved this book. It’s almost a cosy mystery novel but the comic elements really set it off for me. Or is it that there’s an Urban fantasy twist to it as well? If you enjoy any of the genres I’ve mentioned then definitely pick up either of the books in this series so far - roll on a third!

This is the second book in the series about Claire and her best friend Sophie who has been haunting her since they were 17. Claire finds herself stranded on a remote island off Ireland when things go awry whilst she’s on holiday with Basher and Alex. A motley crew of pirate ghosts in rivalry with the local Irish ghosts, hidden treasure, a reunited group of university friends… what could possibly go wrong until Claire discovers a dead body in the middle of the night. Another funny murder mystery with several twists and turns along the way.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Atlantic Books for an arc in exchange for a review.

I'm afraid this really didn't click with me. It probably didn't help that I've not read Grave Expectations so had to get to grips with the characters from the off. The description sounded fun and clever enough to make me want to read it even though this is not my usual genre. I was hoping it would be a bit like 'Ghosts' on tv. Unfortunately, I just found it a little too glib and quirky. The stolen treasure plot just didn't grab me and by the time of the first murder I had already lost interest. I found the mechanics of Claire being able to hear Sophie (and the other ghosts) but having to report her speech to other people just too confusing and distracting. The big caveat is that I suspect that if you like this genre (Richard Osman, Janice Hallett etc) and are closer to Gen Z than I am, you may well love this. For me it was a DNF at half way when I had to accept that it just wasn't my thing.

Alex and Basher decide to take Claire, and by default, Sophie, on holiday to Spike Island on the Cork coast of Ireland. When they get there, it appears that there was a mistake in the booking and another group are there and aren't happy that the trio are staying.
When the next morning one of the other group is found dead on the beach, Even more strange that their mobiles have all gone missing and the boat has been scuppered.
It's down to Claire and her ghostly friends to save the day, but not before putting herself in danger.
A nice little read.

Displeasure Island is a ghost-murder-mystery story about thirty-something Claire and her childhood friend Sophie who disappeared at the age of 17 and reappeared as a ghost which only Claire can see. It’s a follow on from the first book in the series, Grave Expectations. I think Displeasure Island would work as a stand-alone, but I enjoyed knowing the characters from the earlier book.

This time there is a “locked room” mystery on an island which features ghost pirates, a sassy non-binary teenager and maybe some romance.

A recommended read!

Displeasure Island is the second novel in the Grave Expectations series and after the stressy events of the first novel Claire and the gang take a much needed holiday to a wellness retreat on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. Chaos in the form of a turf war between ghostly pirates and a group of equally dead wreckers, treasure hunters and murder ensue. This was great fun, it’s like And Then There Were None but with ghosts. Everyone except Claire seems quite casual about the whole murder situation throughout and there was quite a bit of Claire bashing in general from everybody including her friends (who pretty much abandoned her with a murderer on the loose?!) which I got quite angry about but she did get a snog so 🤷‍♀️

Claire and her sidekick (or main character, really) Sophie the ghost, are back for more murder and madness. Super funny and a really good sequel.

Following the events of ‘Grave Expectations’, ‘Displeasure Island’ sees Claire, Basher and Alex, all still friends, and going on a mini holiday following the stress of the court case involving all of Basher and Alex’s family. (See Grave Expectations for details.) Due to a booking mishap the gang find themselves on an island, before the luxury spa hotel has actually opened, just with the owner’s closest friends. Or rather frenemies. When one of the guests is murdered it’s down to Claire, Sophie and the local ghosts to find the culprit.

Once again, this is really, really funny. Sophie is such a great character, she utterly steals the show and I just always feel so sorry for Claire! There’s so many great characters, it’s really the writer’s strength, the cast and the place come across so vividly (even the ghosts).

The main themes of class and of not fitting in are still played out here but I do feel like Claire is on a journey to some sort of resolution. And the story of Sophie’s murder is still there to be discovered, I’m so intrigued about what happened here.

There were twists and turns and a fabulous grand reveal of the murderer. This is a good story which doesn’t take itself too seriously and I love it for that - it’s just fun.

Would highly recommend both books for a jolly good read.

Thank you @AtlanticBooks and @netgalley for my #arc

Like its predecessor, this is a heart-warming tale of a quasi-depressed 30-something medium solving crime with her best friend - who happens to have been dead for almost 20 years. Think ''Knives Out for the chronically online generation(s)''. Read it for the likeable characters, clever jokes, and the sense of mystery. I say sense of mystery, because there is an actual mystery here, but it didn't really get the gears turning for me. Similarly, there are some horror elements in this (with ghosts and skeletons and some such), but to me the actual horror was in the painfully recognisable observations about the plight of 30-somethings in this day and age. The story proudly wears both it Britishness and its progressive politics on its sleeve, which is a plus in my book but your mileage may vary. Warmly recommended reading while recovering from a long week of mind-numbing office work, preferably with a scone and a big pot of tea.

Alice Bell has written a sequel to Grave Expectations, Displeasure Island. Anyone reading the second book without having read the first is going to be quite bewildered, I’m afraid – you really need to read Grave Expectations before Displeasure Island in order to understand the characters’ background.

The opening chapter is a cracker. A bathroom with red everywhere: small speckles; smears; and dripping lines – all “bright, deep arterial red” – with a body lying half in, half out of the bath, with a lifeless pale pink hand… As I wrote about Grave Expectations, this is a book written by a pin-sharp intellect, an author who knows how to play with the reader; and who quietly inserts clues that the reader overlooks at the time. The author gently nudges the reader into a mindset, building our expectation about will happen next, before the narrative goes at right-angles to our expectation and we feel like Wile E Coyote, running in mid-air. That’s the sign of a highly skilled writer and I love to read books of whatever genre by authors with that ability.

Claire and her friends, including the ghost of her best friend, Sophie, killed at seventeen, book a holiday in a hotel just off the coast of Ireland. There are ghosts of sailors and ghosts of pirates who, unsurprisingly, have been enemies for a few hundred years. There is, naturally, treasure – which, the ghosts being ghosts cannot move, but someone has been moving it at night. Then, unexpectedly, there is a murder and Claire is accused.

I enjoyed this novel. The characterisation is good, although I did lose patience with Claire on several occasions – I felt her reaction was inconsistent with the action. This may have been done to progress the plot, but it didn’t feel right. I also felt initially that there were too many couples to remember who’s who but we do need that many for the plot to work, although a little more delineation as characters are introduced would help the reader. They are mostly introduced all at once, in a group, which doesn’t help. The plot is really good with several unexpected twists, although there were a few points where I felt some plot progression could have been more natural – there were a few points where characters’ action/reaction felt artificial / forced to pit the plot requirements. The (sweary) dialogue is often funny, although Sophie wasn’t as enjoyable as the first book. The narration has many laugh out loud moments.

Do note: this is a VERY sweary book. The f-word is scattered liberally throughout the text, as well as another word that would make maiden aunts blench. One could discuss whether or not this is appropriate, but I accept it is the way younger people talk these days and this is a modern book. The dialogue, therefore, is realistic. The discussion, therefore, is better framed as “Should people use swearwords when talking to each other?” If the answer is “yes”, then books should reflect real life and there is no case to answer. We might object to modern mores, but elders have always complained that standards are slipping since the ancient Greeks and probably earlier! Nonetheless, if you dislike seeing such words in print, don’t read this book.

#DispleasureIsland #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review..

As with the first book, there are way too many characters - Claire, Alex, Basher and ghost Sophie come to Spike Island near Cork in Ireland for a holiday, but there are eight other guests plus a caretaker they have to contend with.

So it starts slow but the more you read the faster the action goes, and the more investigatoring they do the more interesting it gets.

First, a male guest gets murdered, then a female one. There are loads of ghost pirates on the island too, but they are not terribly interested in helping as they've got their own feud going on with each other about a treasure they're guarding somewhere.

Not as funny as the first one, but we get more ghost interaction and make the shocking discovery that ghosts can be dangerous and hurt you. Claire is kind of a little inept, and everyone seems to be distracted by hot men, dead or alive ones. To me Sophie is the most interesting character of them all - I do hope we will one day find out what happened to her to make her a ghost.

This series is an adorable mix of genuinely laugh out loud funny, mystery / amateur detective and supernatural. Displeasure island builds on the success of the first book, Grace Expectations, and takes Claire, Sophie, Basheer and Alex to an Irish island for murder, ghostly pirates and treasure. As you do.

Loved the development of the central characters, worked out some of the clues as I went along but by no means all, and have a very dim view of reviews which don’t like the swearing, which is both naturalistic and funny.

More please!

Absolutely loved being back with Claire and Sophie and was really pleased to see the new book in the series includes Alex and Uncle Basher! Another great murder mystery with plenty to keep you turning the pages. Hoping there’s another book to come.

Claire and her ghostly companion, Sophie, are persuaded to join their close friends on a relaxing break at a wellness spa retreat on a small island just off the Irish coast. The retreat has only just opened and the owner exclusively invited a small group of old university friends. However an error is made and Claire and her friends are also booked in at the same time. There is immediate friction between the members of the two groups. There is then a murder and tensions and suspicions increase.

The island is also home to a several ghostly factions with the pirates trying to invade the fort held by the Irish soldiers whilst also tying to recover some lost treasure. There is a nice balance of humour throughout as Claire stumbles her way through solving the murder and also unraveling the mystery of the missing pirate treasure.

A strong point of this book is that the scenery and details of the island, the weather and tides are very carefully described and gives a good sense of place.

This is the second book in this series and having thoroughly enjoyed the first I had high expectations. However, although it presents some quirky characters this story did not hold my attention as much as the first book did and I finished it feeling a little disappointed. The dialogue in places felt rushed and the amount of swearing I felt was excessive and detracted from the story.

This is the second book in the ‘Grave Expectations’ series. I enjoyed the first book last year and was keen to rejoin the characters on a new adventure.

Claire is in her 30’s and a medium, helped by her best friend Sophie - a ghost who is perpetually 17 years old. Claire, Sophie along with their friends Basher and Alex decide to holiday on Spike Island, of the West Coast of Ireland. Things don’t quite go to plan when it turns out the hotel is unfinished and has been double-booked alongside a private visit of the owner’s university friends. Add in a pirate ghost and several other local ghosts in conflict over treasure lost hundreds of years ago plus a murder and it’s all set up for Claire to start investigating and trying to clear her name after becoming a suspect.

I really enjoyed being back with the characters from the first book again and meeting some new ones too although it did take me a little while to get clear with who was who. I liked the further exploration in this book of the relationship between Claire and Sophie and the impact this has had on Claire over the years they have been bonded. The book also has good humour and dialogue between the characters. I felt it was easy and enjoyable to read. I think I maybe preferred the setting of the first book more and I did guess some of the ‘reveals’ quite early but was still surprised by others and this did not take away from my enjoyment. I also really like the paranormal aspect to this mystery series.

I am looking forward to more books in this series and I would love to explore further what happened to Sophie and to make steps towards solving that mystery.

I am rating this book 3.75 stars (rounded up to 4 stars).

Thank you to the publisher, Atlantic Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.