Nothing is as cold as the grave….

Book blurb

Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral directors’ and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that matriarch Dorothy is conducting, she can’t help looking into the dead driver’s shadowy life.

While Dorothy uncovers a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles. Jenny’s ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women’s lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly professor that is fast turning deadly.

But something even more sinister emerges when a drumming student of Dorothy’s disappears and suspicion falls on her parents. The Skelf women find themselves sucked into an unbearable darkness – but could the real threat be to themselves?

Following three women as they deal with the dead, help the living and find out who they are in the process, The Big Chill follows A Dark Matter, book one in the Skelfs series, which reboots the classic PI novel while asking the big existential questions, all with a big dose of pitch-black humour.

My thoughts

Here we are back in Skelf world, yes, it’s book two and how good it is to be back with Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah once again.

Dorothy has taken a particular interest in a young man, who died whilst being chased by police, there’s no identification on him. Dorothy has great compassion and respect for the dead, as we are well aware from the first book, so she feels that this young man needs to be properly laid to rest. She is happy to bury him but the police won’t release his body until he is named. Dorothy makes it her mission to find out who he is.

Jenny is still reeling from the shocking events of the first book. She is trying to move past it, as they all are, Liam is a great help but when she finds out what Craig, her ex, has been up to she is determined to confront him only to have it backfire! Then they find out that the case will be heard much sooner than expected. She buries herself in work hoping to take her mind off the mess she has made.

Hannah is struggling with what happened to the three of them, with what her father did and the loss of Mel her best friend. She’s seeing a counsellor and she has Indy. When a professor, Hugh, at university seemingly commits suicide Hannah, who finds the body, wants to know why. Then the professor’s wife asks Hannah to find out about a young man who turned up at her home asking for Hugh.

We have the wonderful set of supporting characters – Indy, Archie, Liam and Tom. Indy is Hannah’s rock but even she has limits, how long can she take Hannah’s, often selfish, behaviour? Tom and Dorothy’s relationship is based on work and friendship but is there more between them despite the age difference? Liam and Jenny are building their relationship but will they survive Craig’s madness? Archie is steadfast, loyal and unassuming an asset to the Skelf family business so when he suffers a loss will it be noticed? Will he come to see how much he is appreciated?

With the family still trying to move on from the what happened in the first book we have mayhem and murder in the latest The Big Chill. Again we have the view point of each of the Skelf ladies heading up the sections and chapters so we know exactly what is going on. There are big questions about the universe, about if and how the Skelf women will survive and then there’s the question of how much can they do not only for each other but for each and every person who comes into contact with them.

I’m not sure that the first funeral of this book was supposed to be quite such a horror show well, yes, it probably was from the point of view of the author but not Dorothy and I’m certain that it wasn’t funny but well, yes, it sort of was. Only, of course, if you’ve got a dark and twisted mind so no not at all, really that’s not what I thought!

It certainly set the tone for book number two in the Skelf series and as I got more into the book I’m going to say it, yes, I fully applauded Jenny during her visit to Craig even if it was a crazy thing to do. Well, in fact, it was criminal and Jenny may well rue that impulse!

Craig is exactly what you think he is and when he manipulates the system and the people he comes into contact with it brings danger and terrible consequences for the Skelfs and their wider family.

Through all that goes on Hannah is most likely suffering the most or, at least, not coping with the aftermath. With the loss of her closet friend and the repercussions of what her father did it’s no surprise. Yet still she blindly goes on looking to her own needs while being thoughtless with regard to the people, in particular one, who love her the most. It’s understandable, she really has had a tough time and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, but how long will it be before she sees what’s happening, what she might lose? Even if she does will she be able to remedy the situation?

From the opening pages I was hooked and loving being back with the Skelfs. The characters are wonderful, the storyline gripped, captivated and was darkly funny becoming tense and dangerous. Still through it all what is really great is that they all just want the best – for themselves, yes, don’t we all? – yet mostly for the family, friends, clients and those who have become lost for whatever reason. Isn’t that just a great world to bury yourself in for a few hours? I’ve so enjoyed reading The Big Chill and if you haven’t yet had the pleasure of doing so I highly recommend that you remedy that sooner rather than later.

Previously read: A Dark Matter (book 1) | The Opposite of Lonely (book 5)

Books purchased: A Dark Matter (book1) | The Big Chill (book 2) | The Great Silence (book 3) | Black Hearts (book 4)

Information

Publishers: Orenda Books | 20/08/2020 | 300pp

Buy: Orenda Books | AmazonSmileUK | Hive | Your local library | Your local bookshop | Bookshop.org (affiliate link)

Photo by Duncan McGlynn

Author: Doug Johnstone is the author of eleven previous novels, most recently A Dark Matter (2020). Several of his books have been bestsellers and two, Breakers (2019) and The Jump (2015), were shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions over the last decade, and has been an arts journalist for twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three solo EPs released, and he currently plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh.

Follow Doug on Facebook: Doug Johnstone |on Twitter @doug_johnstone | on Instagram @writerdougj | Amazon author page: Doug Johnstone | visit his website: dougjohnstone.com

The Skelfs Series
A Dark Matter | The Big Chill | The Great Silence | Black Hearts | The Opposite of Lonely | Living is a Problem

Other titles by Doug Johnstone, available from Orenda Books
Fault Lines | Breakers | 123 | The Collapsing Wave | The Space Between Us