A Tomb With a View: The Stories and Glories of Graveyards: Scottish Non-fiction Book of the Year 2021

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Ross' accounts are compelling, but without losing the empathy and tact. Like a good tour guide, he knows there is space for tears, but also for laughter, for grief and for a celebration of life, for grand monuments and for wooden crosses, for defiance and for reconciliation. All told with a hint of nostalgia for the forgotten histories hidden behind names and dates. Ross is a wonderfully evocative writer, deftly capturing a sense of place and history, while bringing a deep humanity to his subject. He has written a delightful book.' - The Guardian I particularly found the war graves chapter very touching, and well written, along with the chapter on the woodland/meadow burials. Ross has written [a] lively elegy to Britain's best burial grounds.' - Evening Standard (*Best New Books of Autumn 2020*) This sets the stage for a hilarious who done it, full of twists and turns and reveals that even Agatha Christie would be proud of.

Because of this book, I would like to explore even more than I already have about how others approach death, burials, and more. Ross shares how the Muslim cemetery is a waiting room for heaven and looks different than what we might expect of a cemetery. People are told how to mourn and for how long. An interesting component here is the speed at which Muslims are buried and how funerals are done. I learned that women are usually referred to as "the wife of" or the "mother of" instead of by name like men out of respect. Bod thought for a moment. ‘The living,’ he said. ‘Er. The dead.’ He stopped. Then, ‘… Cats?’ he offered, uncertainly.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

A Tomb With A View is set in as sinister an old library as one is likely to come across presided over by a portrait of a grim faced, mad eyed old man. There, a dusty, lawyer reads a will (involving some millions of pounds) to an equally sinister family one member of which has were wolf tendencies, another wanders around in a toga of Julius Caesar and a third member is a gentle old lady who plants more than seeds in her flower beds. By the third act, there are more corpses than live members left in the cast and what about the sympathetic nurse and the author of romantic novels are they all, or more than, they seem to be? All is revealed as the plot twists and turns to its surprising conclusion.

This comedy whodunnit features a gathering for the reading of the will of Septimus Tomb, patriarch of a family of oddly-assorted and often homicidal characters. Soon the bodies start piling up! Set in a sinister old library, presided over by a portrait of a grim faced, mad eyed old man. A dusty lawyer reads a will, involving some millions of pounds, to an equally sinister family. One member has werewolf tendencies, another wanders around in a toga like Julius Caesar and a third member is a genteel lady who plants more than seeds in her flower beds. Their crazed scientist older brother and their food obsessed sister plus a divine diva, complete the family. By the third act, there are more corpses than live members left in the cast; and what about the sympathetic nurse and the author of romantic novels and her friend, all of whom have the audience guessing. All is revealed as the plot twists and turns to its surprising conclusion.I always considered them a place of personal contemplation and grief. As such, it felt more appropriate to leave them undisturbed. Then there is a brother of hers who thinks he is Julius Caesar and dresses in a toga, slightly underplayed by Paul Shave. Jasmine Gartshore gave a spirited performance as another sister, Emil, and Mark Bailey as the bumbling Lucien was, perhaps, a wee bit over the top in his performance. Ross’s journey takes him to all manner of places, but perhaps the one that speaks to us today is the most contemporary. Sharpham Meadow is a natural burial ground by Totnes in Devon. A secular place, with slate stones for markers, it is a place of calm and beauty where the bodies of those gone are put into the earth to become part of it. Bridget has buried Wayne there and often visits to chat to him. Ross’s conversation with Wyne’s funeral arrangers is fascinating. The Green Funeral Company offers an alternative path to the traditional funeral directors; one that urges creativity and is elemental in approach. It spoke to me of a way of doing things that felt less rigid and pompous and was for the living as much as the dead.