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Grave Expectations: The hilarious and gripping BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick for 2023

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Charlie and Lincoln return to London to find two supernaturals have been murdered, and Charlie might be next. As if that wasn't bad enough, the man who adopted her has escaped from prison, and the committee members have just learned some news that infuriates them. Now there's talk of sending Charlie away again. Far away.

You've never read a country house whodunit quite like Grave Expectations. Nor is there a generation gap quite as wide as the one between Claire and Sophie. Fast, funny and furious, this book has bags of humour, bags of heart and a proper murder mystery at its core. Alice Bell writes with real verve and crafts a preposterous premise into a sharp, well written and lively story that's at once out of this world and yet reassuringly real. As reader, you're along for the ride, and it's a runaway ghost train of a ride at that! Bell is one to watch." - Janice Hallett Claire and Sophie team up with self-assured teenager Alex and sceptical ex-police officer Bash to try and work out who has died and who killed them. Clever, unpredictable and a genuinely humorous modern day country house murder mystery which left me guessing. Perfect for anyone who fancies themselves as a detective. -- Nadine Matheson The actual crime itself is more of a cipher to investigate the family at the centre of it all, which is both a shame and a blessing, depending on how much you value character exploration over a juicy whodunnit mystery. Fortunately there’s enough light and shade scattered throughout to keep the reader entertained, the light being the moments of bonding amongst our quartet of detectives, and the dark being a moment of revelation about Claire’s past that could strike as too bleak for some readers in what is otherwise a tonally cohesive work.The way that the ending is written, and judging that the next part of the story is a novella and NOT a full length novel of only Lincoln's point of view, leads me to believe that a true happy ending for Charlie (Charlotte) and Lincoln is impossible. Alice Bell grew up in South West England, in a sort of middle-of-nowhere where teenagers spend their weekend drinking Smirnoff Ice in a field that also has at least one horse in it. Witty, addictive, andbreathes some much needed (undead) life into the cosy crimemurder mystery genre.” Funny, fast, sharp, original, and addictive ... a unique breath of fresh air. Brilliant! -- Andrea Mara

Even though I've given 3 stars to each book in this series so far, this one is my favorite. I think that finally I am seeing some plot movement and character development. It’s a really great mystery novel, a good story and all ends are neatly tied off and it was really funny and I want more of Claire and Sophie and Basher and Alex and really I want to know what happened to make Sophie a ghost. Clever, unpredictable and a genuinely humorous modern day country house murder mystery which left me guessing. Perfect for anyone who fancies themselves as a detective." - Nadine Matheson How exciting to find a modern murder mystery with a paranormal twist and interesting main characters!I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First things first, the concept of a medium and a ghost solving a murder really works for me. And it was executed perfectly. But in Grave Expectations we finally see Lincoln and Charlie commit to a serious relationship, the appearance of a serial killer targeting paranormal humans and the possibility that someone close to Lichfield Park is trying to harm Charlie. It was great to finally see the common thread connecting all the mysteries that the Ministry has encountered finally becoming evident, as the members confront kidnappings, betrayal and spirits from their past.

To compound this, Charlie’s emotional response to Mrs. Webb after she kidnaps her, shoots her friend, and almost killed her was disconcerting and off-putting. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t screaming for Mrs. Webb’s death here, but the immediate compassion and “Don’t even scare her, Lincoln!” pleas were ridiculous. I’m all for empathy and forgiveness but this just didn’t seem believable to me at all. Almost-authentic medium Claire and her best friend, Sophie, agree to take on a seemingly simple job at a crumbling old manor in the English countryside: performing a seance for the family matriarch’s 80th birthday. The pair have been friends since before Sophie went missing when they were seventeen. Everyone else is convinced Sophie simply ran away, but Claire knows the truth. Claire knows Sophie was murdered because Sophie has been haunting her ever since. I also thought the plot was very good. The fact that they don’t actually know who has been murdered makes solving the mystery much more difficult, and there are red-herrings and distractions galore. I really loved it. Almost-authentic medium Claire and her best friend, Sophie, agree to take on a seemingly simple job at a crumbling old manor in the English performing a seance for the family matriarch's 80th birthday. The pair have been friends since before Sophie went missing when they were seventeen. Everyone else is convinced Sophie simply ran away, but Claire knows the truth. Claire knows Sophie was murdered because Sophie has been haunting her ever since. Alice Bell grew up in South West England, in the sort of middle-of-nowhere where teenagers spend their weekends drinking Smirnoff Ice in a field that also has at least one horse in it.A very funny, entertaining, twisted take on the country house murder mystery. Wonderful.' -- S J Bennett A really unique concept paired with whip-smart writing and lots of heart -- Heather Darwent, author of The Things We Do to Our Friends A great read, with great characters, lots of humour, some misty-eyed moments and lots of swearing. Utterly delightful - like the BBC show Ghosts mixed with Cluedo." - Simon Toyne The charcaters are very cool and interesting. The cast of characters have great personality and when you read this series. You get so devoted to the characters and what they do in this book. This book encaptures you and you feel drawn to these characters.

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