Claire and Sophie are best friends, inseparable you might say. Unfortunately that’s because Sophie is a ghost & she’s been haunting Claire since her murder at 17. Claire can now see & speak to a multitude of ghosts, and is trying to earn a living as a professional medium carrying out seances.

Claire has been booked by the Wellington-Forge family to act as a medium at their nana's birthday celebrations. However things do not go anywhere near to plan and Claire finds herself being pressganged into discovering what happened at last year's celebrations and why there is an unquiet spirit in the library. Who exactly is the spirit? Why are they hanging around the house and, far more importantly, which one of the Wellington-Forge's committed the murder? Thankfully Claire has Sophie to help otherwise, as Sophie quite rightly puts it, nothing would get detected because Claire is rubbish at it. This book grew on me the deeper in that I got. At first I thought it was an interesting (but not unique premise) Claire being a young woman whose best friend, Sophie, disappeared at the age of 17 and then reappeared as a spirit. Thus Claire now encumbered with a spirit begins her life as a medium. Sophie is by far the most interesting and funny character in this book. I'd be quite happy to read another book with this crime fighting duo in it. This novel was an absolute gem, funny and clever with really engaging characters. I loved the dynamic between eternal teen Sophie and millennial Claire. The capable, unflappable Alex takes everything in their stride, their enthusiasm for the investigation sweeping Bash reluctantly along with them. The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Grave Expectations – here are some of their comments:

Selection panel review

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell is a really fun paranormal crime fiction debut that kept me interested in both the characters and what would happen. I will say that listening to the audiobook means you have to really concentrate otherwise it is easy to miss things/get confused, and I did find myself having to rewind quite a bit because I wasn't paying close enough attention. That being said, the audiobook was still really great to listen to, and I thought Sophie Roberts did an excellent job with the narration. The accent was a little difficult for me to understand at times, so I did end up listening to this at around 2.5-2.8x speed; 2x speed in the car.

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 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. Despite this traumatic past, Claire and Sophie are still unprepared for what they encounter when they arrive: a ghost, tragic and unrecognizable, and clearly the spirit of someone killed in a rage at the previous year's party. Given her obsession with crime shows—not to mention Sophie's ability to walk through walls—Claire decides they're the best people to solve the case. And with the help of the only obviously not-guilty members of their host family—sexy ex-policeman Sebastian and far-too-cool non-binary teen Alex—they launch an investigation into which of last year's guests never escaped the manor's grounds. After spending several years in London and Brighton, Alice now lives in Cork, Ireland, 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. Planning to buy Grave Expectations for your group? Buy books from Hive or from Bookshop.org and support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no extra cost to you.This book hasbags of humor, bags of heart, and a proper murder mystery at its core.”—Janice Hallett, author of The Appeal When the pair arrive at The Cloisters, they find themselves drawn to a tragic and unrecognisable ghost, clearly an unquiet spirit who met an untimely end. Teaming up with the least unbearable members of the Wellington-Forge family - depressive ex-cop Basher and teenage reactionary Alex - Claire and Sophie determine to figure out not just whodunnit, but who they killed, why and when. Together they must race against incompetence to find the murderer before the murderer finds them, in this funny, modern, media-literate debut mystery for the My Favourite Murder generation." That’s another reason I’m so grateful that Grave Expectations has been chosen for the Book Club. It’s a very silly book in some ways, but I wrote some nice friends in it. If someone reads it because of the Book Club and makes friends with them too, well, that’s all you can ask for, isn’t it?” Get involved 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

The next book to be featured on the Zoe Ball Radio 2 Book Club will be Grave Expectations, an exciting debut novel by Alice Bell. The book was released on 4 May and Alice will be on the show with Zoe on Thursday 29 June.Funny, fast, sharp, original, and addictive ... a unique breath of fresh air. Brilliant! -- Andrea Mara When the pair arrive at The Cloisters, they find themselves drawn to a tragic and unrecognizable ghost, clearly an unquiet spirit who met an untimely end. Teaming up with the least unbearable members of the Wellington-Forge family – depressive ex-cop Basher and teenage reactionary Alex – Claire and Sophie determine to figure out not just whodunnit, but who they killed, why and when. Claire can see ghosts from the time her dead friend started making appearances ever since they were teenagers. When she discovers a ghost that has some unfinished business at the party house, Claire decides to solve the murder. And so she, Sophie, Basher (an excop) and Alex set about on a wild goose chase to unravel the mystery. Basher and Alex belong to the family that invited Claire to perform a seance and perhaps the only two normal people from that clan. As the story goes on, I found it so difficult to stay connected to the characters. I started to find everyone annoying, especially the protagonist and her ghost friend. A very funny, entertaining, twisted take on the country house murder mystery. Wonderful." - S J Bennett

Teaming up with the least unbearable members of the Wellington-Forge family – depressive ex-cop Basher and teenage radical Alex – Claire and Sophie determine to figure out not just whodunnit, but who they killed, why and when. I loved Claire, she is just trying to make the best of her gift, there has been an incident in the past where she has used her gifts and it ended badly for her, so Claire is a little battered and bruised metaphorically but still plodding on.. I really want good things to happen to Claire. Funny, fast, sharp, original, and addictive, Grave Expectations isa unique breath of fresh air. Brilliant!” Teaming up with the least unbearable members of the Wellington-Forge family - depressive ex-cop Basher and teenage radical Alex - Claire and Sophie determine to figure out not just whodunnit, but who they killed, why and when.

Advance Praise

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 Speaking of inconsistencies, let’s talk about Mrs. Webb for a moment. Are you honestly going to try to convince me that an insignificantly average woman ON HER OWN could lift not only Charlie by herself but Gus as well?? You’re kidding, right? I’ve personally tried to lift someone who was a complete dead-weight (and probably weighed 90 pounds soaking wet) with the help of another woman and it was ridiculously hard (and PS, I’m not a weak person). So yeah, no. I don’t think I can believe that. A very funny, entertaining, twisted take on the country house murder mystery. Wonderful.' -- S J Bennett 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. This really reminded me of the Glass Onion series of films, which I watched recently and loved. A central character, Claire, full of fun and wit, embroiled in a classic ‘whodunnit’ with a small mix of suspects tied together by familial bonds and secrecy. The premise of Claire being a medium and talking to ghosts sounds completely ridiculous, but turned out to be really fun. The ghosts she communicates with are sassy, sarcastic and funny, with their own quirky personalities and behaviours. Particularly the ghost of 17-year-old Sophie, Claire’s childhood friend, who follows Claire around like a shadow providing witty commentary as she goes. It was very enjoyable.” About the author