Welp! I tried for one solid week to push through this one but I failed. The concept was really fun but to write a murder mystery, you have to be able to hold the readers attention with exciting new things and this one lacked that. Nothing was happening and I was bored, to be honest. I also found the humor to be really forced

Readers can be forgiven if at the very beginning of this book they think they are getting themselves into a classic English manor mystery, but by the end of the first chapter you'll realize that this is... not quite that. It's a quirky mystery featuring a medium and her long dead best friend who find themselves embroiled in the dying wishes of a client, with messy family relationships and the shenanigans of the British upper crust. There's lots of humor alongside a well done mystery, and I believe the author's claim to have watched more episodes of Midsomer Murders than me.

A delightful book about a medium and how she uses clues from ghosts to help her solve a murder….well maybe murder. I really enjoyed this book. There were some parts that were harrowing. There were most definitely moments of hilarity and there was the moment when Claire figured out the mystery. The book was very fast paced. I did not get bored at all. There were so many wonderful and not so wonderful characters that I really felt like I was sitting at the table with these people. I would definitely recommend this book if you like cozy mysteries with a lovable female character.

Knives Out meets Clue. Grave Expectations follows main character Claire as she tries to figure out her early 30's, jobless and trying to live her adult life with her ghostly best friend Sophie by her side. This is the perfect murder mystery to kick-start spooky season. It's a quick read and more on the light-hearted side of mysteries.

Some of my favorite parts of this book was the dialogue between the characters, it felt more like a casual conversation between each character, vs "he said" "she said".

The relationship between Claire and Sophie; Sophie was Claires bff when they were younger, until Sophie mysteriously disappeared. But because Claire is able to see ghosts, there's still apart of Sophie walking among the living (even if Claire's the only one who can see her).

LGBTQ+ representation


Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor Books for an ARC copy of Grave Expectations!

Delighted to include this title in the September edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

A chaotic and often funny murder mystery where a Claire, a medium, solves an old murder with the help of Sophie, her childhood friend who is now a ghost. Claire sees dead people-often a traumatic thing (and there are spots in London she must avoid because of the crowds of them.). She's been invited by her uni frenemy Figgie to be the entertainment at Figgie's nana's birthday party. The rest of the family is a little hostile and skeptical and then...Nana doesn't wake up. Her ghost does, though, and sends Claire, along with Sophie, Bash and Alex, to figure out who was murdered, where the body is, and why. And this is where things get a big confusing as you, along with Claire, sort through who is who in the family and what their issues are. My favorite character of all is Alex, who loves crafts and is willing to go with the flow of the whole Claire/Sophie thing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Takes a bit of patience but there are also sparkling lines and really amusing situations to keep you reading. And I didn't guess the murder, the murderer, or the twist.

What a delight of a book, perfect for the upcoming spooky season. I would best describe this as BBC’s Ghosts meets Knives Out. The premise is so interesting: a woman who can see & interact with ghosts, including her dead childhood best friend, takes a job to put on a seance for entertainment but becomes accidentally embroiled in a family’s mystery - where some are trying to discover the secret & others are trying to keep the secret covered. But who can she trust?

It was a bit of a slow start for me, but once the story grabbed me, I was IN. Bell’s writing is so unique & fun; I truly love when you can hear an author’s voice & thoughts in a story. She has such a way of describing things that just make sense to me, of making the characters & dialogue feel real & modern & relatable. I want to hang out with them (well, some of them) & do my best to keep up with their incredible banter. And I’ll be honest, this mystery kept me guessing, all while laughing & (once) crying.

What do we have to do to get a whole cozy-style series of ghostly mysteries to solve? Or even just a series where we see more of the day-to-day medium life?? I just need more, please!

Thank you Vintage Anchor Books & NetGalley for providing a digital advanced copy of this book to read & review. All opinions & thoughts expressed are my own.

1.5/5 stars

I'm a millennial. I love ghosts, mysteries, and anything within the medium/psychic trope. This should have been a slam dunk.

But UGH, it wasn't.

I hated it the further I got into it. I desperately wanted to DNF and call it quits, but felt like I needed to finish it due to it being an ARC.

The millennial jabs were semi-funny (yes I can laugh at the absurdity of myself), and I didn't have any issue following the they/them pronouns as some other reviews seemed to struggle with. I also curse regularly personally, so again, the use of swearing was a-okay with me.

In other words: this book SHOULD have worked for me! I am its target audience!

I don't know what it was about this book. Maybe because it didn't seem to be especially plot driven?

It was boring.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All views expressed are my own.

It's almost spooky season, so here comes a perfectly timed book.

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell is a comedic mystery set in a spooky old house in England.

I don't think I was British enough for this book.

It was a fun, cozy mystery with funny characters and enough red herrings to keep me guessing. However, some of the jokes and descriptions went over my head because they were very British.

For the most part, that didn't take away from the book.

A millennial medium haunted by the ghost of her deceased best friend and tasked with solving a death where you don't know who did it or who died... it's a lot. It's quirky and fast-paced and fun.

My one major issue was with how often the MC was drunk. Why was it necessary after the first instance to procure information? It felt like it was being used to prolong her figuring out the mystery because she couldn't think straight. Like it was just there to drag out the page count. I have no issue with a good night on the town, but by the end I was just annoyed with the MC.

I was a little irritated that not every mystery was solved in the end. The end also felt a little hurried compared to the rest of the book. However, enough was wrapped up and worked out in the cozy mystery MC's favor that I didn't overall dislike how it wrapped up.

If you're looking for a cozy mystery with lots of English humor, this is a good fall book for you.

Stars: 3/5

Busy Girls Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for the advanced copy.

This book was provided by Net Galley so thank you to them! Claire and Sophie are an unlikely team of mediums who are hired to do a seance and provide spooky entertainment for a party. No spoiler here but Sophie is actually dead. She works as Claire’s right hand ghost and helps with different things Claire is hired for. This party quickly turns into a Agatha Christie style mystery after a member of the family is murdered and must work to find out whodunnit. From the dead to the living all of these characters had depth and were consistently interesting from beginning to end. I actually cared a lot about Sophie and Claire and wanted to dig in to figure out who was guilty. If you love humorous ghosts, Agatha Christie mysteries or just characters with a lot of heart this is the story for you:)

Details are what make this book a great read. Bell includes the perfect amount, just enough to give the reader an idea but not so much that the story gets bogged down. The setting and character descriptions shine, allowing the story to emerge crystal clear in the reader's mind. Dialogue is spunky and clever. The plot twists are many and the pacing is spot on. I loved the cover, too.

Claire and Sophie, as dysfunctional as they are, have become my new favorite sleuthing duo. Please, tell me this is the start of a new series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available September 5,2023!

Finally a book with a millennial. This is about a burnt out medium who with her bff Sophie agree to take a seemingly simple job at an old manor to preform a seance for an 80 yr old woman’s bday. Only thing is Sophie is a ghost. She’s been haunting Claire since she was 17. Sophie’s family thinks she ran away but Claire knows she was murdered. Despite this traumatic past the duo are unprepared for what they encounter at the manor, a ghost , tragic and unrecognizable, and clearly the spirit who was killed at last years party. They decide to solve the case.

This was a funny read. Well written fast paced and I cackled out loud a lot. It’s a supernatural whodunit with the humor we millennials are known for.

I wanted to like this book - it has a great premise, a fascinating cast of characters, and an interesting location, but I just couldn't get into it. I think this is partly because for more than half the book we weren't sure what the crime was or if it even happened which made the book really drag for me, and partly because the ghost coinvestigator and medium aspect is barely used to solve the crime. Not to mention the constant putdowns on millennials got really annoying after a while, I mean I get it, but I just didn't connect with the humor of it. My favorite character is Alex, and honestly it felt like the author's favorite as well which considering they aren't the main character was awkward.

I am sure there are people who will love this, I am just not one of them.

Funny, silly, goofy, just a fun mystery read. I loved the ghost best friend, stuck in the early 2000's and as much a sidekick as the rest. Like a darker Mystery Gang

I had a lot of fun reading Grave Expectations!
This was a fun murder mystery with a ghostly twist.. in that they don't even know there was a murder until another ghost tells them. This sets Claire and Sophie on a journey with the help of Basher and Alex to figure out who the victim is and who could have killed them.

This was a lot of fun, I loved the relationship between Claire and Sophie. and the growing friendships between Claire, Basher, and Alex. Sophie was a hoot, she actually said LOL when talking, and she is the best ghostie companion I think you could ask for! This story was fun and laugh-out-loud funny, the mystery was intriguing and had me on the edge of my seat, and I loved how everything played out.

I really hope this is going to be a series! I would love to see more of Claire and Sophie along with Basher and Alex solving some more murders!!

The premise of this book was really cool and when I read the synopsis I really thought I was going to enjoy it… unfortunately it was just too slow for me. I felt like it dragged on in some spots.

Maybe I’ll try to give it another chance down the road..

a light fun mystery with a touch of paranormal. claire—a millenial medium whose spirit guide is her dead high school best friend sophie who's stuck at 17 on all levels except physical—is hired to perform a seance at an old english manor for a posh english family's great grandma's 80th birthday party.
one death later, the two discover a faceless ghost in the library, and now it's up to them to figure out which guest from the previous year's party was murdered by which family member(s), with the help of the only likely-innocent alex, the teenaged great-grandchild and basher, the ex-police uncle.
while the whole "investigatoring" was an enjoyable journey, i think the story would benefit from more development in the characters and their relationships. this crime-solving band-of-misfits type of mystery could definitely go for a sequel or two (considering this is a debut novel). feels kinda like knives out if benoit blanc was a millenial and talked to ghosts.
rating: 3.75⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC.

This is such a fun murder mystery and would be the perfect Halloween read. I enjoyed the entire lot of characters in this book, but most especially Sophie. There were also some great LOL moments during the book. I really hope there is going to be sequel because I need more of this gang.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for providing me with an eARC copy of 'Grave Expectations!' I am so happy to have been able to read this book, because it was an absolutely enthralling read. I was consistently wanting to come back to it after I put it down and get back to the world of Claire and Sophie, because it draws you in like any good ghost story. There is so much charm, humor, and heartfelt writing in this book that Alice Bell made what I can only describe as a lovely and cozy paranormal murder mystery. My only hang-up were the British-isms in the book, but that is largely because I am an American. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun ride of a mystery and a cozy book to sink into on a rainy afternoon.

Have you ever wanted a whodunit but with the addition of a real medium? This was really cute actually, lots of likeable characters. A ghost and her living best friend work to solve a murder. Very fast read and enjoyable dialogue. A great Fall read.