A Dark Matter – Doug Johnstone
Three generations of women from the Skelfs family take over the family funeral home and PI businesses in the first book of a taut, page-turning and darkly funny new series.
Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators…
When patriarch Jim dies, it’s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events.
Dorothy discovers mysterious payments to another woman, suggesting that Jim wasn’t the husband she thought he was. Hannah’s best friend Mel has vanished from university, and the simple adultery case that Jenny takes on leads to something stranger and far darker than any of them could have imagined.
As the women struggle to come to terms with their grief, and the demands of the business threaten to overwhelm them, secrets from the past emerge, which change everything…
My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours who invited me to join the Blog Tour
Throughout January (and before) I have seen readers and reviewers sing the praises of A Dark Matter. I knew I was closing out the blog tour today and anticipation was high. I was not disappointed – this is an amazing book and I was glued to it.
The Skelf family run a funeral home in Edinburgh. They also have a private investigator sideline – a terrific combination with so much potential for overlapping interests. Yet we meet the Skelf family at a difficult time. Jim Skelf has died and his family have built a funeral pyre to cremated his body. His wife Dorothy, Daughter Jenny and grand daughter Hannah are left to carry on both sides of the family business while mourning Jim’s passing. However it seems Jim had more than his share of secrets and it is not long before Dorothy begins to question how well she actually knew the man she spent most of her life married to.
There is so much going on in A Dark Matter that I struggle to identify which threads of the story I want to sing praise for as they are all magnificent. Hannah (the youngest Skelf) is concerned over the disappearance of her friend, she begins her own investigation as the police don’t seem interested. Her determination is inspiring.
Jenny is the link between generations and is caught up in the private investigator side of the business. She is the character I found most compelling as her “journey” seems the most rocky but she gets some brilliant kick-ass moments which had me punching the air in delight.
Dorothy is more about the funeral services and she is also most concerned with her husband and the secrets he seems to have kept. As with all families there are secrets but the Skelf’s seem to have cornered the market on dark secrets. There are many skeletons in their cupboards.
I mention there is lots going on in A Dark Matter but it doesn’t ever feel cluttered or out of focus. Doug Johnsone has pitched this perfectly – all the Skelf’s have drama, challenges and horrible truths to face and it will shape them in the books which I understand will follow this. I cannot wait to see what comes next.
A Dark Matter allows three generations to shine and to bond. Their investigations are funny and upsetting and reveal the darker side of our society these days. The funeral home scenes show respect and sympathy and some fascinating insights into what goes on behind the scenes at a time people are most vulnerable.
Worthy of all the praise that is lavished upon it – the first “Must Read” of 2020.
A Dark Matter is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07X9X2J4X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
