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steph1rothwell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
emmasbibliotreasures's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“If they didn’t solve these mysteries, who would?”
I’m a big fan of Doug Johnstone’s Skelfs Series but I started it by reading the second instalment, and then somehow skipped a couple of others. So when I received an email from Orenda Books asking if I would like to take part in Skelf Summer - six weeks of reading the series in order leading up to the publication of book six in September - I jumped at the chance.
First up is A Dark Matter, in which we are introduced to Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah Skelf, three generations of a well-known Edinburgh family that own a long-established funeral home and private investigation business. At the start of the book, they are mourning the death of patriarch Jim while also trying to get on with the day-to-day task of running their businesses. When Dorothy discovers mysterious payments being made to another woman each month going back years, she realises that Jim had been keeping secrets. Meanwhile, Hannah’s best friend Mel has disappeared and the police aren’t interested in investigating, leaving her to take on that challenge herself, and a simple adultery investigation leads Jenny onto an unexpected path. But they are unprepared for the dark and shocking revelations they are about to unveil…
Suspenseful, twisting, darkly funny and addictive, this is a fantastic start to Doug Johnstone’s original series. I have no idea how he came up with the idea of three generations of women running a funeral home and private investigators, but it is a brilliant concept that I can’t get enough of. The three women at its heart are intelligent, fierce, warm, wickedly funny, likeable but flawed, and easy to root for. Matirach Dorothy may be in her seventies, but has lost none of her zeal and is determined to get to the bottom of the secret payments Jim had been making. Her daughter and granddaughter are equally tenacious and they all have a quiet fortitude that they must draw on as their investigations intersect in unexpected ways, leading to shocking revelations that will change their lives forever.
Doug Johnstone never misses. His writing is atmospheric, tense, propulsive, witty and full of complex emotions that keep the reader hooked. He explores difficult subjects such as predatory men, the danger they pose and how blase so many have become about the issue. Another big topic in this book is grief and how differently we are all affected, portraying it in ways that are relatable, touching and full of black humour. But it is how intricately he intertwined the storylines in unexpected ways, throwing in red herrings and unforeseen twists, that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.
This is a must read for any thriller fan.
I’m a big fan of Doug Johnstone’s Skelfs Series but I started it by reading the second instalment, and then somehow skipped a couple of others. So when I received an email from Orenda Books asking if I would like to take part in Skelf Summer - six weeks of reading the series in order leading up to the publication of book six in September - I jumped at the chance.
First up is A Dark Matter, in which we are introduced to Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah Skelf, three generations of a well-known Edinburgh family that own a long-established funeral home and private investigation business. At the start of the book, they are mourning the death of patriarch Jim while also trying to get on with the day-to-day task of running their businesses. When Dorothy discovers mysterious payments being made to another woman each month going back years, she realises that Jim had been keeping secrets. Meanwhile, Hannah’s best friend Mel has disappeared and the police aren’t interested in investigating, leaving her to take on that challenge herself, and a simple adultery investigation leads Jenny onto an unexpected path. But they are unprepared for the dark and shocking revelations they are about to unveil…
Suspenseful, twisting, darkly funny and addictive, this is a fantastic start to Doug Johnstone’s original series. I have no idea how he came up with the idea of three generations of women running a funeral home and private investigators, but it is a brilliant concept that I can’t get enough of. The three women at its heart are intelligent, fierce, warm, wickedly funny, likeable but flawed, and easy to root for. Matirach Dorothy may be in her seventies, but has lost none of her zeal and is determined to get to the bottom of the secret payments Jim had been making. Her daughter and granddaughter are equally tenacious and they all have a quiet fortitude that they must draw on as their investigations intersect in unexpected ways, leading to shocking revelations that will change their lives forever.
Doug Johnstone never misses. His writing is atmospheric, tense, propulsive, witty and full of complex emotions that keep the reader hooked. He explores difficult subjects such as predatory men, the danger they pose and how blase so many have become about the issue. Another big topic in this book is grief and how differently we are all affected, portraying it in ways that are relatable, touching and full of black humour. But it is how intricately he intertwined the storylines in unexpected ways, throwing in red herrings and unforeseen twists, that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.
This is a must read for any thriller fan.
lambsears's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first instalment in another series of murder mysteries, suggested to me to ease my loss at finishing the Ruth Galloway books.
While I'm super-impressed at the sensitive depiction of this family of women by a male author, some of the story line in this first one was a bit of a stretch for me. But it certainly has potential so I'll persist.
While I'm super-impressed at the sensitive depiction of this family of women by a male author, some of the story line in this first one was a bit of a stretch for me. But it certainly has potential so I'll persist.
lunaseline's review against another edition
3.0
Okej, nu kommer jag överanlysera en helt vanlig, skotsk (like!) deckare. Men det får Johnstone ta, för i vanliga fall känner jag honom som den som analyserar andras böcker (i bokkrönikan i The Big Issue - hög kvalitet!).
Grejen är att något skaver i könsrollerna här. Men frågan är om det ligger hos Johnstone, eller hos mig? Upplägget är nämligen tämligen nice: Vi har tre generationer kvinnor, där patriarken gått ur tiden, mellangenerationens man har ny familj och dottern lever tillsammans med en kvinna. Kvinnokraft all over the place. Samtidigt som en annan kvinna försvinner, utan att omvärlden bryr sig tillräckligt, och medan männen fortsätter leva sina privilegierade liv. Typ.
Det resoneras flitigt kring mäns beteenden och enkelheten i hur de tar för sig. Kvinnorna är lurade, utnyttjade... och arga. Fint så.
Men ... Johnstone är man. Jag vet ju det - har ju sett hans byline-bild flera gånger. Så: jag kommer inte ifrån att han... försöker lite för mycket? Vara den upplysta killen, liksom: han som vet att män är svin och kvinnor är bäst.
Men ärlighet varar längst: hade författaren varit kvinnlig hade jag dömt ut henne som överdrivet arg feminist.
Ni fattar - mitt övertänkande stör läsningen en aning. Gillar ju egentligen grunderna: de tre olika kvinnliga karaktärerna, miljön, att det är så många sidohistorier. Och språket (inte fantastiskt eller speciellt, men över medel pga slipad skribent).
Slutet är jag rätt kluven inför, men det är på sätt och vis rätt modigt, med tanke på hur bra Johnstone beskriver en viss relation genom bokens gång. Hela "begravningsbyrå"-grejen är lite på äcklighets-gränsen ibland, men ändå lite originellt.
Jag kanske återkommer.
Grejen är att något skaver i könsrollerna här. Men frågan är om det ligger hos Johnstone, eller hos mig? Upplägget är nämligen tämligen nice: Vi har tre generationer kvinnor, där patriarken gått ur tiden, mellangenerationens man har ny familj och dottern lever tillsammans med en kvinna. Kvinnokraft all over the place. Samtidigt som en annan kvinna försvinner, utan att omvärlden bryr sig tillräckligt, och medan männen fortsätter leva sina privilegierade liv. Typ.
Det resoneras flitigt kring mäns beteenden och enkelheten i hur de tar för sig. Kvinnorna är lurade, utnyttjade... och arga. Fint så.
Men ... Johnstone är man. Jag vet ju det - har ju sett hans byline-bild flera gånger. Så: jag kommer inte ifrån att han... försöker lite för mycket? Vara den upplysta killen, liksom: han som vet att män är svin och kvinnor är bäst.
Men ärlighet varar längst: hade författaren varit kvinnlig hade jag dömt ut henne som överdrivet arg feminist.
Ni fattar - mitt övertänkande stör läsningen en aning. Gillar ju egentligen grunderna: de tre olika kvinnliga karaktärerna, miljön, att det är så många sidohistorier. Och språket (inte fantastiskt eller speciellt, men över medel pga slipad skribent).
Slutet är jag rätt kluven inför, men det är på sätt och vis rätt modigt, med tanke på hur bra Johnstone beskriver en viss relation genom bokens gång. Hela "begravningsbyrå"-grejen är lite på äcklighets-gränsen ibland, men ändå lite originellt.
Jag kanske återkommer.
laurac90's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
celtic67's review against another edition
5.0
This is a dark tale of a dysfunctional family. Aren't we all? More on the blog tour!
kayleyb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
An enjoyable though dark first book in a series set in Edinburgh Scotland and featuring three generations of females who are running a combination funeral home and private detection business.
kellyvandamme's review against another edition
5.0
A Dark Matter is a kind of family saga set in Edinburgh and focusing on three generations of women: matriarch Dorothy, her daughter Jenny and her granddaughter Hannah. The story starts with a bang: Jim, the patriarch of the family, has died, leaving his family and his businesses in turmoil and at the start of A Dark Matter,we find ourselves witnessing Jim being burned on a pyre in the garden. Not what you expected? No, me neither, but my attention was grabbed from the very first page!
Dorothy, who was already involved in the funeral home side of the business, is now suddenly also in charge of the private investigator business. Frankly, this combination struck me as odd at first, until someone in the novel pointed out that bereft family members are often left with a lot of questions about the deceased, which made total sense to me.
Throughout A Dark Matter, we learn a little something about the funeral business – nothing too explicit or horrendous, don’t worry – and I found this fascinating. Doug Johnstone tackles the delicate subject of death with grace and a dark, deadpan humour. Reading between the lines, the reader becomes well aware of how much the Skelf women are hurting, that they are trying to get over their grief by finding ways to carry on, by focusing on other matters at hand, in doing so becoming perhaps a tad obsessed.
Dorothy discovers that her husband was making monthly payments into the account of a woman she doesn’t know and becomes obsessed with it. Who is this woman, who was she to Jim, why was he paying her?
Hannah is desperate to find out what happened to her friend / roommate who has vanished and doesn’t care on whose toes she steps on her way to the truth.
And Jenny, who walked away from the family businesses years ago but after her father’s death, feels obliged to help out, and since she’s just been fired, it’s not like she has anything better to do. She crosses various lines trying to help Hannah and she’s also working her first PI case (presumed adultery).
A Dark Matter is clearly written post #MeToo, touching upon subjects like sexual intimidation, boundaries and crossing lines, the difference for men and women, the difference between what was considered sexual intimidation a few decades ago and now, and is in its own subtle way quite thought-provoking.
Although less gritty and harrowing, less emotional and emotionally draining than Breakers, A Dark Matter and its characters got under my skin just the same, albeit on another level. The short chapters alternating between the three women drew me into the story, and before long, I was rather obsessed myself, once again getting grumpy whenever life interrupted my reading. There is nothing about A Dark Matter that I didn’t love, from the original funeral home setting to the various PI cases, from the Skelf women to the supporting characters and of course Schrodinger, the cat (I am definitely naming my next cat Schrodinger!), from the dramatic start to the dramatic finale (I love it when a plan comes together, but I love it even more when a story comes together!)
A Dark Matter is further proof that Doug Johnstone is as versatile a writer as they come and maybe it’s just my imagination because we talked about him being an musician for #MusicMonday, but it feels to me like there’s rhythm and music in his words.
A Dark Matter is the first book in what is supposed to become a trilogy, or even a series, and I can’t wait for the next installment! Recommended!
Dorothy, who was already involved in the funeral home side of the business, is now suddenly also in charge of the private investigator business. Frankly, this combination struck me as odd at first, until someone in the novel pointed out that bereft family members are often left with a lot of questions about the deceased, which made total sense to me.
Throughout A Dark Matter, we learn a little something about the funeral business – nothing too explicit or horrendous, don’t worry – and I found this fascinating. Doug Johnstone tackles the delicate subject of death with grace and a dark, deadpan humour. Reading between the lines, the reader becomes well aware of how much the Skelf women are hurting, that they are trying to get over their grief by finding ways to carry on, by focusing on other matters at hand, in doing so becoming perhaps a tad obsessed.
Dorothy discovers that her husband was making monthly payments into the account of a woman she doesn’t know and becomes obsessed with it. Who is this woman, who was she to Jim, why was he paying her?
Hannah is desperate to find out what happened to her friend / roommate who has vanished and doesn’t care on whose toes she steps on her way to the truth.
And Jenny, who walked away from the family businesses years ago but after her father’s death, feels obliged to help out, and since she’s just been fired, it’s not like she has anything better to do. She crosses various lines trying to help Hannah and she’s also working her first PI case (presumed adultery).
A Dark Matter is clearly written post #MeToo, touching upon subjects like sexual intimidation, boundaries and crossing lines, the difference for men and women, the difference between what was considered sexual intimidation a few decades ago and now, and is in its own subtle way quite thought-provoking.
Although less gritty and harrowing, less emotional and emotionally draining than Breakers, A Dark Matter and its characters got under my skin just the same, albeit on another level. The short chapters alternating between the three women drew me into the story, and before long, I was rather obsessed myself, once again getting grumpy whenever life interrupted my reading. There is nothing about A Dark Matter that I didn’t love, from the original funeral home setting to the various PI cases, from the Skelf women to the supporting characters and of course Schrodinger, the cat (I am definitely naming my next cat Schrodinger!), from the dramatic start to the dramatic finale (I love it when a plan comes together, but I love it even more when a story comes together!)
A Dark Matter is further proof that Doug Johnstone is as versatile a writer as they come and maybe it’s just my imagination because we talked about him being an musician for #MusicMonday, but it feels to me like there’s rhythm and music in his words.
A Dark Matter is the first book in what is supposed to become a trilogy, or even a series, and I can’t wait for the next installment! Recommended!