The Great Silence

The Great Silence by Doug Johnstone is the third part of a series of books about the Skelfs, a family of women running two businesses - a funeral parlour and an investigation agency. They took over the businesses when Dorothy's husband died.

When Dorothy takes Einstein for a walk she is surprised when the dog brings her the foot of a human. Dorothy is determined to locate the body that the foot belongs to so it can be properly buried. But this is not the only puzzle being investigated. When sightings are reported of large cats at large in the area it is necessary to discover who owns the animals causing havoc in the neighbourhood. Then there is the case brought to the agency by members of a family concerned that their mother's younger lover is going to prevent them from inheriting the family fortune. For something different, there is also the case of Hannah's tutor who thinks he is receiving messages from space.And why does Abbi's father suddenly want to see her?

Continuing the story from the previous two books, Jenny's ex-husband is still on the run and terrorising family members including kidnapping his young daughter.

As the women run the funeral business and investigate mysteries they also have to deal with personal challenges. This book provides another installment concerning the lives of this courageous family.

The Big Chill

On TV dramas everything gets tied up, they catch the killer and get resolution. They have a chuckle and make a quip, end credits, tune in next week. (p294)

The Big Chill, the second book in The Skelfs series by Douglas Johnstone is a book where there are a number of investigations but although new information is discovered, not all cases are completely resolved.

By the end of the book Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah had " a dead homeless addict whose father refused to acknowledge him because he was gay. They had a woman who had lied to her daughter her whole life. A suicide to end the horror of terminal cancer. And a killer on the loose." (p294)

The novel, set in Edinburgh, is about three generations of women in the Skelf family who attempt to run the family business - a funeral parlour and a private investigation agency. It is a story about the lives of these three women and also about the lives of the people they encounter in their work. The women face many personal challenges which they try to resolve as well as being professional in their work.

A Dark Matter, the first book in the series provides much of the background for The Big Chill. The Great Silence, recently published, will continue the story of this determined family and their attempts to assist others.

Mirrorland

Mirrorland is the world created by El and Cat, identical twins, to escape from the traumas of their life. They live with their mother and grandfather at no. 36 Westeryk Road in Edinburgh and retreat to Mirrorland not only to reenact stories told to them by their mother but to escape from danger when necessary. Being identical twins the girls have had a special relationship which has been fractured at one stage resulting in Cat leaving Edinburgh to live in the USA.

Then Cat receives news that her sister is missing and immediately returns to her former home, to a world of long forgotten memories and danger. Forced to confront childhood memories Cat knows that she is in danger but does not know who to trust. Anonymous cards and email messages increase her fear as she follows clues for a treasure hunt that bring back memories from the past.

Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone is the chilling story of the physical and mental abuse endured by El and Cat, initially as children but continued as adults. There are many twists and turns until the truth is finally revealed in this challenging thriller which kept me reading until late at night. Like Fifty-fifty this is another recently published book about complicated relationships between sisters.

A Dark Matter

When Jim Skelf died Dorothy, Jenny, and Hannah were left to run the family funeral parlour and private investigation agency. This could only be described as a sharp learning curve for the three women as they also struggled with the loss of Jim - a husband, father and grandfather.

Dorothy was forced to wonder how well she knew her husband when she discovered that he had been making regular payments into the bank account of a woman she did not know. Discovering the truth about this matter is a major, but not the only, plotline in the novel. When Hannah's friend, Mel, disappears Hannah focusses on finding out what happened to her, Jenny is asked to investigate a case of possible adultery while Dorothy and Hannah attempt to discover why objects are disappearing from the home of an elderly gentleman. There are also funerals to attend to.

Descriptions of Edinburgh feature in the novel while the three women undertake their investigations and also come to terms with their grief. This is possibly the first in a series of books about the Skelfs.