A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone

Breakers by Doug Johnstone was one of my books of 2019 so I was really excited to read his brand new one, A Dark Matter. It didn't disappoint. I'm delighted to share my review as part of the blog tour and my thanks go to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me. I read and reviewed from my own purchased copy.

The Blurb:

After an unexpected death, three generations of women takeover the family funeral-home and PI businesses in the first book of a brilliant, page-turning and darkly funny new series

The Skelfs are a 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 women, 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... It 's a compelling and tense thriller and a darkly funny, warm portrait of a family in turmoil.

A Dark Matter was published as an eBook on 23rd November 2019 by Orenda Books. The paperback version will be released on 23rd of this month. You can buy or pre order your copy from the publisher (eBook only), Waterstones (paperback only), Amazon and all good booksellers.

My Review:

As I mentioned at the top of this post, I loved Johnstone's last book, the McIlvanney Prize shortlisted Breakers, so had high expectations for this one. A Dark Matter focuses on another, very different,  Edinburgh family and I loved it just as much.

Following the death of Jim Skelf, his wife Dorothy, assisted by daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah, takes over both his businesses - the funeral home and the private investigations. The women are assisted in the funeral business by employees Archie and Indy, Hannah's girlfriend. All of them, but particularly the Skelf women, are trying to process their grief at Jim's death whilst finding their feet with these new businesses. And the three women find it very difficult, each reacting in different ways.

There is a lot going on in this book, with three or four different story lines running through it. This provides lots of supporting characters but the book is really about Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah and each chapter focuses on one of the women.

I loved Dorothy right away. Strong and practical, she knows what she needs to do and gets on with it. She keeps her grief in check, only occasionally letting it spill out. And I smiled at her choice of hobby, given the author's involvement in the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers. Jenny is harder to like, at least initially, as I found her quite irritating as she tries to adjust to her new life. I warmed to her as the book progressed although I facepalmed at one or two of her decisions. Hannah brought out the most emotion in me. I loved her passion and desire for truth, and felt her grief. I would defy anyone not to like Indy, and Archie is a stoic, reliable presence, a constant in all their lives. 

There are so many things I love about this book. I was fascinated with the workings of the funeral business. How both businesses were run from the kitchen table. I loved that the three main characters are women, strong ones at that. Four, if you count Indy. I loved that it featured a real, deep platonic friendship between a man and a woman, something that is rarely featured in books (at least the ones I read) and which is often misunderstood in real life. I loved that amongst the fear, lies, crimes and death, this is a book  about trust, family, and how to live.

Johnstone gets people. He writes them well. They are fully formed on the page, enabling us to know them and relate to them. And this is true of the minor characters too, even those who don't feature for long. There were some real emotional, moving moments in the book, often, although not always, around the kitchen table. I wanted to cry for Hannah as she searched for missing Mel whilst grieving for her grandfather, and Indy tugged my heartstrings more than once. There is a moment when Dorothy thinks about all the people they have buried or cremated over the years which just made me stop and reread the passage. I found it sad, hard hitting and powerful.

Of course, this is also a crime story, and the conclusion of the main thread blew me away. I just hadn't seen it coming, and the denouement was something else. And I loved the other mysteries that weaved their way around this one, each with it's own little cast. Not a word was wasted and I sped through the book in two days. I adored it, and I'm delighted that it's the first in a series, because I'm not ready to say goodbye to the Skelfs just yet. 

The Author:

Doug Johnstone is the author of ten novels, most recently Breakers (2018), which was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2019 for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his work has been praised by the likes of Val McDermid, Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions – including a funeral home – and has been an arts journalist for twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh.