Living is a Problem by Doug Johnstone

We might only be on week five of our #SkelfSummer over on X/Twitter but the blog tour for the sixth book is under way. Welcome to my stop for Living is a Problem, the latest novel featuring the Shelf women, by Doug Johnstone. Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the for my review copy. I will be buying my own copy at the forthcoming Bloody Scotland crime writing festival (watch out for a blog post about that later this week).

The Blurb

The Skelf women are back on an even keel after everything they’ve been through. But when a funeral they’re conducting is attacked by a drone, Jenny fears they’re in the middle of an Edinburgh gangland vendetta.

At the same time, Yana, a Ukrainian member of the refugee choir that plays with Dorothy’s band, has gone missing. Searching for her leads Dorothy into strange and ominous territory.

And Brodie, the newest member of the extended Skelf family, comes to Hannah with a case: Something or someone has been disturbing the grave of his stillborn son.

Everything is changing for the Skelfs … Dorothy’s boyfriend Thomas is suffering PTSD after previous violent trauma, Jenny and Archie are becoming close, and Hannah’s case leads her to consider the curious concept of panpsychism, which brings new danger, while ghosts from the family’s past return to threaten their very lives...

Living is a Problem is published by Orenda Books and comes out on 12th September 2024.

 

My Review

I'm so pleased the Skelfs are back, I love this series! But don't worry if you haven't read the previous books, this one is absolutely readable, and very enjoyable, as a standalone - everything you need to know is there. However, and I always say this, you will probably have a richer reading experience if you start at the beginning of the series - if you search Doug's name on the blog you'll find my reviews of the previous books in the series (except for the fourth one, Black Hearts, which I've read but not yet reviewed) and several of his other books.

For anyone who's not familiar with the series, the Skelfs are three generations of women, Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah, who run both an undertakers and a private investigator business from Dorothy's kitchen table. Doug Johnstone has put these women through the wringer over the course of the series but things are settled as the story opens. That is until a drone attacks the funeral of a local criminal and sprays the mourners with pepper spray... As is so often the case, funeral business becomes intertwined with PI business. And that's just one strand of this multi strand story. 

Dorothy is fantastic. Seventy something, she is still active, involved and very much the boss. And incredibly cool. She listens to very cool music -  I know this, because I've not heard of most of the bands. I actually knew of three of the bands mentioned this time around, but one of those was ABBA so that doesn't really count. And she plays drums for The Multiverse, the band collective that has built up around her. They play at local events and the community funerals held for those people with no family. Dorothy is very much the beating heart of the Shelf family and kind of the blue that holds everyone together. And she really feels that in this story. Less so here, perhaps, for Jenny and Hannah, but more for extended, adopted family members - Yana from The Multiverse, young Brodie, and particularly her boyfriend, Thomas. Oh goodness, I felt for him in this story - so clearly troubled. 

It took me a few books to warm to Jenny, she was the one I felt least connected with, but I'm there now. And I'm delighted to see that she's feeling much happier now and looking at life a lot differently. And Archie, long term employee of the Skelfs and Jenny's friend, is really coming into his own - I'm looking at him in a whole new light! Hannah, in some ways, despite being so young, has been the most settled of the three women. Married to wife Indy, who works in the undertaker side of the business, she's finished her PHD in exoplanets (she's got a big brain, I reckon!), she's deciding what to do with her life, looking at lots of big, interesting questions along the way. 

There are three main storylines here, all of which will pull on the heartstrings despite an underlying feeling of threat in at least two of them. This is a crime novel,after all, and there are some really tense moments. But what I've loved about every Doug Johnstone book I've read is just how much heart there is in all of them. And the big issues that he is able to touch on. 

This is another brilliant entry into the Skelf collection, centred around three fantastic, beautifully written and fully fleshed out women. Doug Johnstone seems equally comfortable writing about environmental funerals (I'm fascinated by both the resomator and the mushroom suit) as he is writing about dodgy cops. Living is a Problem touches on family, loyalty, loss, stillbirth, PTSD, grief, revenge, dignity and love. It's all there. And I can't imagine anyone other than Doug Johnstone writing a book that includes electronic drones, a wind phone (I love this), panpsychism, the Hearing Voices Network and Biffy Clyro!  It's another triumph. 

The Author

Doug Johnstone is the author of seventeen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black
Hearts was shortlisted for and The Big Chill was longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. Three of his books – A Dark Matter, Breakers and The Jump – have been
shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral home. He’s also been an arts journalist for 25 years. He is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club and lives in Edinburgh with his family.