Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 Audiobook performance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 Spice: N/A

by Alice Bell (September 3, 2024) Many thanks to @prhaudio and @vintageanchorbooks for the gifted audiobook! Basher, Alex, Claire, and her dead best friend Sophie are back in this highly anticipated follow-up to 2023’s Grave Expectations. This series is a brilliant blend of caustic humor, millennial life struggles, and crime-solving—like a modern-day Scooby Gang with an edge.

After the events of the first book, former detective Basher and his non-binary nibling Alex have formed a unique found family with Claire, a medium, and Sophie, the ghost of her best friend. Desperate for some R&R, the gang heads to a remote Irish island for a getaway. But they quickly realize they’re the odd ones out among the owner’s old college friends—and the ghostly pirates of shipwrecks past who are hunting for their lost loot. While Bash is distracted by a handsome guest and Sophie by a charming ghost, Claire can’t shake the ominous vibes from the place—especially when she keeps stumbling across dead bodies. As the body count rises, so do the tensions, forcing the gang to set aside their differences and solve the mystery. Oh, and did I mention they’re trapped on the island during a storm, with no way to communicate or escape?

I absolutely adore these deeply sarcastic and uniquely loving characters who, despite not all being related by blood—or even all being alive—have forged a true family. Even in the midst of danger and chaos, the dialogue is sharp and humorous, cutting through the intensity while providing an incredibly entertaining and multi-faceted murder mystery.

The audiobook is narrated by Sophie Roberts, who delivers a pitch-perfect performance that captures the essence of these wonderfully quirky characters.

What was the last mystery book you enjoyed? If you don’t read mysteries, what are you reading now?