I’m delighted to be joining the #SkelfSummer for Orenda Books, celebrating the Skelf series by Doug Johnstone. Today I’m resharing my review of A Dark Matter, which I originally wrote in January 2020. As always my post is shared with thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for inviting me on the tours, and for my copies of the books.

Blurb:

Review:

Having read Breakers a few weeks ago I was looking forward to reading A Dark Matter. It’s very different but it’s incredibly enjoyable and it’s a promising start to a new series.

Like Breakers, A Dark Matter is set in Edinburgh, but we do see a very different side to the city. Johnstone paints a very lifelike portrait of the student area of Edinburgh and the sense of community within this population. The Skelfs themselves have two family run businesses which adds to this feeling.

Through A Dark Matter we meet three generations of the Skelf family. Johnstone has drawn these characters really well and the three different viewpoints of the novel allowed me to glimpse into their lives. He highlights the differences between the generations really well and I found it very easy to sympathise with them. I look forward to learning more about them as the series continues.

There are many different strands to the plot of A Dark Matter and each one is equally engaging. Johnstone addresses some interesting themes, some of which may be a little dark for some readers, but I appreciated the way he brought important topics of modern times to light in a unique way.

A Dark Matter is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: