Today I’m joining the blog tour for Living Is A Problem. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

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.

Funny, shocking and profound, Living Is A Problem is the highly anticipated sixth instalment of the unforgettable Skelfs series – shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Novel and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Book of the Year – where life and death become intertwined more than ever before…

Review:

I am absolutely delighted to be back with the Skelfs and, yet again, the latest book in the series is my favourite! It just keeps getting better and better. There are a lot of references to events that happened in the previous books, so Living Is A Problem can’t really be read as a standalone novel, but I definitely recommend reading from the beginning!

As usual with the Skelf series, our narrators are Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah. Their separate chapters allow us to see their individual personalities, but at the same time, it demonstrates how close they are as a family unit and I love the way they work together, be it as undertakers or private detectives. Over the series, Doug Johnstone has developed these characters fantastically well, and I love how with each instalment, he shows us just a little more of each one and allows them to grow. There is also a very strong group of supporting characters who have gradually grown in number, such as Indy, Archie and Thomas, and these too have fascinating stories that really enhance the depth of the book.

Living Is A Problem is made up of a few different plot lines which run alongside each other. I read the novel to a backdrop of devastating news of riots and racism in the UK, so reading about how the Skelfs help each other and the community was truly heartwarming. Doug Johnstone shines a light on many current issues in a compassionate way that I found taught me a.lot about subjects such as refugees, environmental practices and homelessness, and I love that crime fiction is able to do this for me. There are also elements of the plot that are tense and full of danger, and these also make the novel very compelling.

I have to comment on the references to music and popular culture, which keep Living Is A Problem rooted in modern times. Doug Johnstone incorporates these in the story extremely well and he obviously deserves credit for the references to a brilliant band in Biffy Clyro! 

I hope there is more to come from the Skelfs very soon!

Living Is A Problem is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: