Although this read a bit young for my tastes, I enjoyed the mystery and the quirky characters. I tried to make the connection to Great Expectations and couldn't quite get there. The dialogue was snappy but the story seemed to lag, and every stereotype character that you would expect in a mystery novel was represented. The slower pacing had me putting this down and not feeling the pull to pick it up.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

When Claire Hendricks, a struggling-to-make-a-living medium by trade, is invited to a mansion in the English countryside to conduct a seance for the grandmother of an old acquaintance, she knows that she has to say yes, if only for the money. So Claire and Sophie--her best friend who disappeared in their teens and later reappeared as a ghost who only Claire could see and is now stuck forever in the body and mentality of a seventeen year old--travel out to the old manor to join the birthday festivities and meet an array of *interesting* characters along the way.

The morning after they arrive, though, the house is rocked by an unexpected--though happily not murder related--death that leads Claire and Sophie, along with their new somewhat-friends Bastian and Alex, down the road to solve the mystery of another death--this one very much murder related--that occurred in the manor almost a year earlier. A violent enough murder that the ghost Claire sees has no distinguishing features and is unable to speak to her or Sophie to help solve the crime.

Drama, violence, campy British humor, hidden agendas, and a whole lot of astoundingly bad, luck-heavy investigating can be expected if you pick up a copy of Grave Expectations. It's funny, it's honest, it doesn't shy away from heavy emotions, and it never takes itself too seriously, which lends to an overall cozy, amusing experience even as you follow the wannabe Scooby gang through their violent, confusing, layered search for the truth of the ghost(s) both living and dead that haunt the once great family home.

I had a lot of fun with Alice Bell's characters and the fact that, no matter what insanity was taking place on the page, they were still written like real people. They were messy and argumentative and quick to judge and oftentimes not particularly likeable, but they lent so much character and realism to a story that needed that extra grounding to succeed, and it really rounded out the book well. Four glowing stars, and i can't *wait* to get my hands on book two!

This was a cute little book, but it didn’t quite work for me.

I got confused with the characters and what was going on. I don’t think I quite understand the humor in this book.

I did like the main character and her sidekick ghost. I loved Alex. But that’s really all I can say.

The mystery was a bit too slow moving for my liking.

Overall, I’d recommend this book if you like cheeky humor, mediums, and rich isolated plots. It was a unique story, but not quite for me.

I really, really enjoyed this one. It was funny, it kept me engaged throughout the whole book. I loved the characters. Definitely recommend.

I don't understand the Great Expectations reference BUT the characters were so stereotypical and annoying and I wasn't interested in the ghost plot whatsoever so I dnf'd it after the first few chapters.

this wasn’t bad, i can see why people would enjoy this book and the series. i just don’t see myself continuing the series.

This a delightful mystery. The characters include a stunted 30-something, her childhood best friend (who is now a ghost), a former cop, and a Gen Z'er. Together they will figure out who was murdered a year ago and who did the murdering. A lot of fun with a found family element.

I found the story to be quite amusing and unlike any other I've read before. The plotline was intriguing and kept me engaged throughout. However, towards the end, I felt like there could have been a little more depth to the characters and their motives, which left me yearning for more. Despite that, I still enjoyed the story and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unique read.

A fun and entertaining read with some very quirky characters. I loved the duo of Sophie and Claire and would love to read about them again in their crime fighting endeavors. There were some funny moments in just the right places.
Many thanks to Vintage Anchor and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cute first entry in a series about a medium and her sidekick friend, who is unfortunately (or fortunately) a ghost. A nice alternative mystery title, well-executed.

Thank you NetGalley for this advance reader copy in return for my honest and free review. What a delightful story! Incredible mystery, but the humor and characters were the best! So witty and funny, making me laugh through the entire book. Very enjoyable and entertaining! Definitely recommend.

Such an awesome read! I hope this becomes a series! This is a great cozy supernatural mystery! I would recommend this to someone looking to try out the cozy genre, but not looking for anything too cutesy.

I wasn’t sure where this was heading at first but it was such as fun read. The dynamics between our 4 main characters one being a ghost was interesting to watch unfold

Grave Expectations (Grave Expectations #1) by Alice Bell sounded like a paranormal mystery that was going to be right up my alley, but it never quite managed to hook me like I was hoping it would. On paper it sounded good, but for me the cast of characters were much more grating than endearing. I definitely won't be back for the sequel. Thanks anyway, NetGalley.

Alice Bell has written a fun, heartfelt, supernatural cozy mystery. I loved this so much. This seems like a difficult plot and vibe to pull off but it has been done with aplomb.

Not everyone will give a book this fluffy five stars, but I committed a Bad Decision Book Club and stayed up WAY too late because I had to finish it. It swept me along and was so charming and funny, and sad and goofy.

Claire is kind of a mess--early 30s, eking out a poor living as a medium. She's quite bad at most of the job--the showmanship, the schmoozing, pretty much everything except the seeing ghosts. She's great at that. Hired as entertainment for a birthday party at a posh country estate, she gets swept up in a murder mystery, where she is the only (living) person who knows someone is dead.

Claire is a hot mess, which is not a kind of character I generally love. But I think that's because I always end up feeling like there is no reason this person couldn't be making better choices at every juncture. But Claire's reason is real, and very clear--she is surrounded by ghosts and accompanied by Sophie, her childhood best friend who haunts her. So Claire is prone to talking to no one and spends every day being cheerfully heckled by a teenager nobody can see. You'd be weird, too.

The book is so thoughtful about what is hard about Claire's life, and Sophie's, but it is also enormously fun, witty, incisive, and full of clear-eyed observations about Snobby Old Money.

It's going to be a series! I'm so excited!

Thank you, Vintage Anchor, for an ARC of this title for an honest review. This book was very engaging. The dark humor and sarcastic wit were very funny. I really didn't know what to expect from Claire or Sophie. One is stuck in her late teens while one is challenged with growing up to be a responsible adult. I enjoyed the main characters and the supporting characters. A person would really expect ghosts to be helpful and supportive. With the exception of Soph.. not so much. The beginning and the end of the book were great. Unfortunately, the middle sort of dragged on. Also, the drinking binges were not my "cup of tea" and didn't add much to the story. However, the "dildo" art was to die for! Talk about hilarious. I think a young adult would enjoy the book with its relatable characters..

Grave Expectations was a fun whodunnit that didn't take itself too seriously. Think Scooby Doo for adults, but instead of a voracious pup your sidekick is the ghost of your long-dead teenage best friend.

Claire is medium who can see ghosts. In fact, the ghost of her childhood best friend is never far behind and helps communicate with the dead on her behalf. They've been hired to perform a seánce at the large family estate of Figgy, one of Claire's old frenemies from university. Everything is going according to plan - until somebody dies. Nana doesn't wake up the next morning, but her ghost does and she has a bit of unfinished business. While the estate is ripe with the ghosts of the departed there seems to be someone who is lingering around. Someone was murdered on the grounds and it's up to Claire (and Sophie) to figure out just what happened one year ago.

I had a lot of fun reading this one. There were plenty of red herrings throughout and so many possible suspects that kept me guessing. Sophie was a hoot and may have been my favorite character, though I really enjoyed Alex and Bash as well. Claire is just a bit older than I am so it was easy to relate to her and laugh at the moments of elder millennial self-deprecation. There were some moments that dragged a bit and a bunch of characters, so at times I found myself having to really think about who someone was, but other than that I enjoyed myself.

If you're looking for a bit of a cozier read this spooky season then be sure to check out Grave Expectations. I would definitely read from this author again and look forward to checking out their future works.

SUMMARY
Burnt-out Millennial medium Claire is hired as entertainment for the Wellington-Forge family at the family matriarch’s 80th birthday. When Claire and her best-friend-slash-spirit-guide, Sophie, discover that someone was murdered at the previous year’s celebration, they join forces with Bash, a depressed skeptic ex-detective, and Alex, a bon vivant non-binary teenager, to figure out the who, what, when, and why.

REVIEW
I started reading this in line for coffee. It was painful to have to wait to read chapter two, and as soon as I got home, I lit a candle, cozied up in a blanket, and devoured Grave Expectations.

(By the by: Grave Expectations is perfect for the blanket + candle + rainstorm + book combo.)

For all my fellow Gen-Z out there who see a book about a Millennial that’s billed as humorous and go “oh no,” don’t worry. I was cautious too. But the book is genuinely hilarious, full of tongue-in-cheek humor poking fun at shitty rich people, à la Knives Out.

As an American, I did miss some of the cultural references, but never felt lost or confused.

The banter between the characters is excellent; the characters perfectly balance both slotting into their murder mystery character role places and being fully fleshed out individuals.

Claire is a deeply sympathetic but also kind of pathetic main character, whose messy, incompetent method of investigating is balanced well with Sophie’s ghostly ability to walk through walls and acerbic Y2K teenage personality. Not to mention I'm a total sucker for the of "person who can see ghosts but it kind of sucks because dead people are mostly boring;" I find it to be an interesting, often funny take on the whole I See Dead People thing.

The characters are what make this book so memorable, and what make me really hope for a second book. There are still a lot of open threads Bell could follow–for example, what happened to Sophie–that I’m desperate for answers for because I have gotten so attached to these two girls.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I really needed a fun, quick-paced book to read. Grave Expectations hit the spot exactly. The best way I can describe the novel is like a cross between Knives Out and one of Eva Ibbotson’s ghost books (which I was obsessed with as a kid).

If you’re the kind of person who like a witty, sharp murder mystery and modern paranormal fantasy, I heavily suggest you give Grave Expectations a read.

Thank you to Vintage Anchor for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley.

If possible, support indie bookshops or your local library!!

3.5 stars.
I'm not entirely sure what I expected going into this book, but I was pleasantly surprised by the fun paranormal cozy I encountered. The characters felt well-fleshed out (ha) and the mystery was intriguing. I didn't end up guessing the "villain," but wasn't too upset as the big reveal was pretty fun. While it got fairly slow in the middle, I still enjoyed this read.