The Graveyard Watch

If only all famous books were as good as this book.
It takes a huge amount of talent to debut with something so unique and well-written.

This story has everything: myths, supernatural creatures, romance and a great sense of humour.

We follow a police department called the Graveyard Watch that deals with all the “undead” affairs. Our main characters squad is Domingo (the coolest boss ever), Jocasta (a new pathologist, who is a regular human being and knows nothing about what is going on), Will (a charming Captain) and Sebastien (a French bulldog, pardon me, werewolf). As we go through the events of the present, we also get to know the past of Domingo which reveals the complete picture to us.

Throughout the entire book I experienced proper the X-Files vibes. And, as a former biggest fan of the show, I absolutely fell in love with this work. It has it all: a department of “weirdos”, a sceptic who slowly starts to believe in supernatural creatures, ancient secret societies and so on.

I can’t wait to read what is going to happen to characters in the next books.

Special thank you for including so many nationalities in the storyline. It made my little immigrant heart flatter.

Please note: I’ve received ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book!

It’s a book that really captures you and you won’t want to put it down!

The book follows the team called a graveyard watch, they have case that they need solve by any means necessary. The book follows 2 timelines and switches prospective between the characters.

I enjoyed the different characters and how you got to know them. The accents being used were brilliant, werewolf being French gave me the same vibes as Michel Gerard from Gilmore girls - loved it!!

Overall I would give this book a 5/5, it was witty, funny & I cant wait to read the other books that continue the adventures of this team.

Jocastor Lewis thinks her pathology career is going down the drains, nothing could be further from the truth (well, correction, some things do go down the drains and you might not want to follow them). I thought this was a superbly entertaining fantasy book. YA and up. Maybe a little MIB with understated pan-European/New World panache and flair, and no big bug guns (well some bugs and maybe a few guns but, also there are so many other ways to attack monsters including using your brain, charm and science). Throw in amusing characters, some villains with plans to foil, lots of humour, and an all round entertaining story. 5 Stars all day (and night)!! Thank you to Small Bear Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Absolutely Brilliant! R.J. Eason has created a wonderful world. The paranormal world needs this book. Fun, clever, just the right amount of romance, it's a fast paced marathon. Well Done. I'm looking forward to more of these.

Great Book!
Graveyard Watch follows a department that solves unusual cases involving the supernatural. With a great cast of characters it’s easy to fall into this well written world and the relationships in between each character.
I have to say I fell in love with all the characters for different reasons but Sebastien just stood out as my favourite.
This book has everything I want in one. Supernatural, mystery, romance, great friendship and romance.
Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an ARC in return for an honest review

What a well-written and fun read this was.
Pathologist Jocasta has been redeployed to a previously unheard of division called the Graveyard Watch after being passed over for promotion. She quickly becomes aware that her new colleagues are not quite what they seem, and the cases she is given are not what she is used to dealing with.
Quite frankly I loved all the main characters, each with their own unique personality which came through in the dialogue as well as the prose. I sincerely hope this is the first of a series! I also loved the humour which was not forced or cringey.
If I have one niggle it is that the cover artwork, as much as I like it, hits the wrong note for me regarding the audience for this book. If I saw it on a shelf I would probably guess at a teenage market, whereas the book has appeal across the ages from teen upwards.

Thank you to Small Bear Books and Netgalley. My opinions are purely my own.

I really enjoyed reading this, it had a unique concept in the genre. I enjoyed that it was interesting and the fantasy elements worked well overall. R. J. Eason does a great job in writing the world and the characters were everything that I was looking for.

4.5 / 5

By far one of my favourite reads of 2023 (and I would go as far to say 2024 which is when it's officially released. It has everything I am looking for in a fantasy / crime / mystery / mythical genre and so much more.

It begins my following Jocasta and pathologist who ends up joining 'The Graveyard Watch' much to her disappointment, only to find this really is a graveyard watch... of 'undead' affairs and doings. We learn there's more to her team of colleagues than originally thought with a mix of vampires, godly figures, werewolves and gnomes.

For the first book (I'm saying this in the hopes there are many more) there's obviously a lot of scene setting and developing the characters as well as the storyline. I was a bit confused at first trying to follow the multiple storylines (one present and one past) but they soon catch up together and I got my head around it.

Overall I really enjoyed this and absolutely want more of it!!

4.5/5 ⭐

The Graveyard Watch follows the story of a young pathologist, Jocasta Lewis who has just been transferred from her job at the Uni College Hospital to the Graveyard Watch, a change she’s not too happy about. The cases assigned to Jocasta in this new department get more and more mysterious. Could they all be linked to a bigger picture? One that Jocasta just can’t put her finger on?

Personally, this book had me hooked till the last chapter. Whilst the first few chapters were a bit slow-paced and the time-shifts a bit confusing at times, seeing the full picture has made me understand why not rushing the beginning was necessary and how it actually made the story even better. The whole world building is done so well. It’s evenly spaced throughout the book giving the reader time to absorb the new world Jocasta and the reader are put into. Overall, as a plot it hits all the right tropes; mystery, fantasy, crime and an amazing romance plot which runs alongside all the others. Moreover, the plot twists around every corner keep you on the edge and are just so well written.

The main characters were all so interesting. Each one had their own personality that shone throughout the book and Sebastien especially added just the right amount of comedic relief to the most serious of situations. I really loved any scene where he or Will featured.

All in all, it was a great debut book for Eason that made me fall back in love with mystery books. I can’t wait to read any future books that will follow the story of Jocasta and the rest of the team.

Thank you to Small Bear Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! It felt like a blend of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series and Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co (but set in modern times). The author is very fond of similes and metaphors, but they are mainly funny, so go on then… Great characters who make a sound team and romance too - Hurrah! I’ll definitely be looking for the sequel.

This follows the Graveyard Watch as it takes care of things that go bump in the night! Jocasta Lewis is a pathologist in this night time world and joins the Graveyard Watch after losing out on a promotion. She becomes quickly aware that all is not as it seems! This is a fun, quirky story with some great characters, From sceptics to ancient societies , vampires, werewolves and gnomes, it covers all bases. Very much an X-Files style read, it is incredibly addictive and entertaining.

The Graveyard Watch. That does sound a lot like the graveyard shift of the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch, what with the undead and the werewolf , the coppers and so on. Throw in the nice cover, and my inner coinnoissieur of funny fantasy literature immediately starts grinning. It's the good kind of grin, starting at the one ear and ending at the other. And that's not a bad way to look at a new book. So many thanto Small Bear Books for granting me access to this arc, it's really much appreciated!

The story tends to follow two different protagonists, the leader of the graveyard watch and the newest addition to his team, a young pathologist who just doesn't know what she's in for, yet. The only thing that threw me a wrench was the fact that we follow the leader in two different timelines, and it would have been much appreciated had the chapters been outfitted with markers telling the readers what timeline they are in, currently. But you'll get used to it.

I'm very happy to report that the humor hits just the right spot! It's not over the top and goofy, and it doesn't take away from the mystery vibe, but lightens the mood ever so often. I really enjoyed it, the suspension luring me along, making me stay awake past my bedtime.

This being Urban Fantasy, the world inhabited by its characters is the same as ours, plus some additions like french werewolves, ghosts, gnomes or a second pope. And vampires, of course.

If you would press hard for me to describe this book in one sentence, it would probably be this: Graveyard Watch is what happens when the Night Watch of Ankh-Morpork gets totally drunk and wakes up in Peter Grant's London.

It also has all the hallmarks of a series starter, and to be honest: I wouldn't mind more books with Commander Domingo, Captain Everly and the rest of the gang. Bring it on!

Enjoyable and quick read, I give it 4.5 out of 5 Black Popes!

Disclaimer: I’ve received a free Advanced Reader’s Copy and am leaving this review voluntarily.

What an interesting premise, and The Graveyard Watch delivered for sure.

This was an intriguing, totally different urban fantasy that had it all.

A cool mix of paranormal characters (werewolf, gnome, vampire, ghouls and ghosts, plus a human forensic scientist) mixed cleverly into a paranormal mystery, full of slow burn romance, danger and twists. Oh and Hermes winged sandals adventures.

I loved that this book was set in London, that it was based around a secret 'police' division who investigate the criminal undead, while being undead themselves. This time seeking to stop a conspiracy to other throw the current undead King, solve art thefts and battle ghouls.

It was fun to see Jocasta thrown into the mix, the banter with the werewolf, vampire boss and forensic gnome was fun. And the Magnetic chemistry between her and the Captain was slow burn at its best.

This was such a unique premise for a new debut fantasy and it delivered on so many angles. Witty, thrilling, sweet and adventurous I wished I'd started this sooner, because I definitely couldn't put it down once I did.

I'm seriosly hoping that this will be book one in a new series!

What an absolutely great book! Once I started reading I could not put it down. It read like a TV show and I think it would translate very well.

This urban fantasy story follows Jocasta, a pathologist in London. She is assigned to an unusual position with the "Graveyard Watch" where she encounters more than her fair share of the undead (vampires, a werewolf, gnomes and ghouls just to name a few!) The dead and undead bodies start to pile up and Jocasta and her coworkers work together to figure out what is going on. I can't say much more without giving away the plot.

The writing was fast paced and laugh out loud funny at some points. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read more from R.J. Eason!

If you would like a easy mystery/fantasy read look no further you have found your book! Please check this one out when it is released in 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and Small Bear Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to the publisher, Small Bear Books, and to NetGalley for the free ARC. Most of all, thank you to the author, R.J. Eason, for writing a refreshingly excellent urban fantasy comedy. This book is seriously good! And it's so funny!

There's great worldbuilding, with our FMC, a forensic pathologist, getting recruited to the paranormal police force, the ICPO. She learns that the world contains vampires, werewolves, and all other manner of weird and wonderful creatures . This becomes one key story arc - the FMC uncovering the hidden paranormal society, and finding unexpected romance. It's a very sweet romance too.

The second, and primary story arc, is the paranormal police commander's centuries-long attempt to get vengeance against the baddie who killed his family and made him a vampire. Said baddie is also trying to sieze control of the paranormal world and it's up to the ICPO and their allies to stop him.

All of this is told intelligently. wittily, and with serious homage to Terry Pratchett. If you want urban fantasy that isn't insta-lovey, doesn't take itself too seriously, is written by a clearly intelligent author, and is just 100% engaging fun, then please read this. You won't be disappointed. I really hope we get more ICPO adventures!

In terms of constructive feedback. I felt that there were some missing scenes in the first couple of chapters. There are moments that we never see, most notably, the FMC's first meeting with her future love interest. After the early sections, the novel flows freely, so perhaps just some early hiccups. In any case, this is still five stars for me.

I loved The Graveyard Watch. The atmosphere was not only interesting, but it was creepy, and eerie as well. The characters were fantastic. The whole cast is great, especially Domingo, Will, and Sebastian. It is full of supernatural creatures and has a really solid plot. I also enjoyed that it follows two different characters, yet comes together nicely. I hope there will be more books on this crew. Loved the author's writing style.

I’ll start off by saying how much I thoroughly enjoyed this new urban fantasy. It follows pathologist Jocasta as she’s at first unwillingly recruited to join the graveyard watch, whose remit is to police the undead residents of London. She soon discovers that her new unit is not all that it seems when the bodies that arrive at her morgue are not quite human and neither are her new colleagues.
Graveyard watch is such a great debut from R.J Eason, a very well written plot with a host of supernatural creatures, lots of humour, action, likeable characters and a dash of romance. It struck me as a it of a cross between ‘Rivers of London’ and the tv show ‘Bones’ with a hint of ‘Parasol Protectorate’, all favourites of mine. Really hoping there’s a sequel to come.

4.5 stars rounded up

This was such a great debut and start to a new series. Men in Black vibes but paranormal. Great characters. Immersive world building. Mystery and puzzles. Once I started reading I was hooked

Multiple POV is used throughout with great success, and helps provide background information as well as plot movement. I hope we'll get more of the Graveyard Watch's team POVs in the next installment (*Sebastien*)

I really look forward to continuing this series!

This was such a wonderful and enjoyable read!!!! I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is not hard to convince me to read any book that centres around a paranormal police force. However, one that goes the extra mile to include forensics in its urban fantasy worldbuilding? Now that is different—and incredibly enticing. Admittedly, I jumped into The Graveyard Watch knowing I would probably love the setting. What I wasn’t expecting was just how addictive the plot was. I finished this book in one sitting because I couldn’t bear to put it down.
As a woman in her 30s that exists on the internet, I won’t deny that a good chunk of my personality lends itself towards true crime and investigative crime dramas. It is exactly that proclivity, coupled with my genuine love of the fantasy genre, that was drawn on when reading this book. The Graveyard Watch is essentially an episode of CSI, but with vampires, fae, and werewolves running around hidden amongst the humans. The fact it managed these more fantastical elements while maintaining a semblance of real-world forensic knowledge blew me away. A large chunk of that was because of Jocasta. Her dark humoured observations as both a medical examiner as well as a human learning about magic and magical races for the first time made her incredibly likeable in my opinion. Which in turn absolutely sank me into the mystery of what was going on, and who was responsible for all of the murders. In essence, she was invested, so I was too.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed this and I am kind of hoping that Eason turns it into a series. I would absolutely read more, especially if more includes a certain French werewolf I now adore.

An intriguing and gripping story, I loved the characters and can't wait to read more by this author.

RJ Eason deserves a standing ovation for this awesome, entertaining, unique, story.....can you tell I loved it? THE GRAVEYARD WATCH is a police department that deals with....you got it....graveyard matters and everything that goes BUMP in the night. Even though it's urban fantasy, I got the same vibe as when I watched the old comedy Barney Miller, with a twist or two. As a debut, Eason has set the bar pretty high for the next book in the series. He expertly built his community and cast of characters to capture his target readers and have them looking for more. I would not be surprised if this book were to inspire a Netflix series.....it really is THAT good.

Wow, this book was so good. I don’t have much to say because i liked pretty much everything about it. Definitely would be on the look out for the next book by the author.

I have an extreme soft spot for urban fantasy, so I wasn't really surprised when the Graveyard Watch ticked all my boxes. It combines everything I love about the genre; a team of misfits thrown together, magical creatures and an unseen part of the modern world and then adds some humour into the mix. It doesn't always work well but this is a well written book, especially for a debut.

So, what do we have? We have a section of the police affiliated very loosely with the City of London force, situated in one of the towers of Tower Bridge and staffed by various different kinds of supernatural beings. And one human forensic pathologist. The characters are well written and, although we have the usual suspects of vampires and werewolves, it was nice to see a bit of variety in that cast list. My particular favourites is the gnome who does the forensics (Bucky), the Icarus sandals and the Cryptid Section of the Natural Museum. The overall plot may be familiar to fans of the genre (someone is going to commit a devastating crime. Our heroes have to stop them before they do) but there are tones that bring freshness to The Graveyard Watch.

As with a lot of urban fantasy, it is set in London. Although it is probably overdone, London does have that very old, lots of history, slightly spooky atmosphere to it, so it does lend itself well to this genre. It is that unfamiliar in the familiar landscape that I love so much in urban fantasy and it is used to devastating effect here. It is nice that the Tower Bridge area is getting a showing this time, although I'm pretty doubtful that you could fit a full pathology lab with forensics into the basement of one of the towers. It's fantasy though, and the aforementioned lab is run by a vampire so I think we can suspend belief on the dimensions for now.

The Graveyard Watch is part police procedural, post supernatural thriller and part comedy. I had some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, so the humour really worked for me. The romance felt a little shoehorned in and felt a bit like a plot device but it wasn't a great deal of the plot. It also is not super spicy, being fade to black, so those that are not too keen on graphic sex scenes should be ok. I would think that this would suit fans of the Guards in Discworld, the Rivers of London series and the Alex Verus series, as it felt like a bit of a mash up of all of them to me. As these are three of my favourite series, I think you could say this was straight up my alley. I would definitely read more in this new series.