THE GRAVE SONG by Andrew James Greig

4* Very nearly a 5* tale...but some bits got forgotten about.

This series can be read out if order, as tbh, none of the characters have lives outside of the job - the small attempts to create a personal life for Corstorphine, didn't really add anything to the storyline, nor did they really ring true, especially the potential for IVF. If it did happen, his partner would pretty much be a single parent. 

The storylines starts with Janet being buried, only for her coffin to slip and dislodge a previously buried body. One who'd only hust arrived in town on a mission. 

Unfortunately, it's not the only death in the book, all of which kind of felt plausible. There was a good range of characters and potential killers, but when one of those ends up dead themselves, it adds another killer to the mix. The explanation when that character got revealed felt a little anticlimactic, especially with one of the aforementioned killer's 'confessions'. Who was lying and who wasnt? Why judge Janet only to sin yourself? 

There were a lot of tangents in this: Mary, Filip; Mary's daughter; the lesbians whose secrecy didn't get explained;  whether Janet knew about what'd made Mary leave 10a sol years ago; paternity; radiation and the mission the dead person in the grave was on. A few too many tangents, not all of which got crossed and dotted - which is where the tale lost 1* for me. 

But, it's a solid enough read from this author, although I'd liked for the SEPA mentioned in the book to have investigated the radiation issue. I think there were a few too many cooks in the end.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my reading pleasure.