A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone

Review by Kelly Lacey

A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone 

I have wanted to read this book for a long time. I have heard amazing things about it from friends. I am not sure what the delay was in my choosing it to read. However, I am glad I waited as there are now three other books in the series. 

The opening lines of A Dark Matter are hauntingly beautiful.  They evoke all the senses and you can feel the fire smoke hanging off you as you turn the pages. As the matriarch of the family dies, the remaining family members have a lot of choices to make.  

Three strong females take the lead of ADM and are the roots of the Skelfs. Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah. Left with a funeral home and a private investigators firm, they have to decide to continue or leave it behind. As each of the women has their own internal battles and unaddressed feelings. It becomes a minefield of emotion and regrets in the Skelf house.

Doug Johnstone writes female characters with such ease that it’s frightening. They really are all very different yet relatable and likeable at times.  Dorothy is my favourite and I loved her chapters the most. I haven’t yet warmed to Jenny or Hannah. I felt sometimes Hannah was a very old soul and acted well above her age. 

Sometimes a city is thrown into a book for effect and without substance. But that is definitely not the case here. Doug Johnstone’s love of Edinburgh shines through and the attention to detail enhances the reading experience. Especially if you live in and around Edinburgh and have been to the many places in the book. 

I felt like this is just the very first tentative step into the life of the Skelf family. Just giving us a guided tour around each character and getting us settled into how everything works. Almost like an enjoyable work experience. Gearing us up for what is to come in the series.  I am invested in seeing what happens next and I miss reading about them, so it will be nice to catch up with the ladies. 

A delicious snapshot into the daily life of the Skelf woman, that left me wanting more.

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