Cover Image: The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill

The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Grace McGill has unusual job, she cleans up the houses of the forgotten dead. Those that have lain undiscovered for months before their corpses are found. Someone has to do that job, it’s a job that no-one would ever really think about, or at least I didn’t until I read this.

Grace is a complicated character, clearly an introvert who finds it difficult to be around people. Her only friend seems to be her cat. There is a dark side to Grace though as you discover as the story unfolds. One that she seems to want people to discover if only they were to look hard enough.

A great read and fantastic twist to it.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting book set around a cleaner. Not a standard cleaner, a crime scene cleaner. I often wonder about the people who clean brains, bones and blood off the walls and floors when the body has been removed.
I do hope this is not the regular type of practice.

Was this review helpful?

A very clever and unusual mystery thriller with unpredictable swerves.

Our protagonist is Grace, a complex woman doing a job few could contemplate. She cleans up people's homes after they have died. She feels outraged that so many people die alone, undiscovered for months.

But one case in particular captures her attention. Tommy Agnew. Unable to let things go, she raises concerns with the police, but does her own delving. In doing so she becomes at risk of harm herself as she discovers a grisly secret.

And then there's the twist.

Quite unlike many other thrillers, there was nothing obvious or predictable here which I really liked. But still I struggled to connect with the story as much as I would have liked.

Was this review helpful?

Thankyou for giving me the chance to read in advance. Lots of twists and turns and I wasn’t expecting the outcome. Well done to the Author here! Highly recommended

Was this review helpful?

Dark, moreish and clever. This was a surprise as I thought it could be similar to other recent books with a loner character but no Grace is funny and personable, a really good read

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author C.S Robertson.
A thriller with an unusual premise, which made it all the more interesting. A gripping story and some good twists and turns. Would recommend!

Was this review helpful?

The Undiscoverd Deaths of Grace McGill

‘The twist you did not see coming’ is a plot device you absolutely see coming in a lot of these psychological thrillers.
But, this time, I think this well-worn book review trope really earns its place!
BAM! This plot twist has no discernible lead-up. There’s no creeping realisation as you’re reading that there’s about to be a definitive twisty moment. It’s just there suddenly in the middle of a chapter. And no, I truly didn’t see THAT coming! In fact, I had to go back and re-read, thinking that I might have been a bit sleepy and mis-read something!
A fantastic read which will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

Grace McGill is a quiet young woman. She lives alone with her cat & is at the beck & call of her unpleasant father. She runs her own one woman company- Last Wish Cleaning. It is no ordinary cleaning service. Grace cleans up after the dead. The sad stories of people found dead after weeks/months are her business. She also makes dioramas of the scene to help her process what she sees & does. When cleaning up an old man's flat she comes across some old newspapers. The story of a missing young girl many years ago & subsequent stories about her in later years seem to have obsessed the man. That & a photo of five young men pique Grace's curiosity- she wants to find answers.

This was an unusual premise & also a very unusual book that went in a surprising direction about halfway through. I really liked Grace in spite of her quirks. She's a character that I'll remember for a long time. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this unusual book- it was a cracker!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and C.S Robertson for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This book has a great plot and likeable characters. It is a fantastic nail-bitter of a thriller. I do not want to risk a spoiler but this is perfect for readers who enjoy fast-paced, gripping and intense plots. I devoured this in one sitting.

Was this review helpful?

Grace McGill has a job which I’m sure very few people would envy. She is the one of those who clean up after undiscovered deaths when the bodies may have lain there for weeks, months or even years.
Grace is a loner, only her pet cat George for company and occasional visits to her demanding abusive alcoholic father to occupy her time, but when she is called to clean up after the death of Thomas Agnew she stumbles upon a mystery from the past that will take her to some dark and dangerous places. The story takes a very interesting and unexpected turning towards the end.
This is an unusual and genuinely different novel which kept me engrossed throughout and it took quite an effort not to simply read it in one sitting.

Was this review helpful?

What a fantastic read, it just got better and better as it went along. Highly recommend!
Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Was this review helpful?

This is one of those unorthodox books that defeat the star-rating system. I couldn’t say, hand on heart, that I loved it and thus give it five stars. The story was gruesome and the protagonist unlikeable (never mind loveable). Grace had some character traces of Eleonor Oliphant (withdrawn from society at large, odd, damaged, lonely) but she isn’t sweet or vulnerable. She is hard as nails, her job isn’t for the faint-hearted and she although she cares deeply, she shows it in most unpredictable ways.
But although The Undiscovered Death of Grace McGill isn’t loveable, it is a brilliant book. I simply cannot give it less than 5 stars. Its brilliance comes from the original concept, nuanced characterisation, moral and societal commentary that doesn’t amount to preaching, and the shocking twists that turn the whole storyline on its head.
If you’re squeamish, you may find some passages difficult to read, especially those describing Grace’s task of cleaning houses after the bodies of their occupant lay there undiscovered for months. Similarly, Grace’s interactions with her alcoholic, abusive father are unpleasant and upsetting - you may well want to step in and smash the man’s head in.
If you can deal with those explicit passages, Grace McGill will take you to some very dark places as she searches for the truth about the disappearance of a young woman fifty years ago. Chilling read!

Was this review helpful?

This book grabbed me from the very beginning. It held my attention throughout and kept me on the edge of my seat trying to guess what would happen next. A tense and chilling read.
A must read for thriller fans.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting story that grabs you from the beginning. It takes a darker turn later on in the book with a surprising ending. A good read.

Was this review helpful?

Grace McGill has an unenviable job - cleaning properties after undiscovered deaths. She works alone but when she discovers a possible link between two deaths and the police don’t want to know, will she accept help to find out the truth?

The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill is a story of two halves - firstly, with the gruesome facts of her job, and then moving into the darker aspects of her life. I have to admit I didn’t expect the sudden plot twist, which certainly livened up the action, but then I did start to question why she got the police involved? That was the only thing that didn’t really get explained at all.

A darkly enjoyable story of death and retribution.

Was this review helpful?

I really have struggled with this book. It really bored me at the beginning, so much so I was going to give up! Then suddenly you are surprised then sucked in to the story. Very sad in its own way. #NetGalley#TheUndiscoveredDeathsofGraceMcGill

Was this review helpful?

What a novel this was, I am so glad that I got chance to read this novel. I highly recommend it to everyone.

We meet Grace McGill who cleans up after deaths of people who have not been discovered straight away. Grace is not your average 30-something woman, she somewhat lives a life where she is not interested in many people and goes out of her way to avoid the living.

I really enjoyed learning about Grace and found her actually quite relatable and likeable. Her work is, I think, her life, she goes to these awful, smelly death scenes and she feels for the dead people, quite obsessively I may add. I think she sees herself in these lonely people who have died alone and wants, in some way, to become part of their story. She sometimes takes souvenirs from the scenes so that the dead person will be remembered (by her, if know one else)

Grace is so involved in her work that when gets home she re-creates the scene. Grace is a complex character that I think many people will resignate with and I would love to read more about her.

Thanks to CS Robertson, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review

Was this review helpful?

I thought this was very original and different to anything I've read for a good while. It was thrilling, gripping and definitely made me want to keep reading. I thought the language throughout kept the reader guessing. It was so twisted and so unreal!

Thank you C.S Robertson and Netgalley for allowing me a copy of this ARC!

Was this review helpful?

A really unique, quirky story. A job no-one thinks about - a death cleaner. Grace cleans up after a body is discovered - often months after death. She is devastated for these lonely people who have not been missed. One death leads to questions and an old unsolved disappearance. Dark, disturbing and twisty this is a great read.

Was this review helpful?

This book was an enjoyable read, though it never truly completely gripped me. I enjoyed Grace as a character and loved the twists and turns of the book, especially how they were revealed slowly over the course of the story unfolding. I did enjoy that the plot had twists that I did not see coming despite how much crime fiction I read. However I found this book more of a slow-paced thriller and it did not have me hooked to the stage where I could not put it down. This book was unlike anything I have ever read before and Grace definitely was an intriguing character, I enjoyed being inside her head. I have seen lots of great reviews for this book, so if you do enjoy slowed-paced crime fiction, it may be an enjoyable read for you. Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Was this review helpful?