I never thought that death cleaning would be so interesting! The nightmarish, hallucinatory vibe of Family Business is captivating. I was invested in Diya to find out what was going on. There’s a mystery element where Diya starts investigating the people whose possessions and houses she had cleaned. But something is stopping her, and this resulted in a few creepy scenes!

The paranormal element comes into the fore later but I was mostly compelled by the relationship between the characters. The family that Diya works with has secrets, and they are also going through bereavement. The portrayal of Diya's relationship with her deceased best friend Angie is touching and realistic. The antagonist with the deceivingly normal name Mr Bill wants something only Diya can give. While I wish we had more information about Mr Bill, his scenes are sufficiently disturbing, especially during the explosive ending. Diya started the book with a job and ended it with a found family. This is the type of family business I could get into.

This book was a slow and steady read that keeps you reading and reading, until you just had to finish it! I enjoyed the book and will now go and read the others in the series.

To those who come to the horror genre unprepared to examine their social and political beliefs: Jonny Sims is probably not the right author for you. Family Business is not just a chilling tale of people trapped by the supernatural, or of confronting terrifying entities; it is also an examination of the sterilisation of our culture, and marginalised communities who are constantly swept under the rug.

In his second novel, Jonny Sims examines the culture of death through the lens of those hired to clean away all evidence of it. It is, in some ways, wrong to call it a ghost story. Because if a ghost is the lingering essence of those since passed, the Family Business is the story of what happens when a death leaves nothing behind. When a person is removed so completely from the world that the people left behind aren't even left with memories.

In a genre saturated with death and gore for the sake of shock value, Family Business is a unique voice. While there are monsters, and terrifying things do happen, the greatest horror of the book is the dehumanisation of the dead. It is being robbed of the ability to even grieve those who are lost. It is the creeping discomfort of knowing that in the real world, no paranormal forces are required to accomplish this.

There are many people who argue that politics has no place in horror. But it is my opinion that the clear (if from time to time, heavy handed) political overtones of the story lend it a depth and personal horror that cannot be accomplished by stories who attempt to sterilise their social beliefs in their writing.

Family Business is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Family Business asap.

Nobody writes horror like Jonny Sims. Great characters, great dialogue, and great mind-bending terrors sprinkled throughout. Even during the few times I could predict where this was going, I remained firmly on the edge of my seat thanks to the brilliant execution of each plot twist. Many sleepless nights were had because of this book, in the best possible way.

This is my first read by this author, it definitely won’t be the last. This has been on my anticipated list and definitely hasn’t disappointed.

This is a slow burn but it definitely works. I found myself pulled into this one and completely hooked. This is a book which I devoured in just one sitting.

This is well written and definitely chilling. I’ve found it perfectly paced, well plotted and completely addictive.

Sims definitely keeps you gripped while exploring how we view death and grief. This has been a book that I haven’t wanted to put down.

Sims is clearly a master of the genre and although I haven’t read any of the previous books by this author, I will definitely be adding more to the TBR.

This is a great book and one I definitely recommend.

Diya's new job is making her question her reality, and whether there could be such a thing as ghosts. When things aren't adding up, and each job is becoming more dangerous, can she save herself and her friends?

I liked this book, it was a slow builder that introduced new parts but completely wrapped the story up before the end. I love it when stories do that. Creepy, a good one for people thinking about trying the horror genre.

Having read Jonathan Sims’ previous collection of short stories, I was interested to see what a full length novel would look like and had come to expect there would be an element of supernatural horror. The first 60% or so was great and easy to get through, but as the supernatural elements progressed, I found it rushed, lightweight and lacking in impact. The more ‘horror’ elements came from the main character’s visions rooted in reality, the ending just felt absurd and failed to answer any burning questions. 2.5 stars, rounded up.

Oh my Gosh, this was fantastic. I rarely read horror but this dragged me in and kept me captivated the entire time.

I am a massive fan of horror novels, so coupled with the exciting blurb and cover, which grabs your attention, it was one that I just had to read.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the fast pace. The story kept me on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. The characters were also realistic and well-developed, which made it easy to get invested in their stories. I appreciated that there was a manageable number of characters, which can sometimes be overwhelming in a mystery novel. The plot was original and kept me guessing, which is always a plus.

However, I did have a few issues with the book. First, the ending felt flat, and I was left wanting more of a resolution. Additionally, there were times when I felt like some of the chapters were "filling space" rather than advancing the plot or adding to the character development. Overall, I found "Family Business" to be an enjoyable read. You might enjoy this one if you're a fan of mysteries with supernatural twists. Be prepared for a letdown at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Orion Publishing Group for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This did take me awhile to get into but once I did I really enjoyed it! It wasn’t at all what I was expecting as it was lovely yet creepy. A cast of characters you will enjoy. This is an author I’ve not read from before but I happily will pick up another of their books after this one. A book that took turns I didn’t expect and a story I really enjoyed!

I read this book as part of my spooky selections for October. I'm not quite sure it fits into the horror genre but then again it takes a lot to scare me these days! There is a lot about grief and working your way through it which was interesting. This is the second book I have read from this author and I will definitely read more from him.

JUST ANOTHER DEAD-END JOB.

DEATH. IT’S A DIRTY BUSINESS.

When Diya Burman’s best friend Angie dies, it feels like her own life is falling apart. Wanting a fresh start, she joins Slough & Sons – a family firm that cleans up after the recently deceased.

Old love letters. Porcelain dolls. Broken trinkets. Clearing away the remnants of other people’s lives, Diya begins to see things. Horrible things. Things that get harder and harder to write off as merely her grieving imagination. All is not as it seems with the Slough family. Why won’t they speak about their own recent loss? And who is the strange man that keeps turning up at their jobs?

If Diya’s not careful, she might just end up getting buried under the family tree. . .

Way back in 2020, I read an excellent anthology by Jonathan Sims called 13 Storeys. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone loves a haunted house don’t they? Two years down the line and the author is back with a new novel, Family Business.

The sadness that inhabits the main protagonist, Diya, feels palpable. The death of her best friend means she has lost one of the few constants in her life. She has been adrift in her own existence and it’s only the prospect of financial stability that finds her tidying up after the dead.

The majority of Slough & Sons’ clients are those who existed on the periphery of society. Frank Slough, the family patriarch puts it simply; heartbreaking suicides, troubled addicts or lonely shut-ins with no family to care for are all entitled to the same respect as those of us who are loved. It’s an admirable sentiment, and Frank appears to be a stand-up guy, but perhaps there is something just a little bit off about him.

Frank’s daughters, the Sons having been from generations long passed, couldn’t be more different from their father. Xen is brash and outgoing, while Mary is a thoughtful spirit. Diya feels like she has met some kindred souls. Maybe cleaning up after the dead won’t be so bad after all. Almost as soon as that realisation occurs, that’s the moment the nightmarish visions begin.

One of the things I loved about 13 Storeys, and again in Family Business, is the characterisation. The author takes time to flesh out his creations. The arguments that sometimes explode between Frank and his children have a raw, visceral edge. There is real venom in one moment and then sulky indifference the next. Exactly the sort of thing that is often seen in a real family.

The supernatural elements in the story start off really slowly and build with each passing chapter. Initially, Diya believes her visions are due to her fragile mental state. There is that niggling persistent doubt, perhaps it is all in her mind. As events start to pick up pace it becomes evident, however, that there is something far more insidious going on.

The other area where this novel excels is the depth of thought that has gone into what could be quite triggering subject matter. Death is front and centre in Family Business. Sims uses a delicate touch, weaving insightful, reflective moments throughout the narrative.

We do not disappear after death. Small pieces of our being can remain, persisting in those places that were once so meaningful to us.*

I love writing like this. Subtly wrapped up in a horror novel, there is an exploration of the human condition. Death is something we are taught to shy away from, and not talk about. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so scary if we talked about it a little more. Every action and reaction we create in our lives send ripples out into the world. We all leave our mark, every one of us. What if there was something that fed on that? Something that erased us from memory. I’ve heard it said that nobody really dies as long as someone remembers them. Family Business explores what happens when we are forgotten.

For years now, I’ve found that the horror stories that stay with me longest are those that feature ordinary people trapped in extraordinary circumstances. Diya, Xen, Mary and Frank are trying to live their respective lives, just the same as the rest of us. They find themselves part of an increasingly disturbing situation with no obvious means of escape. Who is the mysterious Mr Bill, and why is he so keen to keep Slough and Sons in business?

Family Business is published by Gollancz and is available now. Highly recommended.

My musical recommendation to accompany this novel is the soundtrack to The Invitation by Dara Taylor. It has an unsettling, creepy vibe that perfectly fits this story’s tone.

*That gem is from page one, and I’ll admit it does form the basis for some gallows humour but it is insightful nonetheless.

When Diya begins working for a clean up team that removes any evidence of death after her best friends death she believes that the only problem that she will face is the sights and smells of death; however, as she works for Slough & Sons longer she starts to experience strange dream like visions of the people that have died. Is she seeing their last moments or is this grief related? As the experiences become more vivid she must find out or risk being harmed.

This was a really gripping read; I followed Diya's story unfold and was gripped by the nature of the Slough & Sons business; the supernatural element was intriguing and I read the book in one sitting.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

Spooky This author creates well-drawn, complex characters, and knows how to build tension and drama that hold readers to the end. With several plot twists it managed to keep me guessing until the end.

Death is alledgedly the great equaliser. We all face the same fate. Honestly I’m not sure about that. As with life status has an impact. We recently had the U.K. at a standstill for one monarch’s funeral. I once heard the concept of ‘big deaths’ that rattle around and have consequences for all of us. But if that is true then are there ‘small deaths’ that pass us by unnoticed? Can you remember the names of people who simply passed away that you read about mentioned in a paper but have no connection to? What happens to them and the remnants of their lives? In Jonathan Sim’s excellent horror novel Family Business this idea gets explored to chilling effect.

Slough and Sons is a near hundred year old business that specialises in cleaning up the homes (or last resting spots) of the dead. Wiping away what bodies have left behind; sorting out possessions and making places ready for the occupant. Into this role has entered Diya a thirty-something young woman who has lost her best friend Angie and has spent weeks in grief; cutting herself off from the world and losing her office job in the process. The Sloughs patriarch Frank though has thought Diya may be suitable and so she now learns the ropes alongside his daughters the not quite psychic Mary and the death metal loving and constantly laughing at life Xen. But Diya finds certain of the cleaning jobs having an impact on her; dreams that appear to be the deceased’s final moments; suggestions that they were killed not victims of their own life and slowly Diya finds herself staring to explore the Slough’s most constant employer Mr Bill and that the business may have more links than she ever expected.

This is a brilliant character filled story that Sims has really made to capture you from the first page. The unusual nature of this type of cleaning; the dissonance of the subject compared with a normal gently rowing family who do it make the situation stand out as something we are unfamiliar with. Sims also makes it clear Diya is not when we first meet her in a good place. Sims in this story explores how grief for those we remember can be soul crushing - we get to feel how important Angie was and how empty life now is. Angie and Diya were school friends and flatnates. Bonds on so many levels from in-jokes; shared memories and film nights and now it’s all stopped forever. Only this strange cleaning job gives her something to do but as we find out it may not be the safest option.

Sims has a rather excellent way in this story of capturing the reader unawares. One minute Diya is cleaning and suddenly we notice that the words no longer fit that scene. We are instead experiencing various people’s final moments. As you can imagine that is when the terror builds up am especially as we also know the final outcome. This is where we also discover that an outside force has secretly murdered these people and this entity preys on those who fall out of society - the hoarder; the agoraphobic( the asylum seeker. There is a reminder throughout that our society does itself sort people out into those it believes are worthy of attention and those do not. These people we ignore or forget about because they seem on the outside; well who will notice a few extra disappear? And once their final remains and possessions are removed from the planet who will ever remember them? A chilling idea and yet we know a true one which makes this horror element so powerful.

Knitting these moments together is Slough and Sons and I was really impressed how over the course of the story Sims adds history; newspapers and family testimony to create a sense that Diya is walking into a culmination of an unearthly scheme. One for whom the puppet master behind it all when we finally meet them is both unnerving and we feel going to be very hard to stop. The stakes get raised and the finale will keep you on edge as to the final outcome. But with all this darkness there are moments of lightness with Diya establishing new connections with the Slough daughters despite her desire not to come out of her shell anymore. A simple scene of a geeky games night brings some much needed human warmth before the story’s final act and reminds life must carry on.

Family Business cements Sims as one of our most interesting horror writers. This offers scale, character and an emotional focus that will really pull the reader in. There is a possibility that we can revisit this world again and I would not be averse to that at all. Highly enjoyable; excellently written and well worth your time. Strongly recommended!

Jonathan Sims write books that terrify me and I cannot put down. This is a page turner that kept me reading till late in the night.
A twisty, dark, and creepy story that makes me thing that you cannot help loving this author if you love horror stories.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (2/5)

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘:
👻 Supernatural elements
👀 One main POV
✏️ Descriptive writing style
👤 Character-based plot
☠️ Intriguing careers
🩸 Some gory detail
🧠 Psychological aspects

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:
The front cover of this piqued my interest straight away - a horror based around crime scene cleaners? Yes please! This is the first of Simms’ books I’ve read: it starts out more on the psychological thriller side with a dash of paranormal, with definite supernatural horror vibes in the last third.

Our main protagonist is Diya, and I loved the entire cast of the Slough family she works with, from quirky, outgoing Xen to Mary and Frank, who were quieter and more withdrawn but just as eccentric. This is definitely a character-based plot, with a very descriptive writing style, and I found it personally very slow in pace. I think this was probably necessary to build up to the intense conclusion, but it was far too slow for my attention span.

“𝙒𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝. 𝙎𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨.”

Simms’ provides an interesting and sensitively done insight to the impact of bereavement and grief, particularly around a career you don’t tend to think about, and there is some quirky humour to balance the darker, gory scenes. I feel this book had a lot of potential, but between the pace, writing style and paranormal aspects, it personally just wasn’t for me.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 + 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝘼𝙍𝘾, 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 + @𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 (𝙄𝙂).

Absolutely amazing read! Such a captivating read! Amazing cover art that was super eye catching would definitely recommend to all!

Thank you to Net Galley and Gollancz for access to an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Family Business sees Sims on form as usual, with a masterfully handled balance of horrifying and heart felt, alongside scathing commentary of the current political climate in the UK.

Diya is a brilliant protagonist, carrying along the narrative and being a genuinely kind person (which is fairly rare in protagonists these days). I would have loved more from Angie, and the flashbacks in general, but the side characters of this novel are all incredibly well rounded and realistic.

This book definitely has two distinct parts, which don’t quite gel together: the existentialist horror of the first half, and the straight up body horror/gore of the second. While both were well done in their own right, the establishment of the first made the second feel rushed and somewhat world-breaking.

Overall, a beautiful exploration of grief and loss, and a horrifying nightmare (in the best way).

4/5