Ghost Notes

by Doug Johnstone, Sarah Barron (Narrator)

The Skelf women have been keeping their heads down, running the family’s funeral directors and private investigation businesses. But when a woman collapses at her husband’s funeral and is saved by Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into the murky world of ‘grief tech’ – a booming new industry that creates digital avatars of the dead.

Jenny’s latest case – a simple blackmail job for an old school friend – quickly spirals into chaos as the woman’s tangled love life pulls Jenny towards dangerous old habits.

Meanwhile, Hannah and her wife, Indy, are confronted by the unexpected arrival of Indy’s ex-boyfriend, claiming to be dying and eager for the Skelfs to arrange his funeral. But his arrival uncovers more ghosts from the past, and threatens to upend everything they’ve built.

As their cases collide and their personal lives spiral, the Skelfs face danger from all sides.

Audible Audio

Published August 13, 2026

About the author

Doug Johnstone is a writer, musician and journalist based in Edinburgh. His fourth novel, Hit & Run, was published by Faber and Faber in 2012. His previous novel, Smokeheads, was published in March 2011, also by Faber. Before that he published two novels with Penguin, Tombstoning (2006) and The Ossians (2008), which received praise from the likes of Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre. Doug is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He has had short stories appear in various publications, and since 1999 he has worked as a freelance arts journalist, primarily covering music and literature. He grew up in Arbroath and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He loves drinking malt whisky and playing football, not necessarily at the same time.

Reviews

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the seventh book in the Skelfs series which follows a multi-generational family of female funeral directors and private investigators.

As in the previous books, chapters alternate among the three women. Dorothy, the matriarch, investigates the grief tech industry. Is there a connection between a man’s death by suicide and the digital avatar of his daughter who died months earlier? Could a bot have encouraged him to commit suicide?

Jenny, Dorothy’s daughter, is asked by a former schoolmate to find out who is attempting to blackmail her. Jenny quickly comes to suspect that Robin is not telling her everything. Things certainly become more complicated when men connected to Robin die in strange circumstances.

Hannah, Jenny’s daughter, is shocked by the unexpected arrival of Yannis, Indy’s ex-boyfriend, whom Indy has never mentioned to her wife. His appearance reveals more about Indy’s past and also brings a threatening menace into their lives.

A visit with these three women is always enjoyable. There is so much to admire about them: they are strong, capable, and compassionate people. What makes them relatable, however, is that they are also flawed. Hannah, for instance, starts to question how well she knows her wife. When she is reminded that she perhaps has misjudged Indy, Hannah feels “shame at her own self-centredness, but she also didn’t want to give up her anger so easily.” Jenny, on the other hand, has engaged in self-destructive behaviours in the past; her tendency to backslide is aggravating since she has a relationship with the wonderful, almost-too-good-to-be-believable Archie.

Also as in the previous books, the theme of connection appears. Dorothy often thinks of “the interconnectedness of things” and tries to bring people together to make connections. Music especially makes her feel “how we’re all connected over millennia.” Hannah echoes this idea in a different way: “Our bodies were made up of elements formed in the furnaces of distance stars at the beginning of the universe.” Even Jenny, during a terramation, reflects that a body “becoming something else in this strange, connected world.”

This, as all the Skelfs books, is eminently readable. The fluid style and short, punchy chapters make for a fast read, and the seamless plotting and engaging characters insure a compelling read. And its message is life-affirming: “People were fucked up” but “despite everything bad in the world, human decency always found a way.”

If you are not already a Skelfaholic, start at the beginning of the series. See my reviews of the books:
A Dark Matter: https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/...
The Big Chill:  https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/...
The Great Silence: https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/...
Black Hearts: https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/...
The Opposite of Lonely: https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/...
Living is a Problem: https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/...

[Anetq · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one has Dorothy dealing with a family hit by both tragedy & griefbots (talk to your dead loved one, who is now an AI-chatbot, who wants you to join them! Johnstone is always on point about dealing with grief, and the pitfalls old and new). Jennie's case is a former schoolmate, who has done well, but her love life seem to be deadly for those involved. But most disruptively Indy's past has come back to haunt her in the form of Ozzie, who wants to book his own funeral - Hannah is struggling with what she didn't know about her wife.
As always Johnstones stories are all about relationships between people, the living and the dead, and while you're entertained, it is also dead serious.

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

Love this series of books. Three generations of female undertakers with a difference who double as Private Eyes.

I so enjoy the continuum of the plotting and how cases/deaths are featured and insert themselves in the narrative but nothing is ever "closed" and rounded off with ends tied. Think this aspect of the reader not being expected to have closure is one of the best aspects along with the personalities of the Skelfs