I first encountered Alice Bell's writing on the excellent Rock, Paper, Shotgun site, but only later realised she was also writing books. I bought Grave Expectations on a whim, and was utterly delighted to discover that her style carries prose just as well as video gaming journalism.
There's a cast of characters that are annoying yet somehow endearing. There's death, crime, a ghost or several, and as a protagonist an unlikely investigator whose complete lack of cool and social skills made me feel seen. There's first world misery that's real and heartwrenching, but hilarious at the same time. And there's one of the best payoffs to a random off-hand detail I've ever read.
