The Grapples of Wrath: Grave Expectations, Book 3

Grave Expectations #3

by Alice Bell, Sophie Roberts (Narrator)

In the third book in Alice Bell’s Grave Expectations series, Alex has managed to convince Claire, Sophie and Basher that they should incorporate as a private investigation company. They investigate a suspicious death at a pro-wrestling company, with help from the ghost of the deceased.

Genres: Crime, Queer, Fiction, Ghosts, Mystery, LGBT, Novels

Audible Audio

Published January 1, 2026

About the author

Alice Bell grew up in South West England, in the sort of middle-of-nowhere where teenagers spend their weekends drinking Smirnoff Ice in a field that also has at least one horse in it.

She has previously worked in shops selling boat shoes and polo shirts to people who don’t own boats or play polo, but since 2016 she has worked full time as a video games journalist. In 2018 she became the deputy editor of Rock Paper Shotgun, a popular and respected PC gaming website, where you can find the many excellent reviews and serious articles about hot vampires that she has written. In 2019 she was named one of the 100 most influential women in the UK games industry.

After spending several years in London and Brighton, Alice now lives in Cork, Ireland, where she reads a lot of books, makes crochet animals, and plays video games where you can set things on fire and make elves kiss. She has probably read more detective fiction and watched more episodes of Midsomer Murders than you.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Third in the series about unwilling medium Claire, in her 30s, perma-haunted by the ghost of a murdered schoolfriend who is an eternal stroppy teenager, and attempting to solve murders as you do. The intriguing thing about this twist on Randall and Hopkirk Deceased is that the books actually consider the practical implications. viz, Claire is deeply traumatised, barely able to maintain friendships let alone a relationship, and the object of serious police suspicion for her random weird appearances in murders. Also, many of the beloved tropes of TV amateur detectives turn out not to work at all well in practice.

It's a gleefully silly, fun series with a real, bitter, painful edge to it, and as such floats my boat immensely.

[Olly Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third in the wonderful Alice Bell’s series with the murder solving, if haphazardly, Claire and Sophie. Really loved this one: wonderfully funny characters, twisty plot which feels solvable but wasn’t quite, and a perfect Brighton summer setting for my January reading. Can’t wait for the next one!

[Charlie Bates · Rating 2 out of 5]

I randomly found the first of this series in a little free library box in Byron bay, really enjoyed the first one, liked the second one with some flaws but this was unfortunately really quite boring and a struggle to read.
The mystery was not interesting in the slightest, the environment felt small, there was 0 storylines between the 4 main characters and Sophie and Claire didn’t address any of the huge issues from the previous book.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

Claire Hendricks sees ghosts, literally. Her best friend Sophie died as a teenager and is now permanently linked to Claire - where Claire goes Sophie goes. Claire used to make a small living as a medium, but after solving two murders (with Sophie's help) she has now turned private investigator. Seeing ghosts can make you a little socially awkward, particularly until you can learn to differentiate them from the living, and Sophie has anxiety. But her first murder introduced her to two new friends Basher and Alex.

Anyway, enough background, Claire's first paying job is at a local pro-wrestling gym. Alex has been hanging around (their latest craze) and it turns out that the manager, the wonderfully named Ken King, believes his dead father Eddie is haunting the gym and asks Claire to find out what is preventing him from moving on ... and move him along.

The thing is, Eddie is convinced that his brother Nate killed him, and wants Claire to investigate because the police ruled it death by natural causes.

This was silly, funny, informative (I learned a lot about pro-wrestling) and there were so many suspects and so much drama flying about that I had no clue as to the actual murderer until the last minute.

Another cracker in this quirky series.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Soozee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really had to struggle to get into this book. The main obstacle was the author insisting on hiding the gender of 'Alex' and using the pronoun 'their' all the time. Why being androgynous required being also being plural beat me, and I was not even slightly interested whether s/he was male or female, and it was totally irrelevant to the story. Indeed, the character him/herself was pretty much irrelevant and very one dimensional.

The plot circled around Claire and her friend the ghost Sophie (another annoying character, endlessly bored with everything). Claire fancies herself as some sort of detective, having solved a murder previously, presumably because she could speak to the dead victims. They become embroiled in a death at a wrestling rink, as the dead man insists he was murdered. 'Assisted' by Alex and the rather odd Basher, they begin to investigate.

Over all its quite a fun read, hampered by almost interchangeable characters as few stand out as strong, identifiable characters in their own right. There are a few chuckles and the premise of a person linked (almost physically) to a ghost is quite good. Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 3 in the Grave Expectations series, where Claire and her ghost companion Sophie are trying to solve the mystery of the dead wrestler in Brighton.

This is a completely batty series of cosy crime with over the top characters but with a dark thread of humour running throughout.

Sophie and Claire are trying to repair the damage to their relationship caused by the events of book 2, we get further glimpses into what life was like when Sophie was alive. There continues to be cameos from characters we've met in the previous books as we learn about the bizarre world of professional wrestling and the soap opera drama that takes place in this little gym in Brighton.

I enjoyed seeing all the characters again, although Claire's lack of logic and practical skills continues to drive me barmy. Basher really needs to sit her down and explain things rather than issuing threats to her like she's a teenager! Although she continues to act like one.

I'm looking forward to the next in the series, seeing Claire grow up a little and hopefully finding out a bit more about what happened to Sophie!

Book received free via NetGalley.

[Loretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favourite of the series to date, BUT I'll still read the next one. The things that bugged me the most is that Basha has lost all warmth and fun and is just kind of mean and annoying all the time? He maybe had one good moment. Alex has more to do, but it also just kind of...thin. The wrestling world was a great venue for a murder mystery to play out and I did actually quite like the resolution, mostly ( a few quibbles but not worth spoiler font).

There are more hints planted for the bigger story still to be played out but it feels very much like it's going to be played out for a loong time, which I'm not sure I like. The Sophie/Claire dynamics are definitely getting more stressed, and Claire even sort of acknowledges this at one point out loud in this book (she thinks something like "sometimes it seemed to her that Sophie was just really not a good person" and like...yeah.

I will keep an eye out for the next book though.

Note about the audio: generally pretty good except weirdly there were a few glitches - repeated sentences that didn't get caught in an edit/post-production. Makes me think it was maybe a little rushed.

[Dabarai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a massive fan of this series and the main protagonists - Claire and Sophie, who are a very extraordinary sleuthing duo, even though one of them is dead. So I was obviously super excited to read a new book by Alice Bell, this time set in the world of wrestling! Well, what can I say! Except the fact that there was not enough Basher in the book, it was another corker for me. I love the author's sense of humour and the dialogues and the immersive way in which Alex embraced wrestling,and the dog. And ghosts. And I liked the fact that the author added a bit more layers to the relationship between Claire and Sophie. I hope one day Sophie's disappearance will be solved. I ended up listening to most of the book and must also add that Sophie Roberts is a great choice as a narrator. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a free ecopy of the book

[Shaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won't lie, I saw an Alice Bell ARC for a new Sophie and Claire story and blindly applied for it without reading the blurb. Wrestling is like a religion in my household, so I was delighted with the setting.

I really enjoyed the setting, which was mainly behind the scenes of an indie wrestling organisation. I absolutely loved some bigger name wrestlers being name checked (woke my husband to tell him Orange Cassidy got a shout out), and it felt like a little love letter to wrestling fans.

Non-wrestling fans will still enjoy the very twisty murder plot, Sophie's biting teenage sarcasm, and Alex is just hilarious in this. Cannot recommend this book enough, really fun (and funny) to read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[EM Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remain a huge fan of this series. While The Grapples of Wrath is not my fave book thematically (I love pirates, and big haunted victorian houses considerably more than wrestling, of which I know nothing), this is still an hilarious little novel, with plenty of excellent puzzle pieces to push together and very enjoyable characters. I particularly admire that Bell writes the kind of story that you can actually solve yourself before MC Claire gets there, but it's never too obvious and you're usually having too much fun to try and fiddle round with things in your head. It's rare that I read something that manages all 3, so big props.

If you like comedy mysteries with a supernatural spin, I strongly recommend giving these a crack.

[jessica hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story of this book was about a medium Claire and her dead teenage best friend Sophie solving a murder In a wrestling gym with friends Basher and Alex. I enjoyed the story from beginning to end and had me laughing and sympathetic at various times in the book.
however, the reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because of the many typos and mistakes (at least they didn't make sense to me) I spotted while reading the story. someone should've reviewed it better before it got released.

[Kristen Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Alice Bell’s biting wit, fabulous characters, and the creative set-up of her murder mysteries. The Grapples of Wrath is another cracking addition to the series, with the added flair of some unforgettable pro-wrestling characters and a wonderful Brighton backdrop. Come for the spooky humour, stay for the satisfying twists and turns. An absolute delight from start to finish.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the 3, but still pretty solid.

[Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the series. I do wish Alex and Basher didn't feel so much like minor characters but the rest of the supporting cast for this one were very entertaining and dramatic