“When a horror-loving radio show becomes the stage of a gruesome murder, its host Tinsel Munroe is put next on the killer’s list…

A fast paced, thrilling murder mystery novel, paying homage to slasher films of the 90’s, The Graveyard Shift is the perfect Halloween read for fans of Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix.

Tinsel Munroe has busted her guts to get where she is. Yet her dream of working in radio hasn’t turned out to be everything she hoped it would. Sure, she has her own show – aptly titled The Graveyard Shift – where she celebrates the sounds of cult-cinema, but the wage is barely enough to cover her rent and the midnight hours are putting a strain on her relationship with her boyfriend. Even after three years at Melbourne’s coolest station, she’s seemingly no closer to a prime-time slot.

That is, until someone is murdered live on air. 

Mistaking it for a Halloween prank, a visit from police informs Tinsel that the hysterical call was – in fact – the real deal. She’s freaked out, but her true-crime obsessed sister Pandora is fascinated. 

While detectives assure them the killer will soon be caught, the bodies continue to drop with the killer striking in increasingly gruesome ways. With a growing, macabre audience to her radio show, that potentially includes the killer, Tinsel begins receiving strange messages over the text-in lines. Her workplace, and even her home, are suddenly not the sanctuaries she once thought. 

Tinsel and her sister are left with no choice but to team up with Detective James as they race to find the connection between her and the culprit. The people she thought she could trust are now those she should fear the most. In order to survive, Tinsel is going to have to listen to more than just the airwaves…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Graveyard Shift by Maria Lewis. The Graveyard Shift is published by Datura Books today (that’s 12th September 2023) and is available in paperback and digital formats. I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Graveyard Shift but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Caroline at Datura Books for sending me a finished copy.

Radio DJ Tinsel Munroe is in her element. It’s Halloween, her favourite night of the year, and she’s playing some absolute tunes on her cult movie inspired late night radio show. When Tinsel invites listeners to phone in for a chance to win a ticket to a horror movie premier, she thinks she’s become the victim of a Halloween prank. The caller claims a stranger is in their home. After some scuffling and a lot of dead air time, the call cuts out. Tinsel quickly moves on with the show and forgets all about the call. That is until the following morning when the police contact Tinsel and confirm that a woman was murdered the previous night live on air. As the body count rises with increasingly gruesome scenes created by the killer, it becomes clear to Tinsel that this could be personal…

I absolutely loved The Graveyard Shift. It’s such a well-written, engrossing book with superb characters and an intriguing storyline which drew me in from the start. I’m a huge fan of horror fiction and in particular slashers. So this crime/horror/slasher crossover was firmly on my radar to read. It was everything I hoped it would be, plus a little bit more! I thought Tinsel Munroe was a great lead character. She’s multi-layered and believable. I found her backstory and family history really interesting, it was impossible to not warm to the character. I felt fully invested in Tinsel. Alongside her are a cast of supporting characters who also felt fully formed. Tinsel’s sister, Pandora, was a real highlight for me. Law student and mother of two by day, intrepid true crime blogger by night (and by day really, she’s pretty obsessed with her blog). Pandora and Tinsel take it upon themselves to help the police out by doing their own investigation into the murders. Tapping into Pandora’s contacts and using the resources Pandora has built over the years means they can take a slightly different approach to the official investigation led by the police. And speaking of the police, Detective Vic James also plays a pivotal role in the story. As one of the two lead investigators, Detective James and Tinsel end up spending quite a lot of time together which builds into an undeniable mutual attraction.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I thoroughly enjoyed The Graveyard Shift with its compelling mystery, superb characters and intriguing storyline. I loved the music and movie references which are scattered throughout the story. There are shocks and surprises along the way which were all very much appreciated. One towards the end really shook me up but I’ll get over it eventually, I’m sure 😂. There was so much to like about The Graveyard Shift. I thought the romance aspect of the novel (which I don’t normally appreciate) was pretty darn perfect. The setting, which is Melbourne, ticked all of the boxes for me. Australian crime fiction is my go-to so I was over the moon to return to my favourite setting. And of course, the characters deserve another mention just because they’re so good! All in all, I loved everything about The Graveyard Shift and hope the author will pen another crime/horror/pop culture novel in the future because I will certainly be there! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Graveyard Shift. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Graveyard Shift by Maria Lewis was published in the UK by Datura Books on 12th September 2023 and is available in paperback and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Maria Lewis is an award-winning screenwriter, best-selling author and pop culture etymologist from Australia. She’s the writer of the internationally published Supernatural Sisters series of eight books, which includes the Aurealis Award-winning The Witch Who Courted Death, as well as Marvel’s Mockingbird: Strike out, Assassin’s Creed spin-off Mirage – Daughter Of No One and pop culture slasher The Graveyard Shift. As a screenwriter, she has worked across projects for AMC, Netflix, SBS, Ubisoft, ABC, DC Comics and many more. She’s the presenter, writer and producer of award-winning audio documentaries – The Phantom Never Dies – about the world’s first superhero – and Josie and the Podcats – about the 2001 cult film. In 2023, she made her directorial debut with horror The House That Hungers, based on her short story of the same name.