This could so easily have been a cold and gloomy book, but the secret to its warmth lies in Ross’ writing. As the evening progresses someone turns to extreme measures to ensure their inheritance and one-by-one the bodies begin to pile up. It gives those so long forgotten their voices back - the reader can hear the whispers of the lost girls of Crossbones and the skulls of St Leonard's ossuary and it's strangely, unexpectedly, comforting. A stupid title and a bland beginning disguise an excellent and interesting look at various British and Irish graveyards, and a meditation on death: how we live with it, remember it, interact with or ignore it.

Just a few days ago my partner and fellow Shiny reviewer Basil Ransome Davies found a new walk to do in these times of Covid-inspired local diversions. On Twitter someone described A Tomb With a View as a ‘conversation with a friend’, and I second this sentiment. In a year with so much death, it may have initially seemed a hard sell, but the author's humanity has instead acted as a beacon of light in the darkness.The families of British soldiers know what to expect when their sons sign up, Morrison replies, so if they die on active service, that’s an end to it.

Every week, First World War casualties are found when farmers dig up their fields or ground is being prepared for building. What is striking and surprising, however, is the way in which a book such as this is also life-affirming. He deals, too, with traditions of death and how we remember people, exploring Islamic burials, the natural death movement, the impending crisis as our cemeteries reach bursting point and much more, all with a genuine human curiousity and respect.

I would indeed gravely read the ivy-overgrown stones and imagine the lives of those who resided beneath them, creating life stories built around archaic names and centuries-old dates. He touches on his own personal reasons only once, and this is enough to understand why he has this interest, and why he is drawn to visiting graveyards and places where those who have passed are remembered.

What made Nick Reynolds, Alabama 3’s harmonica player, start a new career as a death mask artist, taking casts from the freshly dead faces of the likes of Malcolm Maclaren and his own father, the Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds?

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