Bamburgh by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY…

When a cantankerous old woman dies at her home in the sleepy, picturesque village of Bamburgh, DCI Ryan doesn’t think much of it—except, that is, for the small matter of it having been his wife who happened to find her body. Then another body turns up amongst the sand dunes at the base of the mighty castle fortress, and he decides it can’t be a coincidence…

Meanwhile, after a recent revelation about her sister, DC Melanie Yates’ quest to avenge her death is becoming an obsession—much to the concern of those around her. With a new DCS to contend with and hundreds of cold case files to sift through, the chances of uncovering a dormant killer seem unlikely. But as Melanie delves deeper into the secrets of the past to uncover the truth, she soon realises it lies much closer to home…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit, set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

For the first time in fifteen years since the murder of her twin sister, DC Melanie Yates has concrete evidence the monster she has searched for is not only still active, but remains nearby. Determined to eke out her revenge, Melanie is not deterred when she is sidelined from the investigation. Meanwhile DCI Ryan and his team are kept busy not just with the hunt for this murderer, but also discover an old woman dead in her home near the sleepy township of Bamburgh. They wouldn’t have thought much of it, except they had all met the lady shortly before her death at a masquerade ball at the castle, and DCI Ryan’s wife was the one to discover her body. Can the team work these two cases in tandem and find justice before it’s too late?

I found this to be a well balanced and interesting story. While the series is quite long, I feel readers should certainly be able to pick this book up with very little history and still enjoy the two murder mysteries contained inside. Though I do admit I found it far more emotional and deeper for having known the complexities tying all the main characters together and their histories.

I have to be honest and I was quite disappointed with a number of Melanie’s decisions in this book. Despite multiple conversations with her team-mates and her partner, Melanie consciously decided to chose a path not just of revenge but also of taking actions where the future ramifications were quite dire. I can fully sympathise with Melanie’s character, and I can even comprehend how in the moment she wasn’t thinking about the future or where her actions were going to lead. But I really struggled to feel empathy when a number of her choices were entirely selfish and destructive to her loved ones and Melanie recognized this – but chose to keep going anyway. I really disliked how Melanie put her personal need for revenge above the safety and emotional wellbeing of her supposed life-partner and the love and friendship of her nearest and dearest. I’m not sure I can forgive her character for acting like this.

To be fair, this absolutely made the plot more interesting, and made the danger lurking much stronger and a more conflicted and interesting read. Indeed, this overshadowed pretty much everything else in the book for me, personally – this massive metaphorical bomb going off in the character’s lives and relationships overshadowed most of the rest of the book for me. It made gripping reading and was very well written. I also have to admit that much of this plot – and its seriousness – would have sailed right past me had I not known and understood the histories between all the characters. I do feel the book and its main plots would have still been quite enjoyable as a read had I picked this up with no prior history, but for sure the depth would not have been there without that prior knowledge.

An enjoyable read – and quite explosive for fans, I expect – this is a well written police procedural with a good murder mystery, a small but delightfully layered cast of characters and a series I plan to continue to enjoy more of.

The Creek by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE…

Kate Irving arrives at her grandfather’s cottage at Frenchman’s Creek in the dead of night with her young son, a small suitcase and little else. Its scattered community of fishermen, farmers, artists and jetsetters barely bat an eyelid, because theirs is a rarefied world, tucked beneath the lush forest that lines the banks of the Helford estuary, deep in the heart of Cornwall, where life is slow and people generally mind their own business. Unless, of course, your grandfather happens to be a pillar of the local community…

Kate’s left the past behind and guards her privacy and her son fiercely. She’s wary of accepting the friendship her new neighbours offer, but their kindness is too great to refuse and she begins to feel she has found her place in the world. That is, until tragedy strikes, and her new friends look to her for the answers…

Kate soon learns that the past always catches up with you, in the end—the question is, will she be able to face it, when it does?

Suspense is peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced mystery, set amidst the spectacular Cornish landscape.

Kate Irving hasn’t been back to her grandfather’s small cottage in Frenchman’s Creek since the unexpected death of her parents over fifteen years ago. Yet she has nowhere else to turn, not now she’s convinced she needs shelter for herself and her young son. Much is as she remembers it from her childhood, though her childhood friends – including the now very handsome Nick – have all grown up. But just as Kate thinks maybe she can escape the violence and constant fear she’s been surviving with her abusive husband, tragedy strikes again and Kate is shown that nowhere is safe.

This is an interesting and well plotted summerish style of mystery. While I don’t feel it’s a traditional mystery – there’s no police procedure or much of a who-dun-it style of plot – there is definitely plenty of tension in the plot of Kate leaving her abusive marriage and trying to start fresh again with the only remaining member of her family. There is a lot of characterization and character-driven plot as she reconnects with the small coastal town people and as Kate rebuilds. There is a bit of a mystery plot as well but that isn’t a strong part of the story until the second half of the book.

Readers looking for something a bit lighter and more romantic suspense likely will find this book a good fit. I found the characters sympathetic and the pace of the story is easy to read in a few sittings, but I do feel readers looking for a strong murder mystery story might find this a little light and lacking in the plot department. That said the romance is subtle and slow building with no real graphic scenes so readers used to more mystery and less romance should find that appealing.

A good book with interesting and relatable characters this is a light and fun summer read.

Cuthbert’s Way by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A SECRET KEPT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS…

After the dramatic theft of a priceless artefact from Durham Cathedral, the rest of the world believes that DCI Ryan and his team were able to recover and return St. Cuthbert’s cross to its rightful home. But Ryan knows the cross he recovered was a fake—far from being over, their problems are only just beginning…

Just as Ryan and his team begin to unravel the truth behind the spate of mysterious thefts, something even more priceless is stolen—something that can never be replaced.

As the nationwide manhunt continues without success, Ryan is thrust into despair—until he realises the answer lies not in modern policing but in an age-old secret known only to a chosen few. To recover what’s been lost, he must first crack ‘Cuthbert’s Code’, following the trail of a long-dead saint across the wild, unpredictable hills and valleys of the borderlands.

Can Ryan find what he’s looking for, before it’s too late?

He’s going to need a miracle…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

It has been a number of months since the brazen bombing and heist of St. Cuthbert’s famous Gold Cross, but even though publicly the trail has gone cold and the investigation shelved, DCI Ryan and his team quietly are still pursuing every available lead. None of the team believes in the pat explanations and they all feel there is more to come. When a monk at a local school is found murdered DCI Ryan knows this could very well be the beginning of the end – but no one knows whether it’s the end of the case, or his blissful life as Ryan knows it.

I was pleased with the beginning of this story because even though the previous book left quite a number of items left unfinished, this story opens with plenty of tie-ins and explanations, so readers who haven’t read the book preceding this can definitely understand exactly what’s been happening and where the team are in this case. My only minor complaint was I felt this managed to bog down a lot of the first quarter or so of the pace in this book and while I was relieved there wasn’t any massive info-dumps or long-winded discussions, I did feel as if the pace of the mystery was slower and there wasn’t much action or forward motion at the start of the book.

The middle and ending however greatly made up for this. Once the bad guys raised their collective heads and the dominoes started to fall there was a far more action-orientated, hasty pace to the story as a whole and the mystery in particular. I feel this should definitely appeal to readers who prefer a more action based and less police procedural style of mystery novel.

While the characters are very well established, I feel readers should be able to pick this book up by itself and still thoroughly enjoy it. With the arrival of DCI Ryan’s infant daughter on the scene his direct family – including his wife, Anna, are shown quite a bit more than they have been in many of the previous books. I quite enjoyed this and felt it added a good perspective to the various aspects to Ryan’s full life and not just as a focused policeman.

I thought this was a well written story with an excellent plot and a good pace. I’m looking forward to the next in this series.

The Cove by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

THE PERFECT ESCAPE…

Gabrielle Adams has it all – brains, beauty, a handsome fiancé, and a dream job in publishing. Until, one day, everything changes.

‘The Tube Killer’ takes his victims when they least expect it: standing on the edge of a busy London Underground platform, as they wait for a train to arrive through the murky underground tunnels of London.

Gabrielle soon learns that being a survivor is harder than being a victim, and she struggles to return to her old life. Desperate to break free from the endless nightmares, she snatches up an opportunity to run a tiny bookshop in a picturesque cove in rural Cornwall.

She thinks she’s found the perfect escape, but has she swapped one nightmare for another?

Suspense and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced thriller, set amidst the spectacular Cornish landscape.

Gabrielle Adams has everything she needs in life, an exciting job in publishing, a wonderful fiancé she loves and she’s living in the middle of London city. Then all in the space of a few moments her perfect world is shattered. Nearly killed by a serial killer, unable to work or cope with her busy city life and with her engagement well and truly over, Gabrielle decides a change of scenery is absolutely needed. So, she moves out to a small Cove and takes a job in a tiny bookstore. Can Gabrielle rebuild her life?

I found this to be a really interesting and well written, slow moving mystery style of book. An excellent standalone novel I found it a good and solid, read. I didn’t mind the slower pace as this book is not linked to others in a series – and so as the reader I needed a bit more detail and time spent explaining Gabrielle, her circumstances and the events unfolding in her life. Had the action been at a breakneck speed I really don’t think I’d have been able to follow along as well.

This book had a definite “summer reads” sort of feel to it – one where you have more time to meander and enjoy the scenery and not need the hectic action-packed thrill ride. I was also pleased that this wasn’t like Ross’ other series, and it wasn’t really a police procedural style of story but more of a regular character driven mystery of “what happens next” with a lower level of “who dun it”. I guessed a few parts of the plot, but was pleasantly surprised by other aspects, which also helped me turning the pages and enjoying as the puzzle pieces fitted together.

At times I felt like some of the characters were a little cliched, but I have to admit there was enough freshness to keep me guessing and at heart I really enjoyed watching everything unfold as Gabrielle found herself and her strength and built a new life. Readers looking for an action packed, or breathtakingly unique story might not find this fits the bill for them – but for a solid and well-paced mystery, with interesting characters and a well-rounded ending I feel this was a really good read.

I’ve enjoyed a number of other titles by this author, and this was another to add to the pile. I’ll be happy to read more books by this author in the future.

The Shrine by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A murder for the history books…

After a long and eventful winter, DCI Ryan and his team are looking forward to the joys of spring. But, when one of their colleagues is shot dead on her own doorstep and the brass think it’s an inside job, Ryan finds himself drafted in to investigate.

He’s barely scratched the surface when reports flood in of a terror explosion at Durham Cathedral. Chaos descends on the sleepy, historic city and, when the smoke clears, they find a priceless artefact that once belonged to Saint Cuthbert is missing.

With tensions running at an all-time high, unable to trust the local police, can Ryan and his team bring a killer to justice — and restore Cuthbert’s cross to its natural resting place?

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular landscape of County Durham.

Spring has finally arrived in Northumbria but the peace of the warmer days is destroyed when one of DCI Ryan’s colleagues is shot dead on her own doorstep. Mere minutes apart, a terrorist explosion occurs at Durham Cathedral and a priceless artefact is stolen that once belonged to Saint Cuthbert. Far more importantly, one of their own is seriously injured during the attack. Ryan and his team will stop at nothing to uncover what’s really going on.

This is an exciting and well written addition to this long running series. While the plot stands quite well on it’s own there is a lot of background and history between the main characters. I don’t feel each of these stories needs to be read to really enjoy this book – but having some working understanding of the links and history will certainly give the reader a deeper emotional connection with the events that unfold in this book.

Much like some of this author’s previous books this one is clearly linked to the next in the series. While the book has a solid feel of being self-contained there are a number of threads that are left open and considering the next book in the series is called Cuthbert’s Way, I have the strong feeling that the unfinished items will be resolved in the next book. There definitely isn’t a cliffhanger ending but readers who dislike needing to wait for the next installment should definitely purchase this and the next book together, so they won’t have to wait.

I enjoyed the mix of pacing – while some aspects are a slower police procedural style of connecting the dots there are a few good action sequences where the story moves at a much faster pace. I also felt there was quite a bit of character growth for DCI Ryan, both in the relationship with his parents and with him coming to terms with the changes occurring in his private life. Readers who have enjoyed the previous books in this series should definitely feel this is an excellent addition and I feel they should enjoy this book.

Borderlands by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When the gods made man, they made a weapon…

After uncovering a fresh wave of corruption within the ranks of Northumbria CID, Detective Chief Inspector Ryan was looking forward to an uneventful summer. But, when a young woman is shot dead on the remote army ranges of the Northumberland National Park, Ryan is called in to investigate.

Meanwhile, violent crimes are being committed across sites of historic importance in the North East, the perpetrator leaving only a graffitied symbol as their calling card. As the body count rises, Ryan and his team must unravel the mystery behind its meaning – before it’s too late…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

DCI Ryan is called out to a tragic accident in the remote army ranges inside the Northumberland National Park. A woman has been shot during the night-time training sessions and they need to work out who she is and how she came to be so far out in the countryside. Meanwhile Jack and the newly promoted Mel remain back in town struggling to discover the group responsible for a series of arson attacks that appear to be motivated only to stir up hatred and fear. Can they solve both these cases before more people are killed?

I found this to be an interesting and well-paced mystery story. While there are two separate main plotlines running, I felt the author did a good job handling them equally and not letting one of the other take over too much of the story. I was also pleased we got a little bit more insight and movement in Ryan and Anna’s personal relationship which I felt was well-needed after the last few books where the plot – and Frank and Denise’s relationship – has taken more of the front seat.

Readers who haven’t read any of the previous book in this series should still be able to enjoy the two main murder plotlines. I feel they might struggle a little more with all the history and friendship between the main characters – as that has been well established over the last 14 books and so there’s that ease and familiarity that exists between them. That said, the plot and mystery is very well explained and unique to this book – so there’s no prior history needed for that. But readers might not have quite the emotional attachment to the characters if this is the first book they’re trying in this series.

Readers looking for an enjoyable British police procedural style of mystery novel should find this hits the spot. While there’s not a super fast plotline – more of a ‘who done it’ type of mystery and not an action or thriller with a fast pace – this is a solid story and I found it enjoyable.

The Moor by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The circus is in town…

When a ten-year-old girl turns up on DCI Ryan’s doorstep to tell him she’s witnessed a murder, he has no idea he’s about to step into his most spellbinding case yet. The circus has rolled into Newcastle upon Tyne, bringing with it a troupe of daring acrobats, magicians, jugglers—and one of them is a killer.

Ryan and his team must break through their closed ranks to uncover a secret which has lain buried for eight years, before the killer strikes again – this time, to silence the only living witness…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

When a ten-year-old girl turns up on DCI Ryan’s doorstep to get his help investigating a murder she witnessed Ryan and his team have no idea just how much all their lives are about to change. With the circus having returned to Tyne for the first time in almost a decade Ryan and his colleagues need to tread carefully and find which of the travelers are responsible for the dangers that begin once again.

I have been quite enjoying this series and found that the additional element this time of a precocious and inquisitive young girl really added a fresh element to the storyline. I feel readers can probably pick this book up without having read many (if any) of the previous stories, though the team have quite a bit of history together at this point and it make take a short time for readers to pick up on all those different threads. The two different plots in this story moved forward at a decent pace and I really enjoyed how they circled each other but remained realistic as two separate plots and didn’t dovetail together.

Readers who avoid cliffhanger endings should be aware that one part of these two plotlines wasn’t resolved – though very clearly that was set up to be completed in the next book. This was just one short piece of the plot that was left dangling – the vast majority of the secondary plot and the entirety of the little girl’s plotline were all very neatly and completely finished, so the book didn’t feel too much like a cliffhanger, though I won’t be waiting long to move onto the next book and discover what happened to the dangling thread.

I also was pleased that most of the characters had some fairly important personal progression in this book. Jack and Mel in particular made some important steps (both forward and – in my opinion – backward) and Mac and Frank also made some significant changes that will affect them in the coming books too, I expect. So, readers looking for some strong character developments should be very pleased with the movement in this story.

With a strong mystery and interesting characters this series continues to draw me along. I’m very eager for the next book.