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I’m always excited to find a new book by LJ Ross in my Kindle library 😊 This author is a genius. I honestly don’t know how she does it! Ryan and Anna continue to remind me of me and my Steve. I love the romantic aspect of these books and an insight into the personal lives of these murder detectives. It makes them more real and relatable. Having read the series from the start, I do feel like I almost know these characters personally. I look forward to catching up with them all and I can’t wait for book 16!
a) you're conning me into buying this under false pretences (albeit only 99p in the Kindle New Year sale) and
Customer reviews
Look, people are entitled to enjoy any sort of rubbish with no regard to my opinion. In any case tastes vary, and I'm sure there is stuff I enjoy (or have done) that other people could rightly say is rubbish. I could understand a review that said 'I enjoyed it but noticed flaws and it's probably a 3.5 but as it's a debut novel I'll round it up to 4'. This is a proper whodunnit that reminisces of Agatha Christie. I love the sense of isolation and that the murderer must be one of the small cast of characters within the house. Whilst it’s set at Christmas time, the festive spirit doesn’t really come into it until the end, ensuring that this can be read at anytime of the year.
On the way home from a trip to Edinburgh, where they spent some time perusing the Christmas markets, Ryan, Phillips and their better halves Anna and Denise, are caught out by a heavy snowfall, causing an accident which shut the main road for miles. Forced to take side roads they make slow progress, until eventually they reach the small village of Chillingham, where they had to abandon the car. After a busy year fighting crime, DCI Ryan and his team of murder detectives are enjoying a festive season of goodwill, mulled wine and, in the case of DS Phillips, a stottie cake or two-that is, until a freak snowstorm forces their car off the main road and into the remote heart of Northumberland. Their Christmas spirit is soon tested when they're forced to find shelter inside England's most haunted castle, where they're the uninvited guests at a 'Candlelit Ghost Hunt'. It's all fun and games-until one of the guests is murdered. It seems no mortal hand could have committed the crime, so Ryan and Co. must face the spectres living inside the castle walls to uncover the grisly truth, before another ghost joins their number... You have ridiculous scenarios, not least Ryan's boat journey. I just don't have words for how unlikely this is, and how insulting it is to the reader. It is unlikely he could have navigated the journey in calm daylight. And why get a boat from Budle, when Seahouses would be the logical place (fishing vessels, trips to the Farnes...I think there might be cruises to Lindisfarne as well)? It wouldn’t be a crime book of course if there wasn’t a good old murder or two and there is no rest for poor Ryan and Phillips as they have to try and solve the case. Cut off from the outside world with no working phone lines, they really are up against it.I'm not even going to mention the romance aspect. The fact that it was inappropriate and unprofessional doesn't make it impossible, but given the various circumstances, it simply didn't ring true, and happened way too fast, at a time when both of them would be pre-occupied with the murders. The sex scenes seemed out of place, adding nothing to the storyline and being devoid of anything erotic. Some sane reviewers have referred to it negatively as 'Mills and Boon'! Add to the mix that Holy Island is set just before Christmas, it was opportune that I should read this book during this holiday period. Maybe the author is in expectation of this novel being made into a film/series but I wouldn't be watching it if that's the case. HOLY ISLAND by L.J. Ross is a debut murder mystery that is set on the U.K.’s Holy Island of Lindisfarne in the North Sea, an island which really exists.
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