Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, #partner, for the advanced copy of Holy Island in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: April 7, 2026 (originally published in 2015)
Summary:
Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby Priory.
When former local girl Dr Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface making her confront her difficult past. She and Ryan struggle to work together to hunt a killer who hides in plain sight, while pagan ritual and small-town politics muddy the waters of their investigation.
My thoughts:
I first discovered L.J. Ross when I read her book, Imposter, which I loved. I was ecstatic to find out that not only was that the start of a series but that she had 2 other series that I could also check out. This is the first in her DCI Ryan Mysteries and I very much enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense novels but with a more police procedural bent. And I can’t wait to read more in the series.
I always love a mystery with an isolated setting and this one nailed that. Holy Island, off the northeast coast, seems the ideal location for a murder mystery with its limited accessibility. And then we have DCI Ryan, with his troubled past – how could that not up that suspense and tension. While I didn’t love the romance angle between him and Anna – it felt a bit rushed to me – it will be interesting to see how that pans out in future books. But luckily the romance wasn’t the focus of the book – it was the murder and that kept the story moving. The twists and turns kept me guessing and I did not see that ending coming at all!
This is the author’s debut novel and what a debut it turned out to be!! This series at the moment has 24 books, and her other 2 series have 5 and 7 books each. She certainly is a prolific writer and I cannot wait to continue with this series and the others – I’ve read the first book now in each series.
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