Joined in 2023 
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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. Having been annoyed by various parts of this story which seemed to belong in the group of male authors writing about depressed breasts, imagine my surprise when I discovered that L.J. Ross is, in fact, a woman. While male authors have been increasingly called out on such sexist writing as was portrayed in this novel, it made me wonder whether female authors are subjected to the same scrutiny. Or is it forgiven because the sexism is wrapped up in a cutesy romance with a HEA? Oh Anna. We get a lot of insight into Anna. Her thoughts, emotions and reactions. Except, we don't. She offers a few bland explanations, which a first year undergraduate or keen amateur historian would know. We know she has had a troubled - violent - childhood but we are left assuming that she is psychologically balanced and totally unaffected. We are given the impression she has a glittering academic career (established in just 8 years since leaving school) but we know absolutely nothing about her everyday life - does she have a flat, a pet, friends, hobbies. Nada.
Having spent a brief holiday in Northumberland last year and seen Holy Island and walked to Sycamore Gap the meeting of books to reader almost seemed inevitable. 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. The village was tiny, consisting of a few cottages and a castle which, they were thankful to learn, did have guest accommodation. Chillingham Castle had a reputation for being the most haunted castle in England, and ran ghost tours for the guests.There's a half decent book struggling to get out of this but it's so riddled with faults, of so many different varieties, and with a story that is just entirely implausible.
Holy Island is a perfect setting for a murder mystery; cut off from the main land twice a day when the tidal waters cover the causeway. When a murder at high tide happens it has to have been committed by someone still on the island. Fortunately although there is no standing police presence there a detective is on hand to handle the case. DCI Ryan has been recuperating in a local cottage for the past 3 months following a particularly difficult end to a murder investigation. So he feels both obligated and ideally placed knowing the island and many of its inhabitants already.But when people award 5 stars and glowing superlatives unqualified by any critical thinking, my reaction is to think: A fun and festive novella length story featuring characters we’ve come to know and love. Their forced stay at the castle sees them, along with six other guests, isolated and without transport, mobile signals or phone lines. With no way out of the castle, a murderer on the loose and a limited number of suspects, atmosphere, tension and suspense weave their way through the story.
Holy Island by L.J. Ross is a 3-D delight: devilishly dark and dangerous. Set on the U.K.’s Holy Island of Lindisfarne in the North Sea, the events that occur in this sparsely populated isle are definitely unholy. I wish to sincerely thank the author and Booklover Catlady Publicity for furnishing the digital copy of Holy Island in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.I like police procedurals and this one has a unique feel as DCI Ryan sets up his base in the front room of his holiday let. A further point that irritated me a great deal was that Ryan had suffered previous trauma and had been prescribed medication to manage anxiety and PTSD. But like any good alpha male, he refuses to take the pills and resolves to push through without therapy or any kind of help. Of course, once this trauma had been mentioned and Ryan had a few obligatory moments of staring into space, it played no role whatsoever in the story. So maybe he wasn't all that traumatised after all. In this day and age, it would be nice to see a little more realistic and sensible portrayal of mental health issues.
On leave and recovering on the island after a personal tragedy (case gone wrong), DCI Ryan is living alone and disconnected. But this is a community where everyone is connected whether they like it or not. 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.LJ Ross is an internationally bestselling author, whose books have sold over 7 million copies worldwide.
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