Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from Skyhorse Publishing via #netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.
Set amid the dramatic beauty of the Scottish Highlands and threaded with Highland history and lore, the latest Rebecca Connolly thriller is another stellar crime novel from “a writer to watch” (Publishers Weekly).
SYNOPSIS:
Something scared Nuala Flaherty to death. When her body is found in the center of a pentagram on a lonely moor in the shadow of Ben Shee mountain, Rebecca is determined to find out what killed her. Was her death caused by supernatural means or is there a more down-to-earth explanation? The body was discovered on the Island of Stoirm, about which Rebecca has some complicated feelings. Her beloved father, a career policeman, came from there, but he fled the island’s and his own family’s dark history, and Rebecca herself had a brush with death while pursuing a story there. But there’s no way she can avoid going back. Besides, her dear friends, photographer Chaz Wymark and his partner, Alan, are about to be married on Stoirm, causing a small stir in the isolated island community.
Rebecca’s investigation will lead her to a mysterious cult and local drug dealings. But what she doesn’t know is that crime matriarch Mo Burke still has her in her crosshairs. Mo wants payback for the death of her son, and after one failed attempt to hurt Rebecca, she’s upping the ante. And this time, it could be lethal.
REVIEW:
This book picks up after the events of the previous book in the series, A Rattle of Bones, and there is still fall out from the events that occurred in it. While you don't have to have read that book, it helps to have read the previous 2 books (book 2 is The Blood is Still, and it and book 3 are on sale on Amazon right now for under $2 for Kindle versions), to have the complete understanding of the previous events, which are an underlying trilogy in the three books. The not returning to the island brings up events from book 1 (Thunder Bay). All in all this book ties up a lot of loose ends, and sets the stage for a new focus for Rebecca in the 5th book in the series.
This book gives 3 of the 4 side characters a chance to shine on their own, including Chaz and Alan. You get some interesting backstory for each of them, and that really helps the reader to understand their current actions. As they 'help' Rebecca with the murder case at hand, with her working a different angle of it from home, you get to see a wider picture of the case, and how things are not what they seem. As the case heats up from the poking around, suddenly everyone is in danger. Add in an unsuspected threat from Mo Burke, and you have a rapid fire read at the end of the book. The end of the series arc is satisfactorially handled and leaves the reader ready to see what next adventure Rebecca can get into!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Douglas Skelton was born in Glasgow. He has been a bank clerk, tax officer, taxi driver (for two days), wine waiter (for two hours), journalist, and investigator of real-life crime for Glasgow solicitors. He has written eleven true crime and Scottish criminal history books but now concentrates on fiction. Thunder Bay, the first Rebecca Connolly thriller, and A Rattle of Bones, the third, were longlisted for Bloody Scotland’s McIlvanney Prize for best crime book of the year, as were his novels Open Wounds and An Honourable Thief. He is now at work on the next Rebecca Connolly thriller and lives in southwest Scotland.
This does sound like an interesting mystery to read. My daughter really enjoy books like this.
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