Holy Island cover art

Holy Island

The DCI Ryan Mysteries, Book 1

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Holy Island

By: LJ Ross
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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About this listen

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.

Murder and mystery are peppered with a sprinkling of romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set on the spectacular Northumbrian island of Lindisfarne, cut off from the English mainland by a tidal causeway.

©2015 L J Ross (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Cosy Crime Mystery Romance Romantic Suspense Murder Suspense Fiction

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Critic reviews

" Holy Island is a blockbuster." ( Daily Express)
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Narrator is rather over the top at times bit too florid fir my tastes. Found the obsession with sex rather wearing professional people do not spend their time fantasying about their colleagues / members of the public. Guessed the plot, even the "twist" very early on.

A bit silly on more than one front!

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decent story however the feminist in me couldn't stand the description of the women or the main characters attitude. won't be listening to any more of them for this reason.

dated

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An enjoyable story, though, as in other books I’ve read of hers, LJ Ross does get a bit too in-depth about unnecessary details like how the men feel about the women, and how they look etc, and vice versa. A lot of needless and annoying stuffing! Apart from that it was a good storyline, and I will listen to more of these books after a break.

Good storyline

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I just had to write a review because I thought the narrator Jonathan Keeble was excellent. I love his voice and his attempts at different accents helped the plot along.
I listened to this book to motivate me on my daily walk and it did just that. It was a bit of escapism. I've been to Lindisfarne and could imagine it.
The plot was a bit mad but it didn't matter. The hero was gorgeous - ok. The relationships between the characters were interesting and made me think about future books in the series. In fact I am going to get the second one right away.
It isn't great literature or deeply thought provoking but as a light hearted listen I thought it was great. There aren't many things that motivate me to do any kind of exercise but this book did. It succeeded where others had failed and for that I'll give it 5 stars.

Well I enjoyed it

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A really enjoyable read, well written, moments of humour amid dark murders. Twists and turns right to the end. I can normally work out 'who dun it' but I was stumped on this one. I am definitely interested in reading the next one.

A real page turner

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