Longstone #Book10 #Review #DCIRyan

Longstone

About the Book

Between the devil and the deep blue sea…

Viking treasure is discovered beneath the icy waters of the North Sea and local historian Doctor Anna Taylor is called in to help catalogue the most exciting hoard in living memory. But when a shipwreck diver washes up dead, she’s soon out of her depth. Luckily, she knows just the person to call…

When DCI Ryan arrives at the picturesque fishing town of Seahouses, he's faced with an impenetrable wall of secrets and lies. As he juggles marine archaeology and the cutthroat world of shipwreck diving, another murder blows the case wide open. To uncover the truth, Ryan must delve deeper into the hearts of those around him to find what lies beneath…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

My Review

As most people know I’m a big LJ Ross fan and this is yet another fantastic read.

I was thrilled to hear that LJ Ross was writing another book and even more thrilled to find out it was set in Seahouses, Farne Islands and even that part of it was set on the location of the Grace Darling Lighthouse, which was such a lovely surprise when I heard that a new book was due out, as I had spent my summer holidays in 2018 in Northumberland in a very remote cottage and had visited most of the places where the books have been set. 

Longstone sees the return of Jack Lowerson back to the fold of the team.  Longstone is set 6 months after The Hermitage so picks up nicely from the end of that book.  In Longstone we are taken on a trip round the Seahouses and Farne Islands, and I could picture all the locations vividly and even the smells of the area.

Ian Tucker is a diver who has been searching the waters around the Farne Islands and is pretty certain he has found something of interest, so calls Anna Taylor-Ryan to meet up with him so he can explain in further detail, as it is not something he wishes to discuss on the phone.  On Anna arriving at the pub which Ian is staying she finds Ian missing and calls Ryan. 

Ryan and his team set out to investigate after his body washes up on the shore.  As they start to investigate another body is found and Ryan is determined that these cases are linked. 

Ian was familiar within the Farne Islands and had been stopping in one of the local pubs run by Hutch and his lodger Gemma who are related.

We are treated to the back story of Hutch, Gemma and her son Josh along with the investigation into Ian’s death and the reason he was murdered. 

I found this book riveting and could visualise all the places in graphic detail that were mentioned in the book.  I found there was just enough mystery and suspense in the book to keep me tapping at the pages on my kindle and couldn’t wait to read a few pages whenever I had the change which was hard in the period of time I was reading the book (which was the run up to Christmas) but I managed it. 

I’m already looking forward to the next book “The Infirmary” which is due in February and takes us back to Holy Island, as it is a prequel to the DCI Ryan mysteries. 

I still have the audible to listen to of The Infirmary which has a bit of a start cast in it.  Despite the time it has taken me to publish this review (due to other family constraints) I have now read the physical book, but still want to listen to the audible version and know that once I start, I’ll want to continue until I have heard it all. 

 

About the Author 

LJ Ross is the author of the #1 international bestselling series of DCI Ryan mystery novels and her books have sold more than three million copies since 2015. She has released ten full-length novels, seven of which have reached number one in the Amazon UK Kindle best-sellers chart. They are available to purchase in e-book, print and audiobook narration on the Amazon store.

Her eleventh novel, 'The Infirmary', is a prequel story which will be available in e-book and print on 10th February 2019. It is already available as a major Audible Originals drama starring Tom Bateman, Kevin Whately, Hermione Norris and Alun Armstrong.

Louise was born in Northumberland, England. She studied undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Law at King's College London and studied abroad in Paris and Florence. She spent much of her working life in London, where she was a regulatory lawyer for a number of years before taking the decision to change career and pursue her dream to write.

Now, she writes full time and lives with her husband and son in Northumberland. She enjoys reading all manner of books, travelling and spending time with family and friends.

List of DCI Ryan books

 
1. Holy Island (2014)
2. Sycamore Gap (2015)
3. Heavenfield (2016)
4. Angel (2016)
5. High Force (2017)
6. Cragside (2017)
7. Dark Skies (2017)
8. Seven Bridges (2018)
9. The Hermitage (2018)
10. Longstone (2018)
11. The Infirmary (2019)
12. The Moor (2019)