ramblingmads

Today is my first post on this epic tour covering all of Kate Rhodes’ Isles of Scilly Mysteries series, featuring DI Ben Kitto. Follow the hashtag #TeamScilly on social media for the other hosts.

DI Ben Kitto needs a second chance. After ten years working for the murder squad in London, a traumatic event has left him grief-stricken. He’s tried to resign from his job, but his boss has persuaded him to take three months to reconsider.

Ben plans to work in his uncle’s boatyard on the tiny Scilly island of Bryher where he was born, hoping to mend his shattered nerves. His plans go awry when the body of a sixteen-year-old girl is found on the beach at Hell Bay. Her attacker must still be on the island because no ferries have sailed during the two-day storm. 

Everyone on the island is under suspicion. Dark secrets are about to resurface. And the murderer could strike again at any time . . .

THE ISLAND OF TRESCO HOLDS A DARK SECRET SOMEONE WILL KILL TO PROTECT.

Ben Kitto has become the Scilly Isles’ Deputy Chief of Police. As the island’s lazy summer takes hold, he finds himself missing the excitement of the murder squad in London. But when the body of professional diver Jude Trellon is discovered, anchored to the rocks of a nearby cave, his investigative skills are once again needed.

At first it appears that the young woman’s death was a tragic accident, but when evidence is found that suggests otherwise, the islanders close ranks. With even those closest to the victim refusing to talk, it seems that plenty of people might have had reason to harm her. As the islanders remain guarded, Ben Kitto suspects a killer is on the loose in Tresco.

Everyone is a suspect.
Nobody is safe.

My thoughts: Ben Kitto has returned to the Scilly Isles off Cornwall’s Atlantic coast, the place he called home as a child. He hasn’t been back for a while and he’s on extended leave from the Met following his partner’s death.

More or less immediately after arriving on the island of Bryher, he’s drawn into the search for a missing teenage girl. When her body is found on the beach, he volunteers his services as a Murder Team detective to the local DCI. He’s a local and has the skills to catch a killer.

There’s not many people on the island and the killer has to be a local, in a tight knit community, this is devastating. When another teenager disappears, the DCI decides it’s case closed – the missing boy killed his girlfriend and then himself, but Kitto doesn’t believe that at all. His unorthodox methods and willingness to ignore orders put his life in danger, but he will find the truth.

I really like Ben, I like his silly dog Shadow too, even though Ben doesn’t want a dog. I like the islanders, they’re a tough bunch, isolated by tides and weather at times, dependant on fishing and tourism for much of their income, in a place famous for its historic smugglers and not known for violent crime. A murder sends shockwaves through the community, but they pull together and help Ben where they can.

I think his deputy, young detective Eddie, is a sweetheart, desperate to do a good job, delighted by his impending fatherhood, keen as mustard and with good instincts too, he’s the perfect foil for Ben’s jaded cynicism.

In book two, Ruin Beach, the tragedy is on another island, Tresco, but it’s still Ben and Eddie’s patch so off they go to investigate.

The victim this time is another woman, older than in their last case, mother to a small child and a well known diver. Born and raised on the island, she knows the waters well so her drowning is shocking.

Under the seas around the islands lay hundreds of shipwrecks, some ancient, and there are a lot of people keen to find the possible treasures still aboard. I always feel a bit uncomfortable about things like this, as those ships are also grave sites, a lot of sailors will have gone down with their ships and their remains rest at the bottom of the ocean.

But others have no qualms, and while taking anything without handing it over to the authorities is very illegal, people in nedd of money, like some of the islanders, might be willing to do desperate and stupid things. Did Jude and did her killer find out and murder her for her treasure?

As Ben and Eddie dig into the case, more people are put in danger as this very ruthless killer stops at nothing to evade the police and find the sunken ship, hoping to make their fortune. There’s a few red herrings, Jude seems to have fallen out with her brother and several others, and there’s a dodgy couple from the States hanging around, but after working his way through the suspects, can Ben stop anyone else from being harmed?

If anything, this was even more chilling than than Hell Bay, with the killer kidnapping people and leaving them to drown – a truly horrible way to die. Their desperation makes them do awful things, but Ben Kitto isn’t a man to let it go, and even risking his own life to save another, won’t slow him down.

Join me next time for more #TeamScilly crimes and don’t let them put you off heading to the Isles for a visit, they’re meant to be truly stunning and are on my list for the next time I head to my beloved Cornwall.

*I was kindly gifted copies of these books in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.