"Dark Skies" by L J Ross - Book Review

 

Dark Skies is part of a series of books featuring DCI Ryan and like all the others, is set in the English north-east, this one primarily around Kielder.

It opens with a murder in 1981, the same time as the valley is being flooded to form the great lake/reservoir, and when thirty years later there is another murder in the vicinity, Ryan starts to believe there may be a connection.

It’s a fast moving story with decent dialogue and anyone who likes English detective stories could well be interested in this.

L J Ross is an interesting writer. Formerly a barrister in London, she felt the need for a career change and took up writing full time, and decided to go down the indie route publishing her books herself. Why wouldn’t you? 70% royalties sure knocks the pants off 15% (traditionally published), and she’s enjoyed amazing success selling over one and half million books in a few years, with many thousands of reviews to prove it, and that is no mean achievement. Clearly, she has built up a wide and loyal readership who lap up her output. She’s an inspiration to many other indie writers, that’s for sure.

“Dark Skies” is a standalone novel, though details of various other previous cases did keep seeping over into this one and I found that slightly annoying, not knowing who or what they were talking about, but that is a minor gripe.

If you are seeking a new British crime writer to get stuck into then the DCI Ryan mysteries are a good place to start. Recommended.