I’m delighted to be part of the Team Scilly Project, where I’ll be reviewing all the books in The Isles Of Scilly Mysteries series over the next few months. My review of Hangman Island is written with thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to be part of Team Scilly and to Simon & Schuster for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

ON A REMOTE ISLAND

When Jez Cardew’s boat is found drifting empty on the Atlantic Ocean, DI Ben Kitto and his fellow lifeboat crew members immediately fear the worst. After an extensive search yields no results, the team are forced to retreat to dry land as darkness sets in.
 
THE OCEAN IS MERCILESS

But Kitto can’t let it go. Why would Jez – an experienced sailor – get into difficulty when the sea has been calm for weeks? Unless his disappearance was no accident.
 
BUT SO ARE THE PEOPLE . . .

The gruesome discovery of a hand washed ashore on the beach confirms his hunch. Because a medal is attached to the index finger, and it can only have been placed there by the killer.
 
This strange clue is the only lead to an agenda as cold as the ocean itself. Kitto must work fast, before the small, isolated community closes ranks. And it’s only a matter of time before the murderer among them strikes again . . .
 
Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffiths, this gripping new locked-island mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the bitter end.

Review:

I have loved this series so far and I’m delighted to be reviewing the latest instalment, which begins shortly after the previous novel ends. DI Ben Kitto is still prioritising his workload with the police, despite his other commitments and he is determined, compassionate and often thinks outside the box, even if it puts his boss’ nose out of joint, all of which make him a wonderful protagonist to follow. I also love his friendship with Eddie, which has grown over the series, and it was interesting to see the slight changes in Eddie as he has a slightly more personal connection to the investigation in this novel.

Kate Rhodes is a brilliant writer, and as always, the descriptions in Hangman Island showcase this. She has researched the Isles Of Scilly, both the landscape and the community, really well, and I was immediately transported to the locations in the novel and could picture everything that was happening.

Hangman Island is written mostly in first person from the perspective of Ben Kitto, but there are occasional chapters written in third person, from the perspective of Sam Austell. I liked this aspect of the novel as it helped me to understand his character in more depth, which interested me as he appeared in a previous instalment.

Like the other islands that make up the Isles Of Scilly, Hangman Island has very few residents, which means that there are several suspects. As always with this series, I enjoyed unpicking each character’s secrets and trying to work out who was responsible for the crimes. As the investigation gathered momentum, the novel became extremely fast paced and it was difficult to put my Kindle down as I waited for answers. As usual, my guesses were completely wrong!

As we have now reached the end of the project, I feel a little sad. I’m unsure if the author has any further books in the series planned, but if so, I’ll definitely be following them!

Hangman Island is available from Amazon.