Reviews

The Brutal Tide by Kate Rhodes

nannamoo's review

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3.0

Improbable murders. Disappointing

nocto's review against another edition

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3.5

There are two threads in this episode of the Ben Kitto series set on the Scilly Isles. I like that one of them is someone catching up with Ben from his past as an undercover police officer in London. I'm not really bothered by the 'how many murders can we have within a small island community?' thing but it is nice to see an author nodding to the fact that sometimes the crimes arrive in paradise from elsewhere. But the other thread of the book is the discovery of a skeleton during building work that looks a lot like it did originate on the island in the not so distant past.

I liked the way the first thread unfolded, mostly away from the Scilly Isles, and I never felt the resolution of it was a foregone conclusion. The problem with spending so much time on that thread was that the story on the island didn't feel as fleshed out as it could have been to me. I wanted to know more about the characters involved with that. The pieces went together well but it felt like the puzzle was solved before I'd really got to grips with the story. There were lots of characters who didn't get much page time.

dogearedandfurry's review

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5.0

I do love this series, and I think Kate writes such evocative descriptions of the islands, sea and life, that you immediately want to visit Scilly and experience it for yourself. The two POV in this story - Ben and Ruby - help the story move along, and builds to a tense finale. As another reviewer said, my only tiny niggle was that it felt a slightly abrupt ending, but that wasn’t enough to mark the stars down for me this time. I kept thinking throughout the book, that it’s her best yet ❤️. Brilliant.

emimclarty's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75