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trackofwords 's review for:

Holy Island by L.J. Ross
4.0

A thoroughly enjoyable, satisfying, easy read.

I went into this hoping for a gripping, entertaining story and that's exactly what I got. The procedural elements are pretty much by the numbers, but then that's exactly what I wanted - there's a lot to be said for the comfort factor of just kicking back and enjoying this sort of mystery as it plays out. I enjoyed the dynamic between DCI Ryan and Dr. Taylor, and likewise the insular, everyone-knows-everyone island setting, even if it's a bit Hot Fuzz/'the Greater Good' in places. Lindisfarne makes for an evocative location, too. If the occult goings-on stretched my disbelief a little bit, I can forgive that because in the main this was just a nice little detective story that did what I wanted it to.

I'll definitely check out the next book at some point!