Ruin Beach: The Isles of Scilly Mysteries: 2

Written by Kate Rhodes

Narrated by Stephen Perring

THE ISLES OF SCILLY MYSTERIES #2

The island of Tresco holds a dark secret someone will kill to protect.

Ben Kitto has become Deputy Commander in the Isles of Scilly Police. As the islands’ 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 suggests otherwise, the islanders close ranks. With even those closest to the victim refusing to talk, it seems that plenty of islanders had reason to harm her. As the community remains guarded, Ben Kitto discovers that terrible secrets lie beneath the waters around Tresco, and the killer may soon strike again.

Everyone is a suspect.

Nobody is safe.

Praise for Kate Rhodes:
 
'Kate Rhodes directs her cast of suspects with consummate skill, keeping us guessing right to the heartbreaking end. I'm a fan' Louise Candlish
'Evocative, immersive, twisty' Sarah Vaughan
‘A vividly realised protagonist whose complex and harrowing history rivals the central crime storyline’ Sophie Hannah, Daily Express
‘A pacy psychological thriller’ Laura Wilson, Guardian
'Kate writes so beautifully and with such an authentic sense of place. The whole book tingles with tension. I hope it does for the Scilly Isles what Ann Cleeves did for Shetland' Melanie McGrath
‘Both the plot and the writing keep one thoroughly engaged throughout’ Daily Mail
‘One of the most absorbing books I've read in a long time - perfectly thrilling’ Mel Sherratt
‘Gripping, clever and impossible to put down’ Erin Kelly
‘Rhodes does a superb job of balancing a portrayal of a tiny community oppressed by secrets with an uplifting evocation of setting’ Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express
‘Expertly weaves a sense of place and character into a tense and intriguing story’ Metro
‘An enjoyably scary chiller’ Sunday Mirror
‘The pace never slackens from the first page to the last’ Rachel Abbott, author of Only the Innocent
‘Fast paced and harrowing, this gripping novel will leave you guessing until the end’ Bella
‘Great twists, turns and surprises’ Sun

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio UK
• Release date: Feb 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781471180378

Kate Rhodes

Kate Rhodes is an acclaimed crime novelist and an award-winning poet, selected by Val McDermid’s New Blood panel at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival for her debut, Crossbones Yard. She has been nominated twice for the prestigious CWA Dagger in the Library award, and is one of the founders of the Killer Women writing group. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, the writer and film-maker Dave Pescod, and visited the Scilly Isles every year as a child, which gave her the idea for the critically acclaimed Isles of Scilly Mysteries series.

Reviews for Ruin Beach

[chris · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good narrator. Story well paced and interesting. I'm off to find more by this author.

[OliviaGiles · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so well written and tense I had to keep stopping reading and walking around the garden to stop myself skipping to the end. It is one of the best books Ive ever read I had no clue who did it until the book told me.

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the author's crime series set in the Isles of Scilly, which I have read on my holiday there. I read it quickly and as a page-turning thriller it is effective, but had the same mixed feelings about this as its predecessor; while there was an appealing general feeling of life on the islands, there too many errors (e.g. Round Island, St Helen's and Tean are not the Eastern Isles of Scilly; the waters do not "plummet for hundreds of metres between most of the islands"; and there are not flocks of grazing sheep on Tresco). Again, the volume and types of crime that the plot involves are simply unrealistic in terms of the real Scilly and I simply cannot take it seriously in this context. I also found the final revelation of the killer(s) rather unlikely and, unless I am going mad, there was a major unresolved plot thread and unanswered question - what happened with Mike Trellon??

I am home from Scilly now so the following books will wait until a likely visit next summer.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ben Kitto's boss tries to keep him on a tight rein, constantly harping at him to tidy himself up, to look more professional.

When the body of Jude Trellon is discovered the timeline becomes tight. No-one is to leave the island until the murderer is found. But that is almost impossible to enforce. There are several suspects, mostly locals, and Ben comes to believe that Jude had found something that the murderer wants. The murderer is leaving crazy clues, scraps of verse from sea shanties, and then a young lad who dived with Jude disappears.

This was very readable, plenty of red herrings, and the identity of the murderer is a puzzle for most of the book.

I'll be looking for another from this author.

[obi2015 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On Tresco,one of the many islands of Scilly, a young professional diver is found murdered in a famous (or infamous) cave. The year before another young woman was found drowned in the same place. Coincidence? D.I. Ben Kitto,a local man, back after a spell in the big Metropolis, has to find the culprit of this horrendous murder. Very soon the place is awash with rumours about a mythical Roman shipwreck. And as this is a close and small community,there is no lack of suspects...
It is a good murder mystery, a good storyline(although a bit long winded ),a fabulous setting and most of the characters are believable and well elaborated except D.I. Kitto ,it feels as if this character is not quite finished yet. Perhaps a firmer editing?
And then there is the dog,admittedly Kitto is not the willing and voluntary owner of Shadow but still...I don't think he calls the dog even once by his name,the dogs gets wounded but after some very basic treatment Shadows just limps on...Weird...