Hell Bay

'Gripping, clever and impossible to put down. I've been a Kate Rhodes fan for years and in Ben Kitto she has created a detective who is just as complex and compelling as Kate's elegant plotting and stunning prose. The claustrophobia and paranoia of the island are so brilliant evoked, I could almost feel the tide encroaching as time ran out to find the killer' Erin Kelly,author of He Said, She Said 'Absorbing and complex, Hell Bay kept me guessing until the final pages' Rachel Abbott, author of The Sixth Window 'The whole book tingles with tension. I hope it does for the Scilly Isles what Ann Cleeves did for Shetland' Melanie McGrath DI Ben Kitto needs a second chance. After ten years working for the murder squad in London, a traumatic event has left him grief-stricken. He's tried to resign from his job, but his boss has persuaded him to take three months to reconsider. Ben plans to work in his uncle Ray's boatyard, on the tiny Scilly island of Bryher where he was born, hoping to mend his shattered nerves. His plans go awry when the body of sixteen year old Laura Trescothick is found on the beach at Hell Bay. Her attacker must still be on the island because no ferries have sailed during a two-day storm. Everyone on the island is under suspicion. Dark secrets are about to resurface. And the murderer could strike again at any time. 'I love reading Kate's books in the way I love reading Sophie Hannah - a poet writing crime fiction is a great thing. Kate really shows us round the community and the landscape so that we feel we know it all. It is at once a locked-room mystery, a story of the returning hero, and an examination of fear and abuse. It has the air of a twenty-first century Agatha Christie' Julia Crouch 'One to watch for 2018!' thebooktrail 'This book was an immensely enjoyable and satisfying read. Kate Rhodes has created a strong new lead in DI Ben Kitto and I'm excited to see that this is going to be the start of a brand new series. I really enjoy crime novels when every character falls under suspicion giving the reader, a really hard job of working out who the perpetrator is. There were occasions when I thought I had figured the identity of the killer out but Kate managed to pull the rug out from under my feet' Netgalley reviewer 'Very enjoyable book. Good characters (definitely interested in what happens next). Like the setting of the small town. Author created a good atmosphere with their descriptions. The start of the next book was already at the end so that whet my appetite for what's to come! Netgalley reviewer 'This is a good book, well written and the characters are terrific. This is the first in a new series from Kate Rhodes and it looks like there will be lots of interesting stories to be had from DI Ben Kitto on the stunning backdrop of Bryher' Netgalley reviewer 'Ms Rhodes presents an enjoyable and readable detective novel, with added colour from various interweaving sub-plots. You won't begrudge the time spent reading the book' Netgalley reviewer 'I really, really loved this book. Having visited the Isles of Scilly in 2016, it was great to be able to place the events. It was a great mystery and good characters. I would love to read more by this author' Netgalley reviewer