Review: RUIN BEACH, Kate Rhodes

• this edition published by Simon & Schuster 2018
• ISBN 978-1-4711-6544-3
• 399 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

THE ISLAND OF TRESCO HOLDS A DARK SECRET
SOMEONE WILL KILL TO PROTECT.

Ben Kitto has become the Scilly Isles’ Deputy Chief of Police. As the island’s 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 is found that suggests otherwise, the islanders close ranks. With even those closest to the victim refusing to talk, it seems that plenty of people might have had reason to harm her. As the islanders remain guarded, Ben Kitto suspects a killer is on the loose in Tresco.

Everyone is a suspect.
Nobody is safe.

My take

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.

My rating: 4.5

About the author
Kate Rhodes is an acclaimed crime novelist and an award-winning poet. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, the writer and film-maker, Dave Pescod. She visited the Scilly Isles every year as a child which gave her the idea for this new series. She is one of the founders of the Killer Women writing group.