Review: MURDER ON THE LAKE, Bruce Beckham

• 
  This book available as an e-book on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• #4 in the Inspector Skelgill series
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00RU7SNP0
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lucius; 1st edition (January 4, 2015)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 317 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

BY THE TIME Detective Inspector Skelgill becomes the tenth person to be stranded on secluded Grisholm (Pigs’ Isle in Old Norse) where a writers’ retreat is taking place, one of the assembled literati is already dead. Though natural causes may provide the explanation, a second ‘accidental’ death and a raft of curious experiences convince Skelgill that a cold and calculating killer is at large. But where is his evidence?

Set around Derwentwater in the English Lake District, this traditional whodunit sees Skelgill striving both to fathom the mystery and convince his superiors that it is not merely his imagination at play.

My Take

Here I've hit on a series that I am really enjoying. Out fishing for a monster pike (to win a wager) Skelgill comes across a group at a writer's retreat where one of their number has died. The plot smacks a little of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, a small group of people invited to a secluded island, with no communication with the mainland, host elusive or unknown, and the first of their number killed, and maybe another lined up.

Unable to contact the police, Skelgill decides to spend the night with them, and by the morning another is dead. Back on the mainland Skelgill and his team investigate the connections between the guests and come up with some surprising answers. 

The plotting is well done, and Skelgill and his team are well drawn.

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read

• 4.4, MURDER IN ADLAND- Skelgill #1
• 4.5, MURDER IN SCHOOL - Skelgill #2
• 4.5, MURDER ON THE EDGE  - Skelgill #3