I read this book in April, 2024.

"Holy Isle" is the first book in L J Ross's series set in the Holy Isle, Lindisfarne, Northumberland and featuring DCI Ryan. Northumberland is in the extreme north east of England and Holy Isle is off the coast roughy opposite Berwick-on-Tweed, and connected to the mainland by a causeway. The Isle is roughly 3 miles by 1.5 miles. I thought the book was OK for a first effort, but perhaps a bit generic - flawed detective, rescued by a love interest, serial murders - and certainly quite far fetched. Here we have a pagan worshiping secret sect (the Circle), plied with home grown drugs, and controlled by a mad High Priest. Together they make sacrifices to Satan in wierd ceremonies. I'll reserve judgment and probably read book two and see if the series grows on me. There is not much humour, though, and Ryan and his sergeant, DS Frank Phillips, don't really spark off each other. Of late, I have been writing these reviews under three headings - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters . The police are :
DCI Ryan, full name Maxwell Charles Finley-Ryan, but he prefers just Ryan - an intensely private man, lacking in social graces.
DS Frank Phillips, 15 years older than Ryan, his wife died 5 years ago, and is trying to chat up DI McKenzie.
DI Denise McKenzie, attractive, redhead with a temper.
D. Super Arthur Gregson, head of Northumberland CID, Ryan's boss. Not all he seems to be per the book epilogue.
PC Jack Lowerson, keen rookie, goes into danger without back up, and still in a coma at the end of the book.
Tom Faulkener, senior CSI
Jeff Pointer, senior pathologist.

Other characters, mostly islanders :

Dr Anna Taylor, lecturer at Durham University, expert on Northumberland ancient lore and rites, christian and pagan, etc. She is called in as civilian police consultant and soon becomes Ryan's love interest.
Megan Taylor, has a chip on her shoulder, and is resentful of her sister Anna's success.
Andy and Sara Taylor, both deceased, Anna's and Megan's mum and dad. Andy used to own the local Jolly Anchor pub, but had a drink problem, and was blamed when Sara was found dead at the foot of the stairs. Andy later apparently committed suicide, full of remorse but we later later learn what really happened.
Bill Tilson, former barman, now owner of the The Jolly Anchor - Megan's landlord who lets her live rent free above the pub.
Dr Steve Walker, local medic, married to Yvonne, father of Alex.
Alex Walker, local coastguard, local Cassanova, Alex and Anna were childhood sweethearts, but Alex dumped her for Megan.
Pete Rigby, assistant coastguard, son of Alison Rigby who owns and runs the Lindisfarne Inn. Pete works at The Jolly Anchor.
Rod Fowler, another assistant coastguard, gay.
Mark Bowers, local historian, manages the Hermitage Centre, also an assistant coastguard.
Rev Mike Ingles, local vicar, and his wife Jennifer, has strong traditional beliefs. They have winter heated greenhouse apparently to grow tomatoes.
Lucy Mathieson (21),student at Newcastle Uni, back for the Christmas holidays, first murder victim, daughter of Daniel and Helen.

Private Lives : It's a bit artificial to split out private lives from the main plots, as they are deeply embedded. However, I will mention four private lives themes.
The DCI Ryan back story i.e. the Hacker case trauma.
The Megan and Anna back story
The emerging Anna and Ryan love story
DS Phillips and DI McKenzie romance.

The DCI Ryan back story i.e. the Hacker case trauma : When we first meet DCI Ryan he is apparently on holiday on Lindisfarne and has been there for two months. However, it's not really a holiday, but enforced leave of absence. He has been advised to seek counselling and not to return without a doctor's medically fit certificate. There has been a murder on Lindisfarne, and Ryan persuades his boss D. Super Gregson to let him return early as SIO. He is on the spot, and knows the islanders. Later, at a hostile press conference, journalists question whether he is fit to head a new murder inquiry, and we learn of the Hacker case of six months ago. The Hacker was a doctor at the local A&E who hacked body limbs off his five victims, but used his medical skills to keep them alive. Ryan caught him, but paid a terrible price. The Hacker had tracked Ryan, and Ryan's 5 year younger sister Natalie has been visiting Ryan and was the Hacker's final victim. Unable to save her, Ryan was devastated and all but destroyed. He had tried to throttle the Hacker, but DS Phillips pulled him off. Ryan suffered stress induced anxiety and panic attacks and was on Diazapan. Hence the enforced leave of absence. Initially Ryan persuaded himself that his mum Eve disowned him, blaming him for his sister's death. Later Anna discovers that it was guilt stricken Ryan who pushed his mum away, and she sets up a mum and dad reunion as a Christmas Day gift for Ryan.

The Megan and Anna back story : Appointed civilian consultant to the police, Dr Anna Taylor is back on Lindisfarne for the first time after abruptly leaving eight years ago. What happened ? Apparently Anna and her older spiteful sister Megan had never got on. Megan dreamed of being an actress, but never did anything about it - and 8 years later is still living in the same flat above the Jolly Anchor pub. Anna and handsome Alex Walker had been childhood sweethearts but Megan dedazzled Alex, and stole him from Anna. Megan and Alex became engaged. Megan later told Anna she never cared for Alex, but did it just for spite. Anna left Lindisfarne never to return, until now - and Megan dropped Alex after Anna left. Now, eight years later, Megan is still catty, but Anna tries to rise above it.

The emerging Anna and Ryan love story : D Super Gregson has appointed Dr Anna Taylor as police consultant and sent her back to Lindisfarne. Anna is trying to be friendly with Megan in the The Jully Anchor pub, when Ryan walks in. Megan tries to chat up Ryan, but he only has eyes for Anna. Anna introdues herself as Dr Anna Taylor, your police consultant. As soon as I read of Ryan's explosive reaction - he dismisses Anna saying "Listen sweetheart, I don't want a consultant, but if I did it would be one who is old enough to drive" - I knew Ryan and Anna would end up in bed together. This happens remarkably quickly. Initially Ryan is just being sympathetic, but he forgets himself, and a hug turns into a kiss, and Anna kisses him back. Ryan is full of apologies, says he took advantage of a traumatised young woman, and tells Anna she has every right to make an official police complaint. Anna says "I am not the victim here, I kissed you back !" Later Ryan thinks Anna is in danger, and when she doesn't answer his knocking, he breaks down her door and rushes in to rescue her. She had been in the shower, and is wearing only a towel. This leads to another kiss, and off to the bedroom they go. They have genuinely fallen hopelessly in love with each other. Ryan lost Natalie, but is not going to lose Anna, and effectively puts Anna under police custody / protection. She has been told not to leave his police house unaccompanied. He knows she wants to attend a wake at the Jolly Anchor but says he will be back on Lindisfarne in time to take her there. Events conspire against him, and in spite of a mad car dash, Ryan finds the tide in and the causeway closed. And so we have a thrilling climax with almost naked Anna about to be a sacrificed on an altar, and Ryan rushing to the rescue. Does he make it in time - read the story.

The DS Phillips and DI Denise McKenzie romance : Frank Phillips wife died some 5 years ago, and he has now been trying to chat up DI McKenzie. A highlight for Frank is when he shares a Juliet bathroom with Denise, and wanders in to find her naked after a shower. He is so shocked he is a bit slow in averting his gaze ! I thought the story was unfolding as Phillips being a bit delusional, but apparently not. At the end of the book, he goes to light up a cigarette, but it is snatched out of his mouth by Denise who kisses him on the lips, and asks him when he going to get round to asking her out ? I read that wrongly - but I think I was meant to.

The Main Plots : It's quite a long story full of twists and turns, but I will try to condense it and leave you to read the story for yourself. The story opens with a prologue - young Lucy Mathieson (21) wakes up drugged and naked tied down to a stone altar and outside at the Priory. She can't move and calls for help, a man approaches, says "I am so sorry Lucy " and throttles her to death. She is victim one of at least three in a story involving a secret pagan cult of islanders controlled by a mad "High Priest." Ryan and Phillips are given the case, and it's obviously a ceremonial killing - hence the need for an expert folklore consultant, Dr Anna Taylor. The second victim is Anna's sister Megan who had been prostituting herself with the men on the island and often resorting to blackmail. Her diary is later found, full of clients given coded names. Ken is obviouly local coastguard Cassanova Alex Walker (i.e. Ken of Barbie and Ken), but Megan had also written of a mysterious cult leader "D" with whom sex was initially wonderful and powerful, but eventually "D" was described as a pathetic old man. Alex Walker, the coastguard becomes a suspect - and he can't or won't say where he was at the time of the murders. His worried mother asks Anna to talk to him - and Anna discovers that Alex is bisexual, and has been in a long term relationship with Rod Fowler. Rod is part of the cult, and tells the High Priest ("D" in Megan's diary) that he saw Lucy's killer, and it's not the then arrested Alex Walker. The High Priest says he will take care of it - and so Rod becomes victim three, killed in a funeral pyre. By this time Anna has been accepted as consultant, one of the police, and she and Ryan are puzzled. It's difficultt to find a link between all the murders - surely there can't be more than one murderer in such a small population on Lindisfarne, but yet it's a mixture of christian and pagan ritual, and there are inconsistencies between the murders. In fact there is more than one murderer. Jumping forward, a suspect is arrested and confesses to all three murders, and Gregson orders Ryan back to base and to leave the island - but Ryan says he thinks more people are involved and there is more than one killer. DS Phillips had read a story about paganism, and talked of the four pagan elements - earth, air, fire and water, corresponding to the four cardinal points N, S, E and W. Lucy was killed to the west, Megan to the north, and Rod to the south of the island - so Ryan is convinced there will be fourth murder, to the east where the main feature is the castle. And so a thrilling climax is set up with Ryan commandeering a boat from Budle harbour and fighting a terrible storm to get back the Lindisfarne and try to save Anna.

Of course, there is a lot more to the story than I have mentioned above - e.g. PC Lowerson, investigating heated greenhouses, is bashed on the head with a spade and is in a coma - , but, as always, I written more than I intended to and must leave you to read the book for yourselves.

But let's finish on the surprising epilogue which sets up later books. The cult / Circle is not just a Lindisfarne practice and a new High Priest is appointed. High Priest one had been Anna's father Andy Taylor, Anna's mum was not killed by her dad, but by a later High Priest, and Anna is still in danger as an intended later sacrifice. And so we must read on ......

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I read this book in July, 2024.

This is book 2 in L J Ross's series set in Northumberland, and featuring DCI Ryan. I usually comment that book 2 is a better test of a series than book 1, so on that basis this is going to be an OK series. A little recap may be helpful. DCI Ryan has two chief enemies - the Circle, a secret devil worshipping sect with a surprising number of members that Ryan knows, and the "Hacker" - Dr Keir Edwards who kept victims alive and sedated as he dismembered them, and killed Natalie, Ryan's sister when Ryan was sedated / paralysed and forced to watch. Thanks to Ryan, Edwards is now locked away in a secure ward. The story is set at Sycamore Gap, near Hadrian's Wall - but sadly the Sycamore at the Gap was chopped down a few years ago. I will continue under three headings - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters . The police are :
DCI Ryan, 35, 6 ft 3 inches, who lives in a spacious Newcastle quayside penthouse apartment, but spends more time at his girlfriend Dr Anna Taylor's small Durham cottage. Ryan's sister Natalie was killed in Ryan's penthouse by the "Hacker".
DS Frank Phillips is Ryan's chief assistant - he is 15 years older than Ryan
DI Denise McKenzie is also in Ryan's team. She and Frank are in a relationship.
DC Jack Lowerson, in a coma at the end of book 1, now recovering, but pretending to have amnesia.
D. Super. Arthur Gregson, Ryan's boss. Gregson is in the Circle, as Ryan is only just beginning to suspect.

Others in the wider team are :
Dr Anna Taylor, Ryan's love interest, a lecturer at Durham Uni, and expert on Northumberland folklore and ancient customs. She lives in a small cottage in Durham.
Tom Faulkener, senior scene of crime investigator.
Dr Jeffrey Pinter, senior police pathologist
Dr Ambrose, the police entomologist.
Dr Anne Millington, a forensic anthropologist, originally from Edinburgh.
Dr Patrick (Paddy) Donovan, police psychologist and another Circle member.

Other characters are :
Anne Llewellyn, 21, an early victim and daughter of Rose and Steven.
Professor Jane Freeman, National Trust archeologist, keen to see no damage is done to Hadrians Wall. Jane too is a member of the Circle.
Claire Burns, 22, another victim, she works part time as a waitress but wants to train to be a nurse .
Colin Hart, an apparent innocent rambler (he's not innocent) who discovers Anne's body, not quite by chance.
Dr Keir Edwards, the Hacker, locked away thanks to Ryan.
Dr Mark Bowers, former lecturer, manager of Holy Island Heritage Visitor Centre, a substitute father for Anna. Mark also is in the Circle.

Private Lives : As usual, private lives are deeply embedded into the main plots.

Ryan and Anna are now in a full romantic relationship, and Ryan usually stays over at Anna's cottage. Frank Phillips and Denise McKenzie are also in a similar relationship - i.e.both couples have moved on considerably from book 1.

D. Super. Gregson and Prof Jane Freeman are fellow members of the Circle who obey the instructions of the mysterious High Priest. Apparently the Circle is democratic and Gregson says he will support Freeman in her bid to be the next High Priest.

Ryan has been forced to see police psychologist Dr Paddy Donovan by Gregson. This is as a condition for being allowed to stay on the current case, and to be allowed to visit / interview the "Hacker"

Colin Hart, is the rambler who finds Anne Llewellyn's body, lives with and cares for his bed ridden nagging mother. He spends a lot of time on porn websites, and seems to be stalking Claire Burns, a neighbour. Colin's mum also becomes a victim.

Tom Faulkener looks done in, but when Ryan bawls him out for a slow update on Colin Hart's DNA, Tom resigns, and has to be persuaded to change his mind. It's Anna who finds out what is wrong.

Dr Mark Bowers visits Anna and asks her why she has not been back to Holy Island, but she says memories are still too raw.

After uncovering the killer, and reading what tortures he planned to do to Anna, Ryan cannot handle returning to Police HQ and finding Anna well. She had been anxiously awaiting his return from danger but inexplicably he lashes out at her. She hides her tears, and leaves. Frank tells Ryan that was completely out of place, and Ryan knows he has behaved terribly. Happily they make up before the end of the story. She knows the danger they will both face, but says they will face it together.

The Main Plots :

The story open with a prologue set on 21.06.2005, the summer solstice. A man attacks and kills a girl, his former lover, at Sycamore Gap beside Hadrian's wall. It's now six months since all the events at Holy Island (book 1) and 10 years exactly since 21.06.2005. A rambler has found a body buried within the stones of Hadrians Wall. He had apparently been attracted by the glistening of the sun on the victim's bracelet. Ryan and Frank are sent to investigate. The rambler is Colin Hart and later we learn that he had been a pen pal and admirer of the "Hacker", Dr Keir Edwards. It's not quite by chance as Colin had been sent a blank postcard of Sycamore Gap taken at the summer solstice. Because it's a World Heritage Site, Prof Jane Freeman turns up to protect Hadrian's Wall - we will hear a lot more about Jane Freeman, and eventully that she is a prominent member of the Circle, which was not really disbanded after book 1. The wall victim is eventually identified from dental records as the missing Anne Llewellyn. Ryan and Frank also recognise her as one of the nude girl photographs of possible hacker victims. They break the sad news to Anne's mum and dad , Rose and Steven Llewellyn. Steven reacts almost violently, saying police were slow, she was obviously a "Hacker" victim as Ryan especially should have known. Steven recognised Ryan who was in all the newspapers at the time. Ryan updates Gregson, and says he will interview the "Hacker" - but has to agree to seeing a police psychologist for counselling first, i.e. Dr Paddy Donovan.

DI Mckenzie phones Ryan - incredibly another body has been found at the same spot, in the newly excavated hole in Hadrian's Wall. This is Claire Burns, someone wanting to study to be a nurse, and who worked part time as a waitress. She had been reported missing by her landlady. Investigations into Claire's death reveal that she was sort of being stalked by a creepy neighbour - none other than Colin Hart, the rambler. Later Colin will be put on 24 hours police surveillance, but still manage to go missing, undetected. The surveillance officers report that Colin's mum is asleep upstairs - but of course she is not asleep, but dead, and Ryan finds a discarded syringe under her bed. Eventually Colin is found wandering near Sycamore Gap, but apparently in a bad mental state.

Jeff Pinter calls Ryan and Frank over to the PM on Claire. She had ben injected with a powerful sedative, and her limbs dismembered with surgical level skill - both trademarks of the "Hacker". But an inverted pentagram had been carved on her torso - a trademark of the "Circle" killings. This alerts Ryan that Anna is an obvious next victim, and he orders 24 hour police surveillance. Eventually Anna will phone Ryan that there is strange car outside her cottage with two men in it. Ryan confesses to the police guard, but when he checks on the timings she had seen the car he finds that it predates when he ordered the police guard. He races over, but the car and the men have gone. What happened to the police guard ? Someone sounding like Ryan had phoned with the correct password and stood them down - more evidence of well connected inside information.

Colin Hart had made his escape through his back garden, and over the wall. He had made two calls on his mobile - one to his solicitor, and another to a number that Ryan recognises, let's say X, but how to get evidence is the problem. Ryan asks DI McKenzie to visit X, pretend to be a Ruth Grant who had previously written to X as an admirer, and to act like a helpless victim. First McKenzie is injected with a sedative antidote and she is wearing a wire tap. Also Ryan breaks DC Jack Lowerson out of hospital, and gets him to watch McKenzie's back. It should be mentioned that before being attacked last Christmas, Lowerson had heard a voice he recognised, the voice of a powerful man, and so he was pretending to have amnesia for his own safety. Of course, Frank Phillips is all against McKenzie walking into danger, but they must bide their time, listening on the wire tap for concrete evidence. McKenzie plays her part brilliantly, but X discovers the wire tap, and attacks her. Ryan orders the back up to "Attack, Attack", and Phillips is first in, but McKenzie has recovered from the sedative injection X gave her, and has the situation well under control. X is arrested, but seemingly commits suicide in his police cell. Neither Ryan nor Frank buy this.

I've said more than enough - read the story for all that I have missed out and the thrilling climax. However the author sets up the next book in the series before closing. Instead of praising Ryan for his brilliant detective work in capturing X, Gregson suspends Ryan with immediate effect pending a full hearing for not fully consulting him, for springing Lowerson out of hospital and puting McKenzie's life in danger. Another penny drops for Ryan - he pulls Gregson near, and whispers "I'm coming for you." And very finally, Dr Keith Edwards, in his secure ward, is happy, everything has gone to plan, Ryan is suspended, and X has been removed. Against that Ryan and Anna are sound, and will fight on.

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I read this book in September, 2024.

Set in Northumberland, this is book 3 in the DCI Ryan series by L J Ross. Ryan battles two enemies - the Circle, a secret devil worshipping sect with a surprising number of well placed members, and the "Hacker" - Dr Keir Edwards who amongst others killed Natalie, Ryan's sister with Ryan sedated and forced to watch. Edwards is now locked away in a secure ward, and was behind the Circle in book 2, but is not even mentioned in this book. The story's St Oswald's church is in remote Heavenfield. I usually write under three headings - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters .
Our hero is 6ft 3 inches DCI Ryan, suspended pending investigation by D Super Gregson.
Dr Anna Taylor, historian and expert on ancient pagan rituals, is Ryan's love interest. Her dad Andy Taylor, was, unknown to her, a former High Priest of the Circle.
DI Denise McKenzie (bright red hair), DS Frank Phillips, a very old friend, and DC Jack Lowerson, now out of his coma, are Ryan's main team.
Chief Super Arthur Gregson, married to Cathy, is a bent copper, and a member of the Circle.
Chief Constable Sandra Morrison is a fair copper whom Ryan gets to chair his disciplinary hearing.
Tom Faulkener is the senior scene of crime investigator.
Dr Jeff Pinter is the pathologist.
Prof Jane Freemen(43) is Chief Archeologist, National Heritage, Northumberland. She is driven by ruthless ambition, and gets to be High Priestess of the Circle, but not for long.
Dr Steve Walker, a former High Priest of the Circle, is in a secure mental hospital.
Keith Thorbridge is an old man who zealously cleans and maintains the ancient Heavenfield Church. He knows more than he lets on.

Private Lives : The main item here is the Anna - Ryan love story, but first I'll mention two other stories. DS Frank Phillips and DI Denise McKenzie are also in a relationship which is going from strength to strength. A lot later in the story, when Denise is stuck, high up, suffering from the Vertigo she never knew she had, it is Frank who climbs up, whispers "trust me" and gets her down.

DI Super Gregson had suspended Ryan for not consulting him, not caring about his colleagues welfare, and endangering their lives. The disciplinary hearing has been brought forward, chaired by Chief Constable Sandra Morrison - so it should be a fair hearing. DI McKenzie is the first witness, and a good one supporting Ryan. Next is DS Frank Phillips who more than defends Ryan, almost to the point of insubordination, but Morrison lets it pass. Much to Gregson's annoyance, Ryan is exonerated. There is nice scene later where, when Mckenzie is about to do a briefing, the door opens and in walk Frank, lots of fellow police officers of all ranks, and many canteen staff, etc. The room is packed when unsuspecting Ryan enters and is genuinely touched by the mighty round of applause that greets him. He thanks them, then orders them back to work.

As I said, the main story, is the Anna - Ryan relationship. Ryan admits to Anna that part of his character is cold. Something snapped when he had to watch helpless as Natalie, his sister, was tortured and killed. He still has sleepless nightmare filled nights. But slowly that is changing, and Anna tells him he is getting warmer every day. He has a picture of Anna on his desk, and, as he looks at it, he realises he is actually happy. He tells Frank, when this case is over, I am going to marry that woman. A lot later in the story when Anna had been scared stiff with Ryan only just cheating death and lying in intensive care, she holds his hand in comfort. He looks up and sees her. "Marry me", he says. Anna asks if it is the morphine talking. "No, it's a love potion." She warns him that there will be a big dress, a party with lots of guests, etc. Ryan agrees. "It's a deal" she replies. Maybe we see the start of a future problem when Ryan is back in hospital again having cheated death. He hadn't told her anything, and she was worried sick. She tells Frank "he runs towards danger, and I'm not sure I can live with this." Franks comforts her : "That's how he is. You know that. Come on lass, he needs you." Anna comes.

The Main Plots :

The story opens with someone in a church with a gun at his head. Bang! Next it is St Oswald's Day, and some pilgrims are on their way to the secluded church in Heavenfield. They are surprised that the door is standing open, enter and find blood and a lifeless body at the altar, and a man standing over the corpse. They phone the police. The dead body is Dr Mark Bowers, who runs the Heritage Centre on Holy Island, and Anna's surrogate father. The standing man is Ryan who is arrested by a PC who doesn't recognise him, and locked in a cell. Later he tells Mckenzie and Phillips that he had received a text apparently from Bowers telling him to meet him at Heavenfield as Anna is in danger. Just who sent the text is the first puzzle, but with Ryan a suspect - he could have sent the text to himself - and Frank too close to Ryan, they cannot be part of the enquiry. Gregson tells McKenzie to handle it, with Jack Lowerson as her acting sergeant. Much later, mobile phone triangulation exonerates Ryan, but strangely places the phone near Gregson's house. Gregson updates fellow Circle member Jane Freeman that Ryan is still a problem - she has plans to be the next Circle leader, their High Priestess and tries to kill Ryan.

The murder in the church is strange mystery. No one else was anywhere near, and there is no gun. Later they find that Bowers was killed with a lead shot from a pistol with a flintlock mechanism. As there is no powder residue on Bowers' hands, they rule out suicide. At the very end of the book we get the mystery explained - one worthy of a Sherlock Holmes plot, but I thought it succeeded only through amazingly good luck and not design. Ryan and Anna had unofficially searched Bowers' cottage - Anna had a key - and Ryan had noticed a book out of place on a bookshelf. He slipped it into his pocket - it was a copy of Milton's "Paradise Lost". Later he discovers it's a sort of bible of the Circle in which they record their past and current High Priests - ie Andrew Taylor, then Dr Stephen Walker, and finally Dr Mark Bowers. Ryan wonders how he can break the Bowers news to Anna - the father figure who befriended her, plotted to offer her as a sacrifice to Satan. On the subject of Satan, Anna later tells the team of Satan's fall / banishment from Heaven. Some of the old pagans had morphed into Satan worshipers, eg the Circle. They had seen their sites taken over by Christians, and so were attracted by attacks on sites with Christian significance - e.g. the sites of previous books, Holy Island, Heavenfield Church, etc.

Later Jane Freeman does become the Circle's High Priestess - and will go on to show just how ruthless she can be. There is another text message - one summoning Gregson home. His wife Cathy is locked out. When he gets there he finds Cathy dead in a pool of blood in the kitchen. Sitting in the pool of blood is the mobile phone he uses only for Circle business. If he tried to retrieve it, it would prompt questions. He phones Jane Freeman for Circle help only to be told he is no longer one of them. Instead he phones a gangster Jimmy (the Manc) Moffa, who comes over in a white van with Ludo, his bodyguard. They remove Cathy's body, clean the kitchen with bleach, and give Gregson a way out. Ludo beats up Gregson, and clubs his head. The beating was not meant to be so severe, and Gregson is in a coma in intensive care. Ryan and Frank are called to Gregson's home and are given the case. Gregson is unconscious, there is no sign of Cathy, and other items have been stolen. Separately Anna deciding to do some investigating herself, goes to Heavenfield church at night, sees lights on, goes in but hides in the darkness, and then discovers she is not alone. Someone, a man, is searching on the floor beside the altar. He looks up, sees Anna, and she runs away as fast as she can. Luckily she is not followed. Later she will tell the team what she saw. She did not recognise the man. Faulkener also reports that not all the blood in Heavenfield church is that of Bowers - there are traces of blood samples of other victims. Much later DNA analysis will identify some of these as missing women whose names appeared on Donovan's files - he had been the rogue Circle psychologist who worked for the police and apparently committed suicide in a police cell.

Jumping ahead, and trying to be brief, Ryan, Frank, Anna Mckenzie and Lowerson meet in secret in Anna's cottage. They realise they have related crimes, Bowers murder, Gregson's attack and the missing Cathy, and now a Donovan connection to the Circle. They must find out more about the Circle. They know of several names as starting points. Apparently a Daniel Mathieson bought a flintlock pistol at auction recently - they know of a Daniel Mathieson, child abuser, locked up in jail. Also Dr Steve Walker is locked up in a secure mental hospital. It also now seems that Gregson may be Circle too. This is huge, thinks Ryan, the Circle have infiltrated everywhere. But Jane Freeman is also hard at work, and both Mathieson and Walker are killed before Ryan can interview them. Next Ryan is the target, out jogging early in the morning, he is stabbed by another jogger, punched, falls unconscious into a river, and is sinking. Luckily a women spots the body, cries for help, and a student dives in and retrieves the unconscious Ryan. News of all the recent Holy Island and related killings had been filling the newspapers, and now DCI Ryan has been attacked. Gregson has recovered from his coma, and hears of Ryan's attack. He realises, lying in a hospital bed, he is a next sitting duck, and so he breaks out and heads to Banburgh Castle where the Circle vaults hold enough cash for him to escape overseas. Ryan's crew are also interested in Banburgh Castle, the headquarters of National Heritage and Prof Jane Freeman. However there is big surprise there - Jane Freeman is dead, an apparent poisoning.

We are now into the climax, and I have said more than enough. I should however name check old Keith Thorbridge who cleans Heavenfield with obvious devotion and crops up several times in the story. I will leave you to read the book for yourselves. There is a thrilling cliff/ wall top struggle - danger into which Ryan has again run. At the end, everything is explained, and Ryan lives to fight another battle, etc. I like reading books in the correct order and where the author of a series keeps mentioning previous events and characters. Has the Circle really been dismantled ? What will the future hold for Anna and Ryan ? We must read on.

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I read this book in January, 2025.

This is book 4 in the DCI Ryan series by L J Ross. It's set in Northumberland where Ryan is head of Major Crime. Previously I wrote that Ryan battles two enemies - the Circle, a secret devil worshipping sect with a surprising number of well placed members, and the "Hacker" - Dr Keir Edwards who amongst others killed and tortured Natalie, Ryan's sister with Ryan sedated and forced to watch. The Circle has mostly been defeated by Ryan who is now famous and recognised from various newspaper reports. However Kier Edwards escapes from prison in this story, far from defeated. After devil worshipers we now have a god worshiper who has gone bad / insane. He is of the Catholic Faith, but the author explains that she is not attacking any specific church, but depicting a disturbed person who has twisted it's teachings for his own ends. Sadly reputational damage cover ups are still topical and not just concerning the Catholic Church.

I usually write under three headings - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters .

DCI Ryan, 6ft 3 inches, good looking, heads Northumberland CID. He lives in a penthouse apartment on Newcastle Quayside, and now drives a charcoal grey Mercedes.
Dr Anna Taylor, historian and university lecturer, is Ryan's fiance - they are due to get married in August.
DS Frank Phillips is part of Ryan's team, and Ryan's best friend (and future best man).
DI Denise McKenzie, 43, an Irish redhead, is also part of the team. She and Frank are still a couple.
DC Jack Lowerson, 30, now out of his coma, is also part of the team, growing in confidence and ability.
PC Melanie Yates is seconded to help DS Phillips.
Chief Constable Sandra Morrison is Ryan's boss, able and fair.
Former Chief Superintendent Arthur Gregson is now in prison awaiting trial.
Dr Jeffrey Pinter is the local pathologist.
Tom Falkener is the senior CSI - gathering crime scene forensics.
Keir Edwards (The Hacker) is a dangerous psychopath, who hates DCI Ryan and killed his sister Natalie with Ryan forced to watch. He escapes from prison in this story.
Jimmy (the Manc) Moffa is a notorious drug baron and gangster, who owns the local American Diner. He helped Gregson dispose of his wife Cathy. His bodyguard is called Ludo.
Christina/ Krista Ogilvy, 38, is the first victim of the Graveyard Killer. She is a teacher, a redhead, is gay and married to Nina Mathews.
Barbara Hewitt is an apparently separate victim whose death is being investigated by McKenzie and Lowerson.
Karen Dobbs, 32, also a redhead, is the second victim of the Graveyard Killer. She is a drug addict prostitute.
Tanya Robertson, 36, also a redhead, is victim no 3. She is married to Oliver and they have two young children.
Sister Mary Francis, 85, is victim no 4.
Grace Dent is a 14 year old girl who committed suicide 26 years ago (in 1990).
Father Simon Healy has been the priest at St Agnes since the 80s.
Father Conor O'Byrne is Dean of Newcastle and Hexham Diocese, right hand man to the Bishop.

Private Lives : As usual there are several inter related stories.

DS Frank Phillips and redhead DI Denise McKenzie are still an unlikely couple. She fell in love with him following the death of his wife attracted by his good humour, patience and kindness. She never wanted children before, but now, in her 40s, she wonders if it's too late. Frank is fiercely protective of Denise and especially worried in this story about a killer who targets redheads. Naturaly, she doesn't want to be wrapped in cotton wool. In a previous story (book 2) she visited Kier Edwards (The Hacker) in prison, pretending to be Ruth Grant, an admirer - and this comes back to bite her in this story.

Chief Constable Sandra Morrison is under a lot of pressure and has to field off many complaints and threats of legal action for the Catholic Church and it's expensive lawyers. She had recommended Ryan for the vacant position of Superintendent - he said he would think about it. When Ryan ignores her specific order to hold a press conference she says she may reconsider her recommendation. Ryan throws her by saying he had decided to decline the promotion - he prefers foot work to paper work, a familiar reason for lots of crime fiction detectives. She tries to change his mind, but instead Ryan changes the subject and says it is high time Frank Phillips was promoted to DI. She quickly agrees.

After Ryan's effective mental breakdown - he had been forced to watch the torture and death of his sister Natalie - Ryan's character had developed a protective coldness that Dr Anna Taylor is now melting. They are very much in love, and plan to get married on 28th August, in five month's time. When he proposed to her, Ryan readily agreed to her one condition - a full wedding with all the frills. Now Ryan is exhausted after seven months of wedding planning - they are now considering fascinators, things outside Ryan's knowledge. Later, when he knows he will have to work late on the first Graveyard killing, Ryan phones Anna to explain. The old cold Ryan would not have thought to do that. At 3 am, with Ryan still not home, Anna can't sleep. She gets up, buys copious pizza take aways, and joins Ryan and his team at police HQ. The pizza is pounced upon, and Ryan is delighted to see her - the love of his life.

The Main Plots : There are three main plots - McKenzie and Lowerson's investigations, the main "Graveyard Killer" story, and a terrific climax - the escape of Kier Edwards. I will say a little about each :-

McKenzie and Lowerson's investigations : DI. Denise McKenzie and DC. Jack Lowerson attend a dead woman found by her cleaner in her bungalow in Rothbury. She died a while ago, her name is Barbara Hewitt, and she has no relatives. It's probably natural causes, but Denise has an instinct - "we'll ask around, and wait to see what the pathologist says." Barbara had been a very private person, and was always complaining. Especially she didn't like the Church, and had been seen arguing with Father Healy, the Rothbury priest. Interviewed, he says he knew Barbara, but denies arguing with her. He is obviously lying, but why ? Dr Pinter confirms Barbara was manually strangled - i.e. it's murder - but breaks off when Phillips phones. There has been another redhead killing. DI. McKenzie, a fellow redhead, shudders.

The two detectives trace Barbara's movements on the day she was killed - visits to the chip shop, etc. Back home again, McKenzie finds a note on her mat - "et ego te absolvo .....", the absolution prayer. Phillips and McKenzie show the note to Ryan, and compare it with his "Graveyard Killer" notes. The note card thickness, the ballpoint, and the handwriting are all different - it's not from the killer, but some copycat. However, a concerned Ryan tells Lowerson to guard Denise at all times. Lowerson finds some CCTV of Barbara walking in the rain. They check out all premises in the area - all clear - which just leaves the neighbouring church, St Andrews. There they speak to Father O'Byrne and show him Barbara's photo. He knows the face but says he didn't know her name. Yes, she had visited and insisted that he hear her confession. He drops a hint that it was a serious confession, but cannot disclose what was said in a confessional. McKenzie and Lowerson revisit her bungalow and find an old photo hidden in a secret compartment in her desk. It's of a young Barbara, and some other children. On the reverse, it reads "Our Lady of Charity Orphanage, Rothbury House, Christmas 1989." Lowerson had recently read a report about a missing nun, Sister Mary Francis, which mentioned a Care Home with the same name. A google search reveals that there had been a church cover up, and the Orphanage was closed in 1990 folllowing the apparent suicide of a young 14 year old girl Grace Dent, at Easter, 1990. Names at the subsequent inquest included Sister Mary Francis, Barbara Hewitt, orphanage nurse, and Father Healy in charge of pastoral care. They are shocked to find that Grace had been a redhead. This connects their case to Ryan's graveyard killer "Operation Angel." - see below.

Graveyard killer story : The story opens with a prologue from Easter, 1990. A young red haired girl (14) climbs out of a window, and falls to her death. 26 years later some unknown man thinks of her as his angel as he strangles another of his redhead victims. As her soul departs, he has saved her, his angel. He does a two finger blessing - is he a priest ?

It's good Friday, Easter 2016. A gravedigger in a Newcastle Cemetery arrives at the correct plot but finds a grave already dug. As rain washes soil away he sees a female body. Ryan, Phillips and a CSI team arrive. The victim is a redhead female, in a pose with her arms over her head like an angel's wings. There is a card there with the absolution prayer printed on it. The dead woman is Christina/ Krista Ogilvy, very recently gay married to Nina Mathews. Krista had been in the pub last night with work mates, texted she was on her way home at 9:15, but never arrived. Nina reported her missing at 10 pm but was told to wait. Nina says they hadn't experienced any gay marriage abuse. The pub had been the "All American Diner", owned by the gangster Jimmy (the Manc) Moffa who appears later in the story. Something about the investigtion is troubling Ryan - is it the religious aspect, or dealing with a madman ?

On Saturday 26th March, Karen Dobbs, a prostitute and drug addict picks up / is picked up by a man in a car. "Is it you ? " he whispers. Next, Ryan and Phillips are called to Heaton cemetery where there is a victim in an angel pose lying in an already dug grave. How did the killer get into the cemetery, who has keys to both West Road and Heaton cemeteries ? It turns out the answer is many, many people, but principal key holders can still be put on a list for the police to work down - and PC. Melanie Yates is seconded to help Phillips. Elsewhere, Lewis Pinks , a "debt" collector calls on Karen, finds the door open but no sign of her, and anonymously calls the police - and so Ryan has a name for the second victim. Searching her home he finds a leaflet for "Narcotics Anonymous" meetings at St Andrews, the local RC church. Ryan sets up a major enquiry calling it "Operation Angel." McKenzie and Lowerson sit in on his first briefing. He mentions the notes of absolution left in each grave. Krista was gay, Karen a prostitute. Is it a morality purge? Ryan wants the redheads of Newcastle to be warned, and he looks at Denise McKenzie. The killer had expected an already dug grave at the first site, but had to dig one with a slate broken off a grave. Karen's grave was pre dug.

Ryan and Phillips have a list of future burials, and CC. Morrison, ignoring the cost, authorises police patrols and full surveillance at each site in an attempt to catch the killer. Again elsewhere, Tanya Robertson, married to Oliver and with two children leaves the cinema and gets to the deserted car park. A well dressed man holds the door open for her. She is strangled with her own scarf. Back at police HQ McKenzie shows him the absolution card she had received (as per plot one) they have a copycat. Could the killer be a priest ? Police need access to church records. They go to see the bishop at St Mary's Cathdral, but he is abroad, an they speak to the Dean, Father O'Byrne. Yes, there is a church database, and he gives Ryan the IT manager's contact details. Oliver had reported his wife Tanya missing - she is a redhead and her car is no longer in the multi-storey ! Ryan thinks that the killer had probably realised that the city cemeteries were under surveillance, and gone outside the city.

Phillips says that there have been 12 burials in catholic sites - the police will need to organise 12 exhumations. All three non church officers who had accessed the burial database have been checked - so the killer is probably connected to the church in some way. St. Andrews and St. Marys are the two local churches near where the victims had last been seen.

Sister Mary-Francis is out for a walk beside the river. In 60 years of devotion she hopes she has atoned for her one terrible mistake. A man approaches, and is confused that she does not recognise him from 26 years ago. "You have sinned". "For Grace" he whispers as he pushes her into the river and she drowns. He touches his rosary, and says Amen. The nuns report her missing, and a search is under way. Back at HQ Ryan is doing a briefing, with the chief constable sitting in. She wants the 12 exhumations to beginn tomorrow am. Ryan is about to object when the door bursts open and McKenzie and Lowerson enter. They show him the photo and update him. Ryan works out that Father Healy was 30 ish when Grace died, and that all the other victims are the same age as Grace would have been had she lived. Ryan says Healy is either the killer or the next victim. Ryan doesn't actually believe Healy is the killer - his instinct points him towards another senior church figure who moves about the country. The team converge on St Agnes, Rothbury where Father Healy lives. They find him dead, strangled from behind. He obviously knew and trusted his killer.

Ryan is pretty sure he knows who did it. He asks Phillips to do an ANPR check on the roads near the burial sites looking for a black Lexus sedan. It is a borrowed car, and he will get him the registration number. Ryan and a squad car drive back at HQ with Father O'Byrne on board, with an expensive church lawyer following. McKenzie goes home for a quick shower, and finds a note there - "see you soon." She has no idea how long the note had been there. There is no Conor O'Byrne on the list of children at Grace's children's orphanage, but a Conor Jones - and a note on record that Conor took an obsessive interest in Grace Dent ! Next, the bishop phones O'Byrne - reading from a police script. The police want to search church premises - something about a victim's lost earing - and want to start at St Agnes. The bishop wants O'Byrne to be present at all times throughout the search. Meanwhile McKenzie is overseeing the exhumations, starting with the three sites nearest where Tanya's car had been found. They find Tanya's body buried at the third site - Edgewell cemetery.

There is a lot more to the story - Phillips search of St Agnes is just playing for time to keep O'Byrne out of the way, and enable a trick to be played and eventually the Graveyard killer is caught, appropriately at the Angel of the North..

Kier Edwards : Jimmy (the Manc) Moffa has sent his minder Ludo to Humberside in a disguised van with false number plates. In a village near Humberside airport Ludo knocks at Mrs Taylor's door, posing as a friendly carpet cleaning salesman, no pressure, all smiles, and then he asks to use the toilet. Mrs Taylor hesitates but then says OK. In the kitchen Mrs Taylor has second thoughts, and goes back into the hall, where she finds Ludo holding baby Alfie. He produces a flick knife. "Pack a bag, we are leaving in the van. Quick, or Alfie dies". She complies. Ludo tells her what happens next depends on your husband. Mr Taylor, a helicopter pilot, has no choice. He agrees to fly the chopper to a Humberside destination, low down along the coast, with the radio switched off.

McKenzie had heard from a solicitor's investigation team, that a bent lawyer they had been looking at had been dealing with Kier Edwards, and on his instructions, had been leaving notes at McKenzie's. Edwards bear a grudge, and this was him repaying her for visiting him pretending to be Ruth Grant. McKenzie relaxes - the Graveyard killer is in custody, and Edwards is in jail. With all that has been going on, she does not get the chance to tell Ryan and Phillips what Edwards had been doing.

In as good a climax as I have read in a long time, we will hear of Edward's escape when a helicopter sprung him from a prison exercise yard. Edwards hates Ryan who knows Anna is now in great danger and rushes to save / protect her. It's very late when Frank Phillips learns that it was Edwards sending notes to Denise McKenzie. He too rushes to save / protect her. Not wanting to write spoilers, let me just say, the place is deserted but a note has been left - "catch me if you can !" Is someone dead or kidnapped ? I cheated and read the back cover of the next book to find out.

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