Book info

• Title The Hermitage
• Author L. J. Ross
• Year 2018
• Genre Mystery

When an old man is found dead inside the ancient hermitage at Warkworth Castle, Northumbria CID are called in to investigate. With no apparent motive, it’s their job to unravel why he was murdered – and this time they’re forced to do it without their star detective... DCI Ryan is thousands of miles away. He’s tracked a killer across Europe and has sworn not to return until he has his man in custody. Nathan Armstrong is a dangerous psychopath but there’s just one problem – he’s also an international celebrity; a world-famous thriller writer with money and connections. Ryan is a stranger in a foreign land, but he knows one thing – he’ll never give up.

Thoughts

This was another book in the Ryan series that has all the good stuff we’ve come to know from them - great characterisation, people that you care about, and a murder mystery to be solved. I do wonder if the idea of pinning each of these books to an iconic northern location was more of a hindrance here, as it’s clear the action all happened in Italy. And I loved that part of it, seeing more of Ryan’s past and the wealth, and how the down to earth characters deal with it. Still, we had a lovely ending with a surprise wedding.

Rating: 3 / 5