It begins with the story of Gabrielle Adams who has escaped to rural Cornwall to run a tiny bookshop and escape the horror of her life after she survives an encounter with the “Underground Killer” waiting for the Tube to arrive one day. While she thinks the picturesque cove offers her the perfect escape, a new nightmare soon unfolds. Lastly, there was just SO many cliches. So many phrases that just grated because yes, they do the job, but isn't there a fresher way to say them?! Some of them (quite literally) interrupted the flow or reading because I just had to roll my eyes! This might be personal taste, too, but I found them detracting from the story. And what is going on with the italics?! Are they thoughts? Sentences? Stage directions? What do they MEAN?! They seem to be used for such different purposes and, again, they broke my focus because they were so unnecessary and confusing.

Finally, LJ Ross has also published an anthology of short stories from various authors with the intent to inspire hope and happiness. All proceeds from the sale of this book are donated to Shelter. This is a charity that helps people struggling with homelessness and poor housing throughout Great Britain. Ryan and Phillips are called to the small village of Holystone where a body was discovered after the water supply started running blood red. Since it is Halloween, one has to wonder if the red water is a prank. However, there is the matter of the body – was the man’s death natural or was it murder? He was an older man and there are no marks on his body, so perhaps it is a natural death. Alongside her work as an author, LJ is behind Read Write Walk North East, the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction and the Northern Photography Prize.Also - mild spoiler - Gabrielle magically figures out whodunnit, seemingly out of thin air. There's literally no explanation, even afterwards. She even asks someone else why the person did what they did, so she didn't even know that, but somehow, based on... nothing.. she knows they were the one who did it. So that was kind of infuriating. Also, selective amnesia is a bit of a lazy plot point. Local lass LJ Ross tops the charts with thriller Cragside". www.morpethherald.co.uk . Retrieved 21 October 2019.

Firstly, the obsession with DCI Ryan?! Yes, we get it, he is tall and handsome and upper class and white and privileged, but why does this need to be reiterated so many times?! Why do we need to be reminded that he's tall all the time? Why do people need to be told that he's the spitting double of Superman?! Why do we need to lust over memories of him getting out of a river? Why does his wife of years need to swoon when he comes in the door?! It just seemed a bit cringy. What are his faults? What makes him interesting? Granted, I haven't read the rest of the series, but from this he seemed quite a tedious person whose best features were just a happy coincidence, and that said little about his character (does he have one?! Is it just Posh Upper Class Boi?). LJ Ross is an internationally bestselling author, whose books have sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Struggling to find a killer that is hiding in plain sight, while navigating small town politics and pagan rituals that muddy the waters, romance is blossoming between the two tortured souls, threatening to slow down the investigation. “Sycamore Gap”, the second novel in the DCI Ryan series of novels is an excellent novel about the adventures of the handsome and troubled Detective Chief Inspector Ryan. It's a decent story. Pretty good characters. Beautiful scenery. And I will read pretty much anything that's set in a bookshop by the coast. There were a few problems with this, which keeps it from getting a higher rating. Ross, L. J. (2021). "The Cove: A Summer Suspense Mystery (The Summer Suspense Mysteries)". Dark Skies Publishing. ISBN 978-1912310913.Louise was born in Northumberland, England. She studied undergraduate and postgraduate Law at King’s College, University of London and then abroad in Paris and Florence. She spent much of her working life in London, where she was a lawyer for a number of years until taking the decision to change career and pursue her dream to write. Now, she writes full time and lives with her husband and son in Northumberland and Edinburgh. She enjoys reading all manner of books, painting, travelling and spending time with family and friends. I found Ross's writing irritating at times, and I'm not sure if it's because I am unfamiliar with the series and its idiosyncrasies, but there were a few things that grated on me, personally. Nonetheless, it is the vintage crime authors such as Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier, which have had the most influence on her work with her DCI Ryan Mysteries. After practicing law for nearly ten years in London, the stressful environment and the long hours began to take their toll.

Before she became an author Ross was a practicing lawyer in London. She grew up in Northumberland, England — where many of her books take place — and attended King’s College at the University of London for her undergraduate and postgraduate in law. She also studied in Paris and Florence. Suspense is peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced mystery, set amidst the spectacular Cornish landscape. After the birth of her son, Ross wrote the first draft of Holy Island, having been inspired by the atmospheric beauty of Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England she knew well from childhood. [12] Following its success, she now writes full-time. The second book in her series of DCI Ryan novels, Sycamore Gap, is set in Hadrian's Wall country [13] [14] and subsequent DCI Ryan novels continue the Northumbrian locations, with stories set in Northumberland, County Durham and Newcastle.As of 2018, Ross lives with her husband and two children in Northumberland. [17] Philanthropy [ edit ]

Kate soon learns that the past always catches up with you, in the end—the question is, will she be able to face it, when it does? Lady’s Well, near Holystone village, Northumberland. Hallowe’en. Present day. LJ Ross’s Lady’s Well Author notches up 100,000 book sales in just two years". Morpethherald.co.uk . Retrieved 2 February 2016. To find out more about the many philanthropic ventures Louise has founded and sponsored through her publishing imprint, Dark Skies Publishing, please visit ‘Philanthropy’.It is Christmas and Gabrielle Adams is on top of the world. She has the job she has always wanted in a field she is passionate about, and she is engaged to a man she loves. That world falls out from under her when she becomes a victim of the ‘Underground Killer’ who pushes people off the underground train platforms in front of oncoming trains. Though her broken, battered, and bruised body survives, her mind is in a much more delicate state. The doctors assure her the nightmares, OCD, PTSD, etc. will get better over time, but it has been six months and she is tired of the pity (and impatience) she sees in everyone’s eyes. Her fiancé Mark is having an affair, she can’t handle working – and – well – she’s just got to walk away from it all. So, she does. Crime novellist [sic] LJ Ross is writing her own destiny". Express North . Retrieved 2 February 2016. Midgley, Dominic. "50 Shades of self-publishers: Fame and fortune through publishing yourself online". Express.co.uk . Retrieved 2 February 2016. Ross publishes all of her works independently through Dark Skies Publishing, a publishing imprint set up and managed by Ross and her husband. [7] Personal life [ edit ]