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  • Holy Island

  • The DCI Ryan Mysteries, Book 1
  • By: LJ Ross
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
  • Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (316 ratings)

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Holy Island cover art

Holy Island

By: LJ Ross
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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AUD $16.45/mo after 2 months. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime.

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Publisher's Summary

Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered, and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby priory.

When former local girl Dr. Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface, making her confront her difficult past. She and Ryan struggle to work together to hunt a killer who hides in plain sight while pagan ritual and small-town politics muddy the waters of their investigation.

Murder and mystery are peppered with a sprinkling of romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set on the spectacular Northumbrian island of Lindisfarne, cut off from the English mainland by a tidal causeway.

©2015 L J Ross (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

" Holy Island is a blockbuster." ( Daily Express)

What listeners say about Holy Island

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    161
  • 4 Stars
    81
  • 3 Stars
    41
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    8
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    146
  • 4 Stars
    73
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    14

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Sexist cliched rubbish and utterly predictable

This is the most turgid badly written nonsense, with every possible cliche thrown in. DCI Ryan is thirty something and “tall, dark and handsome”. He has a parody of a relationship with an academic who has twice his brains, but seems to think it acceptable for him to treat her with contempt and condescension. The sex scenes are GROSS - there is even an utterly repellent “take her by force” fantasy. How does this rubbish even get published.

The narrator tried to save it, but nothing could. I’d give it negative stars if possible.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Mills and Boon meets Shetland.

A strange mix of cliche romance and bloody murder, Holy Island can't make up its mind what it wants to be. DCI Ryan is a TDH (tall, dark and handsome) hero that seems to have supernatural powers of detection, as well as seduction. He just has to appear in the room to make it all come together; no matter how obnoxious he gets, he just can't do anything wrong. It's the first in a series, so maybe the character evolves, if you are willing to give him another chance it might get better. I'm not sure I will give him another chance. I don't think I could ever tolerate him. Narrator is excellent and makes it bareable, otherwise I might not have gotten through to the end.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Save your money

The story is improbable and irritating. So improbable that, at one stage, I thought it might have been a spoof. Sadly, not.
If I could give this no stars, I would have.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Listen

What a great listen can’t wait to get into the next one, and see what Ryan gets up to next.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well written and great performance

I like this writers’ style and characters. The story is suspenseful right to the end, with a touch of a love story thrown in. Totally recommended

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Poor editing spoilt a good performance

This is the first DCI Ryan book I've heard. While I enjoyed the telling of the story generally, the insistence of the author in giving tidbits of story to the baddies was just irritating.
The main characters are quite well drawn and likeable enough for me to relate to them.
The major problem was the poor editing. There were too many instances of hearing the reader start again on a passage, plus other poor edits. But it was well read, with the different voices being clearly defined.
I don't think I'll be going on to the second book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

An 11 hour ramble along a well worn trail.

Nothing new here, an 11 hour ramble along a well worn trail coming to a predictable conclusion. A Midsomer mystery set on an island without Barnaby.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A bit mills and boonsey

I loved the narrator, he was really in character throughout. The quick love angle that catapulted out of the pages, disturbing and confusing, between Ryan and Anna was implausible, smacking of stereotypical gender imbalances.

The story was cliche, and to my surprise there is another one in the same vein. I’m very surprised that this was written by a woman.

The crime was quite good, some thought had gone into that. I just think that LJ Ross should leave her fantasy’s out of it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A bit of everything

This book is very entertaining and the narration is excellent. There's a bit of everything: drama, thrill, suspense humour and romance. The romance storyline is probably the weakest part: it's not at all unique and is a bit lame and cheesy (same old, same old), but it serves its purpose of adding another layer to the story and main characters. The best part of this book is the witty dialogue, the humour and the relationships among the characters. Very good listen!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not so holy

The first book I have read by L J Ross, I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to read the Sycamore Gap. THe story line was fantastic had to keep reading to find out the culprits, I recommend it to readers of crime.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.