by Ann Cleeves
First published 2022
Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope arrives at Holy Island after a man is found hanged. The victim belonged to a group of friends who have gathered here annually for fifty years. They come to commemorate a school trip where they first met and to remember a friend who drowned in the rising causeway tide five years after that trip. Vera learns the dead man was recently dismissed from his job following misconduct allegations. She suspects the surviving friends are concealing crucial information. The detective must determine whether events from decades past triggered both the original death and this apparent murder. As Vera digs deeper into the group's shared history, the tide begins to rise around Holy Island. Long buried secrets start surfacing, threatening to engulf Vera and her team in unexpected peril. The investigation becomes a race against time and tide.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: race-against-time, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Holy Island
Period: Decades Past
384 pages · Hardcover · Minotaur