I enjoyed this book. A bit slower than my usual preference but an enjoyable story line. Good likeable characters which is always a win for me.

From its chilling opening to its explosive finale, this suspenseful journey takes you on a wild ride of danger and deception that keeps you guessing.

I’m still trying to work out why a detective would pass a crime on to a retired detective. An unbelievable story

Escaping from the busy city and a policeman’s lot to a rural idyllic house in the countryside with no mod cons was like a breath of fresh air. I sank gratefully into this strange but comforting life, enjoying the descriptive landscape and became subsumed into it. But also aware that not is all what it seems and indeed seems more danger lurks than expected. In the country.

I thoroughly enjoyed the literary references, the back to basics lifestyle, the potential for romance and the brooding danger.

Jake has been a high flying Detective and just as his marriage is breaking down he receives a letter to say his Uncle has left him a property miles from anywhere in the countryside. He moves into the house and gets into the spirit of the area, swimming in the lake and doing jobs around the place, even building a sauna outside.He even gets friendly with a local girl and she, along with her daughter, invite him on the annual Treasure Hunt, this is tracking down a "bag of bones" which is a sack filled with sticks and hidden in the local valley. The bag of bones is found but when it turns out they are real human bones and eventually traced to be from a young girl, Jake has to get his Detective head on and try to solve the crime.He is threatened , but who is doing all this is the mystery that is eventually solved.

I just could not get into this book. It was too slow for me, I just could not get interested in it enough to carry on.

It felt a bit odd that a police officer would pass the active investigation surrounding some human bones, to a retired detective and the local vet. Are there not police rules? I’m sure there are laws about trying to get involved in crime investigations. This book was set in the modern day so this was just very unrealistic.
Jake was a terrible detective! It was his job for so long yet his sleuthing technique was severely lacking. I didn’t like him at all as a character or as a detective
I didn’t enjoy the romance between Jake and Livia. It came from out of nowhere and he didn’t exactly sound like a catch. She also kept apologising whenever he messed up. He brought literal danger to her home, where her child is, and she apologised? No
All of the characters were very one dimensional. The dialogue was also very stilted.
The mystery element of the book, I initially enjoyed. I would have loved the book to include more of this story arc. It was very obvious who committed the crime, which was disappointing but I did hope for a twist
The passages about gardening and naked lake swimming didn’t do it for me, they went on for too long and really slowed down the pacing.
Honestly, the most interesting part of this book was the chicken houses that were supposed to be 15 feet in the air.
I’d never heard of this author before and I don’t intend to read another book by them
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is one of those somewhat unrealistic crime novels which reminds one of Agatha Christy but set in modern times. Fun but slightly unbelievable characters who find themselves in a crime situation which itself is also beyond belief. However, an enjoyable read all in all and a good first novel.

Just the book that modern British crime writing needs. The plot is excellently drawn and the writing style fits exactly. Jake a young DI recently resigned from the force after a marriage breakup has retreated to an isolated country home willed to him by his uncle. He is searching for peace and quiet as an antidote to his life as a city homicide detective but is soon drawn into a cold case by an eccentric naturalist.
The story is populated by great characters from the local rural community many of them suspicious of this ex policeman probing into the past. Who has something to hide and what? There is a distraction for Jake in the form of Livia the local vet, a single mother with one daughter.
This is not a cozy mystery but nor does it glory in the excessive violence of some modern writing.
As a debut novel it is first class and I sincerely hope that this is not the last book to feature Jake and perhaps Livia, maybe even the start of a series.

My thanks to Netgalley and publishers Harper Collins for an Arc of this novel in return for an honest review. This was a charming, delightful book, with a touch of Midsummer Murders. Just a joyous read with a well-drawn central character that is easy to empathize with. The book makes you very aware of the natural world around the tale. The text is constantly dotted with beautiful descriptions of sky, landscape, and weather, obviously taken from the author’s personal experience. But there are also frequent moments when you think, that couldn’t have happened, policing doesn’t work like that, and real life doesn’t work like that either. But these are forgiven for the overall joy of the novel.

The book starts well with a note to “Dear Reader”, in which the author describes his fascination with and addiction to crime writing, beginning with Agatha Christie, when he was not old enough to read it and then discovering Sherlock Holmes. This is identical to my own experience so I was hooked before I had even begun the novel proper. Part of the author’s fantasy for his hero is the discovery of a library containing nothing but crime novels in the isolated old house that his uncle has left him. It even has a bookshelf that moves, concealing a hidden compartment. There is obviously no hope for this author’s crime novel addiction.

Another fantasy explored is that of living a life of isolation and self-reliance. Well not totally self-reliant. His uncle left him a large, unmodernized old house, set on several acres of land as well as an income. Halfway through the novel, he has constructed an outdoor shower, “for hygiene purposes”, and by the end bought a second-hand washing machine. Reality has to come into all daydreams. The hero at one point is told, “Freedom, even for you, is a fantasy you should take care not to believe in”.

But this is a detective novel and the villain is hiding in plain sight. I didn’t see it coming any more than our hero. I want more of the lead characters and their setting. A lot more. Such a joyous book. I want the next one in my life.

A real psychological thriller. One of those books you know you’re not going to want to put down but then you don’t want it to end either. The main character is searching for peace and isolation by moving into the back end of nowhere, but is drawn back into his previous role of a policeman when he sets out to discover the answer to an unsolved crime in the area.
It’s a really well written thriller and it’s never obvious who the culprit might be. The author doesn’t give anything away until the reveal, which happens suddenly in the last couple of chapters. There are some surprises too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’m just sorry it’s finished. Maybe we’ll see him super-sleuthing again in the future? Highly recommend this book.

As a debut novel there is promise here. However, I found that the book left me wanting a bit more and also wishing that there was a little bit more depth and history to the main storyline.

It will be interesting to see where Abell goes next with these characters. A few more plot twists would help.

A pleasant light read with a bit of tension at the end.

I enjoyed this book a great deal.
It's a debut crime novel, but Stig Abell, as a journalist, is already an experienced and proven skilled writer. Thus it's no surprise that the story is well-plotted, and progresses at a good pace.
I found the premise of the book a bit of a stretch - almost a dream scenario of inheriting a property with a small income attached - but the lifestyle is painted very realistically. The property is somewhat remote, and lacks 21st century home comforts, being essentially "off-grid". This in turn is a good plot device enabling the author to create a backdrop harking back to the Golden Age of detective fiction - a world where communication is not a trivial matter, and help cannot be summoned at the touch of a button. That said, looking to future novels in the series, I'm not sure how long Jake can realistically remain without any means of communication at all; despite embracing the back-to nature existence and the lack of network coverage, he did have the means to charge a mobile phone (though he never seemed to do so!).
One thing I did not enjoy quite so much was the descriptions of the relationship as it developed between Jake and Livia. In particular, I was not convinced by Livia's attitude to their sexual encounters, which seemed to be a direct translation of male attitudes and unconvincing words put into a female's mouth. This may be due to my age or gender, (or both) but I think more subtlety was required. At the same time, exploring men's attitudes and lust for attractive young women - especially including Jake's own reactions - added an excellent perspective on, and dimension to, the plot.
However, (and this was surprising for me since I am a plot-driven reader rather than appreciating beautiful prose), it is the glorious descriptions of the environment that captivated me most in this book. Because of the situation into which Abell has put his protagonist, the wonderful descriptions of the very English woods and countryside took me straight back to the childhood experience of emerging from an ex-army canvas tent at 6am to the sound of a wood pigeon, and with the prospect of a wash in clean but cold water... (Girl Guides circa 1967....).
Apparently this is the first of a potential series, so I am looking forward to finding out how Jake progresses.

Let’s get the good news out of the way first; this is a thoroughly enjoyable crime thriller and particularly so as it’s the author’s first attempt. The setting is unusual but perfectly credible, although some of the practicalities of the rural setting would require some creative solutions in real life. Happily, these practical matters don’t collide too significantly with the plot.

Stig Abel’s background as a journalist, especially as editor of The Time Literary Supplement, might explain the efforts he made to introduce some real style into his writing. The early chapters, especially, are peppered with some particularly fine descriptive passages. Perhaps the effort required to sustain this standard of narrative proved too much, since the later chapters, whilst fluent and a pleasure to read, are rather more workmanlike.

The author just steers on the right side of introducing descriptions of gratuitous and excessive violence. The current fashion of ‘pumping up’ the blood and gore - often coupled with sexual threat - does not, in this reader’s opinion, add to the attraction of a novel. So an extra star for getting the balance right.

It appears the the author has a series in mind, built around the lead character in ‘Death Under a a little Sky’; I look forward to book 2 in the series.

When Jake inherits his uncles property deep in the countryside he decides that it is time to leave the stresses of being a detective & try the rural life. The house doesn't offer much in the way of modern amenities but with a large library, a well stocked cellar & a lake he sets about his new life. Attending the local solstice celebrations & the annual hunt a 'buried saint's bones' (hidden each year by the local shop keeper) it is discovered that these are real bones- but where did they come from & who do they belong to? Jake unintentionally ends up in the middle of a murder hunt.

This book really cast a spell on me. The style of writing was fantastic. I loved the different characters & felt I was there at that lake. It is one of my top enjoyable reads this year so far. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. I'm already looking forward to a sequel!

I finished the book with the sense that a tighter edit might have made the characters more realistic and vivid, and the plot, which seemed promising, a little more coherent.

A classic whodunit, a well plotted and intriguing mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Jack is an interesting character and the plot is gripping.
Interesting setting and excellent storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

A surprise inheritance enables Jake to leave the treadmill of London and make a fresh start in the country. The discovery of a set of human bones pushes him back into the role of detective. i found the plot a bit predictable and correctly guessed the murderer. It had potential but for me was a bit slow and lacking in content.

This was a really good debut novel. The plot revolves around the main character Jake who has left the police service and at the same time inherits a property from an uncle in the middle of the countryside. He becomes involved in the investigation of an old murder which then leads to a murder in the present day. As an incomer he is treated with suspicion by the locals. The book was well written and the characterisation was well developed. I would highly recommend.

This book was more slow paced compared to the fast paced plots that my usual thrillers have, but I stuck with it and am glad I did as the story draws you in. I found that it had a lot of description which once I got into the story, I also enjoyed. In the end a great read.