Creepy thriller featuring Rhona MacLeod and her colleagues.. An engrossing read with many a twist and turn.

The Wild Coast is the seventeenth book in the series featuring forensic scientist Rhona McLeod. On her way back from a holiday on Skye, Rhona is called on to investigate human remains found near a campsite at Arisaig on the northwest coast of Scotland. The young woman is found to have a strange stick figure in her mouth. Another young woman newly arrived at the same campsite is also missing, with signs of a disturbance in her van, and the same stick figure left behind. The stick figure also turns up in Glasgow, where DS McNab is making unofficial enquiries into reports of female students being attacked at clubs near the university. Rumours suggest that a police officer is involved, so he risks getting himself in a lot of trouble. Though the cases do not appear to be connected, there are just too many coincidences.
As Lin Anderson’s last two books have been standalone thrillers, it was great to catch up with Rhona and the familiar cast of characters who populate her world. I have been a fan of this series right from the start, and really enjoy how Rhona, Chrissie, McNab, and their colleagues all work so well together, bringing different skills to the investigations. Told from multiple viewpoints, and set over the course of ten days, The Wild Coast deals with some very dark themes, but this is offset by the humorous banter. The action is split between Glasgow and the northwest coast of Scotland. I know this part of the country well, and Lin Anderson certainly does it justice. While I’m sure you could read this as a standalone, you would be missing so much by not starting at the beginning of the series. This is a tightly plotted narrative dealing with current topical themes that will keep you reading ‘just one more chapter’ long into the night. This series just keeps getting better, and I look forward to reading Lin Anderson’s next book whether it features Rhona or not. Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

#TheWildCoast #NetGalley I really love this series and especially the character of Rhona. Although part of a series, it is perfectly capable of being read as a stand alone. Great storyline with plenty of action and many twists and turns, all set in the rugged Scottish highlands. What's not to love. I look forward to the next one in this series. A well deserved 5 stars.

Another excellent book from Lin Anderson and the Rhona Macleod series. I love this books, the setting and detail are fantastic. Each book takes us a little further in to the lives of the characters and their history. Can’t wait for the next one. I really do hope these continue, I’ve enjoyed every single one !

The Wild Coast is chilling with a slight creepy vibe with the wild landscape and stickmen left as a mark on victims. Wildcampers beware!

Arisaig is where Rhona McLeod is holidaying. She thought it would be relaxing, time away from the stresses of the job and away from the front door.

The book is observant when it comes to latest trends such as wildcamping. These are the people being targeted in the latest crime wave.

In comes Rhona McLeod and her team also battle their own crisis. This is when the news meets book. The police, including her team are facing scrutiny, even her closest colleague and friend Michael McNab. There are rumours of assaults. It adds to tensions for the team and the reader.

This is a book expertly intertwining the conversation surrounding policing as well as crime solving. It's fascinating and full of intrigue with the contrast of beautiful, wild scenery and the darkness that certain people bring. Lin Anderson manages to have a contrast of light and dark and great plotting that makes it compelling.

Wild Coast is a book I recommend, whether you have read this series before or not.

‘The Wild Coast’ is the 17th book in this brilliant series which follows the work and life of forensic scientist Dr Rhona Macleod! I adore this series and love returning to it time and time again. I always feel as if I am learning something whilst enjoying a fabulously plotted whodunit. This might be a well-established series but ‘The Wild Coast’ can easily be read as a standalone, although I do recommend the whole series wholeheartedly.

Rhona is on Skye at her old family croft when she is called over to Arisaig on a case, as remains have been found in a shallow grave near the Sands of Machair. It's is an idyllic spot but when a young girl goes missing she is found sitting near the remains. The victim is a young woman in a wet suit and seems to have been there for some time. What is more concerning is that another young woman goes missing and there is signs of a struggle in her tent. Is someone using this idyllic location as their perfect killing fields?

Back in Glasgow there are rumours that a police officer has been carrying out sexual assaults on young women whilst on nights out in the city. Of course, McNab gets caught up in it as he was unofficially working the area and becomes involved with a student one evening. Has McNab finally crossed the line…

Do you know what I have never understood why these books have never been turned into a TV show as I think they would be brilliant! They are always so engaging and compelling, complexly plotted and has an amazing cast of characters! I love Rhona and of course Chrissy, her assistant in the field and lab. They are both strong female characters that help promote a life in STEM. This book was no exception to the above ravings of this book blogger! I loved the dramatically beautiful landscape being tainted by a horrific crime, the juxtapositioning was spot on. I flew through this book when I first received it and devoured it in one sitting.

A great addition to the series! Let me know if you pick it up.

Summer on the West Coast of Scotland with the right weather can be paradise. With the growing popularity of the West Coast 500 scenic route many people have flocked to small campsites along the route. At Arisaig a young woman arrives with a campervan & a surfboard. She makes friends with the two children next door promising to take Lucy for a swim the next day.

Dr Rhona MacLeod is on route back to Glasgow after holidaying on Skye when she is diverted to Arisaig. A little girl has gone missing. It is Lucy & she is found by the barely hidden grave of a young woman. Rhona is disturbed by a figure made of twigs in the victim's mouth. At the campsite the girl with the campervan is missing but there is blood & vomit in her van & one of these creepy stick figures.

Meanwhile in Glasgow someone is assaulting young women in the nightclubs. Rumour has it that police officers may be involved. DS Michael McNab, rather foolishly decided to go undercover but when a woman with whom he had become involved goes missing & a rather compromising video emerges McNab realises he is in over his head.

I cannot believe that I have missed sixteen books in this series! In spite of diving in so late, this read perfectly well as a stand alone. This was a really good whodunnit, along with the great setting it was a book I just had to keep reading. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

My first LinnAnderson book and I seem to have started in the middle of a successful series but that wasn’t an issue as it’s definitely a stand alone story. The characters are all easy to get along with and I soon was invested in them all. The setting made me Google it and now I’m looking at holidays nearby!

The Wild Coast is part of a series of books by Lin Anderson. I haven't read any of the previous books but this one was easily read as a stand alone. I found it to be a gripping read with plenty of twists and was set in the beautiful northwest of Scotland. I couldn't fault it and will definitely be reading the other books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my ARC.

It’s been 2 years since the last Dr. Rhona MacLeod novel, and we have missed her! In this 17th book in the series, Lin Anderson has brought Rhona back with a flourish. As she often does, Lin Anderson makes the most out of Scotland’s beautiful scenic coastline for her novels, centring this one on the north-west coast of Scotland around Arisaig, where the wild beauty and often remote locations would calm the storm in any heart.

This landscape is characterised by a rocky coast, blue seas and particularly white sand which all make a good base for exploring the incredibly scenic surrounding countryside. Rhona is on her way back to Glasgow from a stay on Skye when she is called out to a shallow grave along the North Coast 500.

During a search for a 4 year old missing child – on holiday from Glasgow – human remains have been found buried in the machair, a fertile low lying grassy plain. Though Lucy Henderson is found, a murder victim has been discovered. A young woman in a wetsuit has been dead for some time, lying near a wild camping ground where the child and her family were staying.

Not only that, but there are signs of blood and disturbance in a camper van on the site which had only arrived he night before, driven by a young woman with a kayak who cannot now be found..

Meanwhile, back in Glasgow, D.S. Michael McNab is doing some investigating in his own time. Rumours have been circulating for some time about there being police involvement in a series of sexual assaults in Glasgow’s clubbing area and McNab, frustrated with the slow progress of the case and having just seen his last case go down in the courts despite strong forensic evidence, has decided to take matters into his own hands. Foolishly, as it turns out, but we could have predicted that…

As another body is found on the north-west coastline, it becomes clear to Rhona and Chrissie that a serial killer is at work here – one with a scary signature that is left at each body. Each of these young women is a solo traveller and all bear a resemblance of sorts to each other.

As Rhona sifts through the forensic evidence, it becomes clear that the Henderson children – Lucy and her brother Orly, know more than they have yet divulged.

There’s a great deal to admire in The Wild Coast. The characters are tremendous, from the formidable forensics expert Dr Rhona Macleod to her breakfast providing sidekick Chrissie McInsh whose forensic expertise is thoroughly demonstrated on these pages with fascinating detail. There’s so much to learn from these books and I love the way that Lin Anderson incorporates so much detail into these stories. Psychologist Magnus Pirie is on hand to offer advice about the killer’s signature and DS Janice Clark has the thankless task of trying to keep McNab out of too much trouble while still having his back.

The plot line is fascinating and resonates with a lot of what is in the news at the moment as well as the polarisation of some at the extreme edges of sexual politics. Having threaded her needle carefully in both Arisaig and Glasgow, Anderson draws her threads together to create one large tapestry. It is not until we see the whole picture that we truly get an understanding of what’s really going on.

In the meantime, the personal lives of Rhona and McNab are still some way from offering a settled status and sometimes you just want to bang McNab’s head off the wall to get him to see straight. But then Rhona doesn’t know a good thing when she has it, either. They’re both equally frustrating.

Verdict: Beautifully layered and well plotted with characters you grow to love, The Wild Coast is another fresh and exciting journey into the world of forensic detection. I loved it. Welcome back Rhona!

Set in Scotland, Arisaig is a beautiful place with pristine white sands and almost tropical turquoise blue water. It is on the NC500 route, and is heavily populated with Motorhomes and camper vans in the summer, and is one of my favourite places .
Be still my beating heart, on two counts. The scenery and knowledge of all the locations in this book, set against the scary, intense and the looking over the shoulder atmosphere of this brilliant read.
Lone females are disappearing from campsites.Callie Munro arrives late one night and sets up camp next to the Henderson family, Derek, Francine and the children, Orlando and Lucy. She puts on her bodysuit and takes her kayak out before turning in for the night, but she never returns. Her van is empty and shows signs of a struggle.
Dr. Rhonda Macleod is a forensic scientist on holiday on the Isle of Skye, when her expertise is requested to investigate the finding of human remains at Arisaig, where a young girl has gone missing.
This case dovetails with an investigation in Glasgow, sexual assaults upon young women are rumoured to be perpetrated by serving Police officers. DS Michael McNab becomes involved in this case, in more ways than he is expecting!
I have come late to the party, as this is the first book in this series to be read, but I will make good this omission.
It is a complex and satisfying read. I loved the locations, they brought back such happy memories of my campervan travels in these areas, and was a primary reason to request this book.
The beauty of the surroundings was brought into sharp relief by the implied presence of evil, was a serial killer stalking lone females on these wild camping grounds, or was it to do with the modern phenomena of Incel groups? You could feel the fear and trepidation of living with a dominant husband, trying to keep brave for the children, whilst trying to avoid drawing attention to herself.
There are many twists and turns in this novel, the forensic angle is interesting. The characters are sympathetically portrayed and you begin to care about them deeply. It is a taut and gutsy story, with many unwelcome events throughout. It portrays modern fears so well, it’s very topical.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Pan MacMillan, for my advance digital copy, freely given in return for my honest review. A five star read. I will review to Goodreads and Amazon UK.

I am an avid fan of Lin Anderson's novels and this one does not disappoint. Young women who look alike are disappearing and two are found dead. Can McNab find the perpetrator before this happens again?
Lin Anderson has such a way of luring the reader in and keeping you interested until the end.
Please keep them coming

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

A young girl goes missing from a camp site on the west coast of Scotland. While looking for her,Police discover the body of another young woman buried in a shallow grave. Could this be a girl that went missing in Glasgow a couple of months ago and are the two connected? Forensic scientist Rhona Macleod is at the crime scene and hopes to find that out.

Another great read from Lin Anderson and one I'm happy to recommend to others.

A Disturbing Case..
The seventeenth in the Rhona MacLeod series finds the forensic expert called in to investigate a shallow grave on the West coast of Scotland - this is to be the start of a complex and disturbing case. Reports of missing wild campers in the vicinity and disturbing accusations from her home ground are to cause Rhona no end of consternation. Skilfully constructed mystery with cleverly woven threads and a well crafted plot line with a credible cast. Another satisfying instalment in this long running series.

The 17th book in the series about forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod and every bit as good as the first. Set in and around the beautiful West coast and islands of Scotland and in Glasgow. Rhona is called back from holiday to investigate a body of a young woman found in a shallow grave near a campsite. Throw in the disappearance of another obviously bruised and battered lone female kayaker from the same campsite and a family with a domineering father and scared wife and children in the van next door to her and the scene is set. Rhona and her colleagues proceed to investigate the perpetrators. The twists and surprises come thick and fast. A well researched and thoroughly enjoyable read I'm happy to recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

I liked this installment. It's book 17 and it's no mean feat to be keeping readers interested this far along. I love the characters and feel invested in them.

This is another great read in the consistently good Rhona MacLeod series set in Scotland. It's a complex and tight woven plot, involving the whole team of characters and DS Mc Nab is in trouble again. The usual high standard of writing, filled with twists and excellent characterisation, makes it an easy 5* read. I highly recommend the whole series. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of The Wild Coast, the seventeenth novel to feature forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod, set in Glasgow and the north west coast of Scotland.

When the body of an unidentified young woman is found in a shallow at Arisaig Rhona and her friend/assistant, Chrissie McInsh, are called in to investigate. They find a stick man made of twigs in her mouth, but few other clues. At the same time a young woman from a nearby campsite is reported missing and the same stick man is found in her van. Returning to Glasgow she hears rumours of police officers committing sexual assaults in the local clubs, so it hits hard when the allegations implicate her friend, DS Michael McNab.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Wild Coast and not just because much of it is set in my home town of Glasgow, although the ability to picture the locations is always a comfort and makes me feel grounded. It is an exciting read with an interesting plot that I didn’t see coming.

The novel is mostly told from the investigative side, namely Rhona and McNab, but some characters with a story to tell contribute as well. It paints a well rounded story with no hint of the perpetrator’s identity or motive. I was glued to the pages with each incremental reveal whetting my appetite to know it all. There is a topical theme to the motive that I have read several times recently, but the author puts her own spin on it so it feels fresh and very moreish.

The murder investigation continues apace, while McNab suffers his own personal hell. This part of the novel is extremely tense and I found myself putting it down on more than one occasion to take a breather, but I loved the resolution which is clever and very satisfying, although not without its sad moments.

The novel is populated with strong women and it’s a joy to behold. Obviously there are Rhona and Chrissie, the series’ anchors, but there are others who come forward in fear and trepidation to tell their stories, sometimes at personal cost. It is a novel of everyday people and there is a sense of realism that readers don’t always get in fiction. The author is great at portraying the friendship between the characters and the small niggles, notably in the form of McNab, in these friendships that make it real.

The Wild Coast is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is the latest in Lin Anderson's marvellous gritty Scottish crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod and the tight knit group of investigators with a long history that include her forensic assistant, Chrissy McInsh, nothing escapes her attention, Glasgow DS Michael McNab, his partner DS Janice Clark, his boss, DI Bill Wilson and Professor Magnus Pirie. Rhona is on Skye when she gets called to Arisaig, the site of a shallow grave in the machair, discovered in the search for Francine and Derek Henderson's missing 4 year old daughter, Lucy. It's an extraordinarily beautiful, and idyllic coastal location that attracts motor homes and a number of wild lone campers. The murdered victim is a young woman in a wetsuit who has been dead for some time. What is more concerning is that there are signs of a violent incident in the tent of a missing young woman who had arrived at the campsite the previous evening.

In Glasgow there are rumours of a police officer carrying out sexual assaults on young women, and McNab being McNab is investigating unofficially, and after ill advisedly getting involved with a young woman, he finds himself in a world of trouble, exacerbated by the fact that he refused to talk about it to anyone. His life descends into a nightmare when a friend and police super recogniser identifies him on CCTV. As a dog walker comes across the broken and dead body of another young woman on a beach, the terrifying implication is that there is a serial killer targeting similar looking lone young woman wild camping on the NC500 route. Rhona finds herself the confidant of the 2 young Henderson children, Orly and Lucy, who it appears might have vital info, as she, the police team and Pirie race to prevent more killings.

Anderson skilfully constructs a complex and intriguing deadly mystery of what is happening to young women camping on Scotland's majestic wild coast, with connections that slowly emerge with events happening in Glasgow, with a McNab whose poor decisionmaking results in him feeling the net closing around him. Fortunately for him, his friends and colleagues, whilst exasperated, believe in him, but is it enough? Fans of Anderson and this smashing long running series will likely love this, as indeed will new readers who encounter it for the first time. A wonderful series with a great set of what is by now a well established set of characters it is always a pleasure to renew my acquaintance with. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

A wild, exciting story travelling from the Atlantic coastline of Northern Scotland, to Loch Lomond and into Glasgow. Young women are going missing and one turns up dead after being kept alive for a month. Another after only a day - and one - who knows, is she dead or alive. It's a race against time to find her. All the while there are rumours of a copper sexually assaulting women in the area of Glasgow that the women have been seen in before abduction.

Loved it - makes me want to visit the Wild Coast

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.