Enjoyed this book that was third in the CSI Ally Dymond series, I had enjoyed reading the eprevious two and this was of the same standard. Saying this they can easily be read as a standalone, but if you are looking for a new series to read, definitely go back to the first book, you won't be disappointed.

CSI Ally Dymond had to return to Liar's Island which had unhappy reminders of her past. Returning the the island brough back sad memories of when her dad disappeared, but she had a job to do... to find out who was the killer. So many lies and twists and turns to unravel.

Thank you to HQ, T.Orr Munro and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a series which deserves to be well known. It possesses a strong cast of characters and a compelling narrative. Set on a North Devon island this book is a closed room mystery with a difference. It plays on our fascination with islands and their feeling of isolation, there are issues of trust and ultimately a satisfying conclusion.

I loved the pacing of this book which varies throughout, some sections on Ally's personal life are slower but give her a more rounded feel whilst others involve the twists and turns of the investigation which race along. It is this variety that gives this book a balanced feel, this makes a change from some of the breakneck fiction that is around. T Orr Munro seems to know when to give the narrative time to breathe, the time to take care over explanation and not to assume too much - very cleverly constructed.

I have read the others in the series and sincerely look forward to the next one, I don't think you need to have read them all as it works well as a standalone and there are enough nuggets of information to piece together what has come before. Even better, go back and read them.

Would gladly recommend 4.5 stars

This is the third novel in the CSI Ally Dymond series and although I haven’t read the previous two, I had no issues reading this as a standalone novel. However, for me this book was just too slow paced and far too long. The plot was too drawn out and although there were tidbits that caught my attention, overall I didn’t enjoy this novel. Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and the author for the chance to review.

Although I hadn't read the previous two books in the series, the author gives the reader enough information to guess what has happened in them. It is a classic who done it, set on an island which is cut off from the mainland due to a bad storm which means the murderer is among them. Left without any back up, it is up to CSI Ally Drummond and her young protege Jake to gather evidence and interview the residents who, one by one, are disappearing. The story keeps you on your toes as you try to figure out who and why. And with an ending that I didn't guess.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the ARC to review

I enjoyed the first two books in this series, and yes I am going to suggest you read them first, so I was quite excited to get my mitts on this, CSI Ally Dymond's third outing. And I am happy to say that I enjoyed this one just as much.
So, we start with the death of a young man, Kieran Deveney, whose body was found on Devil's Rock, a remote, isolated island, off the coast of Devon. Long story short, eventually two people confess to the murder, both insisting they acted alone. This throws up a bit of a dilemma as if both confess, neither can be charged or eventually convicted. The only thing left for the police to do is to try harder to get physical, irrefutable, evidence to prove which one was responsible. To do this, Ally, along with fellow CSI Jake, will need to visit the island. A place she has avoided since the death of her father. An event which is even more prevalent in her thoughts these days as her father's partner has recently returned along with the boat they shared and which is named for her. This reunion also kicks up more stuff for her and her mother.
Anyway, along with her colleague, she travels to the island determined to put her ghosts aside and do the job she loves, even though it doesn't always love her back. But, as you can probably guess, remote island, well it's bound to get cut off by the weather, and you'd be right! Stranding Ally and Jake, and making their job almost impossible. But it soon becomes apparent that the weather is not all they should fear...
I did enjoy this series. It's nice to have a book of this genre but from the perspective of the CSI, rather than the Police. Puts a different spin on things. One thing I am not so keen on is main characters' lives having such an impact on the stories being told and I think in this case it went a bit above and beyond what I would have preferred. But it was an interesting story nonetheless and did old my attention nicely all the way through despite the occasional eye-roll along the way!
We had all the usual twists and turns you'd expect, the most of them I didn't see coming. The plot was interesting and intriguing, as well as being original, what with the two confessions and the way it all panned out in the end.
The characters were good, Ally has been given a rum deal in the past so it would be nice if she could manage to pout it all in the past and move on with her life. She does deserve that, at least. There is also a good partnership developing with Jake and I am quite excited to see how that develops in the next book.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

My thanks to HQ and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Liars Island’, the third in the CSI Ally Dymond series written by T Orr Munro, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Following the discovery of Kieran Deveney’s body on Liars Island, CSI Ally Dymond and her colleague Jake Harris are asked to head there to make sure no clues have been missed. Due to stormy weather Ally and Jake find themselves stuck on Liar’s Island for the foreseeable future but it’s not the weather they should be worried about but the thought that one of the inhabitants could be a murderer.

‘Liar’s Island’ is off the coast of Devon where the few inhabitants all appear to be hiding something. I’ve liked reading more about the characters of Ally and Jake who are involved with the crime scene itself rather than the police force, and Ally’s daughter Megan together with her best friend Penny, and Liam who she still has feelings for, form an integral part of the story. The plot had me gripped until I was about half-way when it slowed down and I had to make myself continue, but the final chapters were full of excitement and suspense and more than made up for it. This has been a well-written and involving thriller and I’m hoping there’s going to be a fourth in the series.

I loved the pace of this book, throughout it felt very gripping with characters that felt very realised and flawed.

Kieran Deveney is the co-owner of a sports centre on Liar’s Island. His father is on the board of trustees for the island and more or less determines what happens there. When Kieran’s body is discovered on the island the question is who killed him. The island only has a tiny population and when two of them individually confess to having murdered Kieran singlehandedly, the police are facing a stand-off as far as their investigation is concerned.

CSI Ally Dymond and a junior colleague are sent to Liar’s Island to uncover evidence that will prove or disprove either of the confessions. Before they can return to the mainland with what little potential evidence they have found, a storm descends on the island, and they find themselves stranded in close proximity to a murderer.

The story is told in the first person from Ally Dymond’s perspective. However, interspersed throughout the story are CSI reports for each of the island’s inhabitants as well as passages printed in cursive that describe relevant details about those inhabitants’ pasts. I’m not sure how I felt about those cursive parts. On the one hand, they allowed the reader to join the dots and be part of the solving of the puzzle. On the other hand, those sections weren’t the result of the on-the-page investigation so it created the weird situation where the reader knows more than Ally Dymond did. One thing they made perfectly clear though, is that everybody on the island had a motive for killing Kieran.

Liar’s Island is an atmospheric story with the placenames creating the atmosphere. For example, Kieran Deveney is found in a bay known as Devil’s Cauldron on Liar’s Island. This is also a rather slow-moving story and a relatively large section of it deals with Ally Dymond’s private life. This book is very well written and easy to read but it also felt a bit flat. Despite the atmosphere, the location, the murders, and the storm there wasn’t any real tension or urgency in the story.

This is the third book in the Ally Dymond series by this author. I didn’t read the previous two books, and I don’t think it is necessary to have done so in order to enjoy this title. Having said that, if you think this series sounds like something you might enjoy, I advise you to start with book one (Breakneck Point). I may be wrong, but I think Liar’s Island contains at least one spoiler for the previous stories.

Overall I enjoyed Liar’s Island and I’d call it a well-plotted and easy-to-read mystery that for me personally could have done with a little more tension and a little less personal backstory.

This is book 3 of CSI Ally Dymond. The setting is North Devon and the author describes the location so well that I could imagine myself there! The story begins with a body of Kieran Deveney is found on Liar's Island (Drogan Island), where he is part owner of a watersport's business. Ally has links to this island through her Dad, a harbourmaster in Bidemouth. We learn the inhabitants are from all walks of life but how are they are connected and what do they know. Ally along with Jake are stranded due to a violent storm and what follows next is like a scene from a horror film. It is a cleverly plotted story full of twists and turns with a few red herrings to throw us into thinking the person responsible is someone else!! I was glued to my seat with this page turning and engrossing book. I never predicted how the story would end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Liars Island by T. Orr Munro has an intriguing premise, but it ultimately falls short - a wealthy, secluded island with dark secrets and a determined investigator—but it doesn’t quite deliver the punch you’d expect. The pacing is slow, building tension too gradually and missing the urgency needed to drive the mystery forward. While the isolated island setting adds an atmospheric touch, the plot doesn’t fully capitalise on it, leaving the suspense somewhat flat. Readers who enjoy a deliberate, character-driven mystery might still appreciate Liars Island, but it may disappoint those looking for a gripping thriller with unexpected twists and dynamic characters.

I love this series by T. Orr Munro and jumped at the chance to read the next in the series (I have been waiting patiently!) Rejoining CSI Ally Dymond in the latest crime / mystery was a real pleasure too.

This time the case involved a death on Devil’s Rock, connected to Ally in her mind by an aspect of her personal life way back in the past.

As the story gathers pace, so does the list of suspects, chapter by chapter, as more intrigue and events come to light, throwing every theory I had to the wind.

What I particularly enjoy about this series (and this can be read as a standalone) is that, although the crime is the main plot line, the book is also interwoven with family problems, relationships and work issues, the full package!

The characters are very relatable and in my mind become ‘people’ I feel I know and care about. The settings are superbly depicted, with the bleakness of Devil’s Rock mirroring the feelings stirred by the tension.

Another great read I would recommend to those who enjoy great police procedurals with a CSI twist.

Liars Island is book three in a series, which I didn’t realise when requesting. However I found it could be easily read as a stand alone, the author gives enough details from previous stories that you need to enjoy this one.

I love the cover and find that, and the story name both grip you.
There’s lots of different things going on, someone’s found deceased, but was this an accident or a murder? To help work this out our main character has to deal with her own demons to be able to investigate. I really enjoyed the balance between the investigation and the main characters personal story.

There’s lots of twists and turns, just who can you trust, especially when stuck on a small island, perhaps even with a murderer?!

The author pays lots of attention to detail, I could certainly imagine the island, the buildings, the storm raging around them. I will be looking out the earlier books in this series and any future ones.

Definitely worth a read.

This is the third novel in the series that I’ve read and whilst the first were really gripping, I was a bit disappointed by this one. It was nowhere near as suspenseful as the others and at times I had to force myself to continue reading. The characters were familiar and the story picked up from where the other one ended. I’m not sure why this was such hard going and I was relieved to finish. Thanks go to the publisher and netgalley for a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been following Ally Dymond through the previous two books, so was delighted to read the third. Novels with CSIs
are not that usual and I enjoyed that aspect. Basically this is like a locked room mystery; two CSIs marooned on a remote, sparsely inhabited Island in the Bristol Channel during a storm that prevents them from being taken off. They are there to retrieve further evidence from a murder. Two people have confessed which cancel each other out. The few locals have secrets aplenty and are potential suspects. It is a well crafted story with lots of surprises and twists and yet manages to flesh out the characters. There is a distinct feeling of menace. Excellent!

This is the third book featuring Ally Dymond. I found her character and the plot to be well written. I haven't yet read the other two books but that didn't affect this book at all. Overall i really enjoyed it.

I was very happy to receive an arc copy of this book as I enjoyed the first two in the series. I like the character of Ally Dymond, although she seems to get herself into hot water regularly.
In this story she has ever more than usual to deal with as the memories of her father's death are stirred up when his ship returns to north Devon, and she is stranded on an island in the Bristol Channel with another CSI, Jake, as a storm comes in and prevents them leaving. The island is the setting for a recent murder and two suspects have confessed to the crime so Ally and Jake are sent to collect more evidence from the property of one of the killers.
Whilst they are on the island, waiting for the storm to abate so the police helicopter can return and pick them up, they learn a great deal about the (few) people who live there, but it is enough to determine that anyone of them could be the murderer and the suspects the police have in custody should not be viewed as reliable.
The plot is quite involved and I found the finale was a little far fetched which rather spoiled the rest of the book. I enjoyed the relationship between Ally and Jake and I think the back and fro between Ally and her daughter is well done too. The setting is great, although if the tides around the island are all they are made out to be maybe a watersports' centre is the best thing to have built there!
With thanks to Netgalley and HQ stories for the arc copy in return for an honest review.

The third in the CSI Ally Dymond series is set on a tiny island in the Bristol channel and follows the investigation into a young man's death. I enjoyed the first two novels in the series but although this is a competent crime mystery and I love the North Devon setting, the pace was slow and I struggle to like Ally as a person. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Set on a remote island off the North Devon coast, Liar's Island introduces us to a community with a dark past of smuggling and shipwrecks, but until now, there has never been a murder. When Kieran Deveney's body is discovered, two islanders confess to the crime, each claiming they acted alone. The twist? Neither can be convicted while the other maintains their story.

CSI Ally Dymond is brought in to unravel the truth and uncover the evidence needed to crack the case. What she discovers is a tight-knit community rife with secrets. As she begins her investigation, a fierce storm strikes the island, leaving everyone trapped and raising the stakes. While the weather poses a threat, it's the people around Ally that truly concern her.

The characters are well-developed, bringing a vividness to the narrative that draws readers in. The dual confessions add a compelling layer of complexity, allowing for a deeper understanding of the suspects. I particularly enjoyed the camaraderie between Ally and Jake, and I look forward to seeing more of their dynamic in future books. Overall, Liar's Island is a gripping read that keeps you guessing until the very end.

3.5/5.

Read more at The Secret Bookreview.

Liars island is found in the Bristol channel and island life can be ideal if your not enforced to stay there whilst battling demons from your past, constant storm weather alerts, poor technology, an unhappy teenager, totally cut off, oh and not to mention a killer is on the lose, the location and it's atmosphere really added drama to the story.

The characters were developed well and brought to life on the page and the confession element of the story brought understanding to the suspects, I particularly liked the camaraderie between Ally and Jake and look forward to more of them working together.

An engaging read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Not having read any other of the books that feature CSI Ally Dymond, I struggled with some of the references and links that were made. Therefore, I went with three stars as I couldn't make everything makes sense.

However, the main plot to this was decent though and I enjoyed the mystery. There were twists and surprises that I wasn't expecting and I enjoyed the dual confessions/who did it aspect. I also liked how the storm made the island unreachable and thought this added to the atmosphere successfully - especially as you think that Dymond may be in danger.

I recommend reading the full CSI series of Ally Dymond first and will be reading more myself.