I was eager to read this latest outing for DI Ben Kitto and it didn't disappoint. It has all the ingredients I look for in a detective series, an interesting main character with some ongoing romantic interest, a sense of place - in this case the Scilly Isles, and a gripping plot.

This begins with Ben swimming around the coast of one of the islands in preparation for a Swimathon. His swim is cut short when he spots a body hanging from a sheer rock, bizarrely dressed as a bride in white. What follows is a race to find the killer as more women are abducted and turn up dressed as brides. I didn't guess the killer - and though the ending is a little implausible it does just pass muster.

I'm looking forward to number 5 in the series and thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy of number 4.

What should have been a break from grueling pace of police work, has turned out to be a busman’s holiday for DI Ben Kitto and his team. On a hot summer day, the team are warming up for an annual swim contest off the Scilly Island of St. Mary’s when they see a corpse, dressed as a bride hanging from Pulpit Rock. Kitto locks down the island to prevent the killer from escaping back to the mainland, but when another woman is attacked, he’s wracked with guilt, knowing that he is in part, responsible. Hoping to avoid another casualty, Ben gathers the residents together at a hotel to try to keep them safe….and suss out the killer. I love Kate Rhodes, she keeps reinventing herself and her books, each one better then the one before

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster UK Fiction and Kate Rhodes for my ARC of Pulpit Rock in return for my honest review.

This is the fourth in the DI Ben Kitto series and the author takes us, once again to the Scilly Isles. This can easily be read as a stand-alone but all of the books in this series have been brilliant. I do think they are getting better.

The novel begins with Ben and his team out for a swim as they intend to compete in the annual swimathon around St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles. They see a body, dressed as a bride, hanging from Pulpit Rock. On closer investigation it is found to be a murder, so Ben shuts down the Island to prevent the killer from leaving. Everyone is a suspect.https://writeresultsblog.com/2020/09/06/pulpit-rock-kate-rhodes/

Ben and his team begin to investigate and they are desperate to avoid another casualty. The diverse characters, many with eccentricities fill the story with wit, passion, rage and romance. Of course, the most amazing of all is Shadow.

Cleverly plotted with an ending I didn’t guess. The author has the ability to lead the reader down different paths with numerous twists and turns throughout. I suspected pretty much each one in turn but there were clues along the way.

Exceptional read. Highly recommended.