Holy Island

• Author: LJ Ross
• Genre: Mystery
• Publication Date: April 7, 2026
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Series: DCI Ryan Mysteries #1

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby Priory.

When former local girl Dr Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface making her confront her difficult past. She and Ryan struggle to work together to hunt a killer who hides in plain sight, while pagan ritual and small-town politics muddy the waters of their investigation.

This was originally a self-published novel, but the brilliant minds at Poisoned Pen Press discovered LJ Ross’s talent and have re-released her books. I recently read the first book in a different Ross series, and enjoyed it so much that the publishers offered me an ARC. I was really excited to learn that I’d have all the access to a whole new series from an author who is quickly becoming a new favorite of mine.

Holy Island is more than just the title of the book—it’s a nickname for the island of Lindisfarne. This is a fairly protected island in Northumbria that had a monastery founded in 635 CE, and was the main base for Christian efforts to convert pagans to Christianity. If you’re a fan of The Last Kingdom or Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories, this is the location that fell victim to a brutal Viking raid that kicked off a series of attacks across Europe. It’s also got a unique feature: a tidal causeway, and also submerged rocky areas around the island almost all the way around. This is a patch of road that is completely submerged at times, preventing access to the island when the tide is in. Simply going into this and knowing about that (yes, I’m a Cornwell fan and also enjoyed the show), I was fully expecting this to be an atmospheric read. I wasn’t wrong. 

The setting is home to a small group of people that live there full-time, and this is when we are introduced to DCI Ryan. He’s a homicide detective that has been pushed into a sabbatical leave and decides to take it on Lindisfarne. Living in a cottage on the island, It isn’t clear at first what sent him on sabbatical leave, but it does come out later in the story, which unfolded in a way that added more depth to Ryan’s character. At first, it felt like maybe this wasn’t the first book since the reason for his time away from work isn’t clear, but that feeling only lasted a short time. 

Days before Christmas, the island is rocked by the dawn discovery of a murdered woman at the Priory ruins. Since this is before the tidal causeway opens, it’s clear that this was done by an islander. With no access to a police department, the person who makes the shocking discovery does the next best thing—bring it to the attention of DCI Ryan, even if he is on sabbatical. This leads us to Ryan having to take on the case to preserve any pertinent evidence. He falls into a bit of a trope in mysteries, portrayed as an uncommonly attractive detective with darkness in his not-so-distant past. Even so, I liked how Ryan was also depicted as having brains as well as manners, although he’s a bit old-fashioned. However, he definitely has his flaws; particularly how dismissive he is to a female specialist that he was assuming would be male. 

With Ryan on the case, we are plunged into the darkness hiding in the shadows of Holy Island. The story isn’t told solely through Ryan’s eyes, and readers are given a peek into the heads of various characters. However, we are often thrust into the head of a character who isn’t named or identified. Most frustratingly this happens mid-chapter, sometimes even mid-paragraph, and it was quite confusing so I found myself often rereading paragraphs to figure out what was going on. At least the switches were important to the story.

The murder has what initially appears to be some kind of pagan overtones, and Dr. Anna Taylor is a local specialist on paganism and rituals who has the additional qualification of having grown up on Lindisfarne and being known to the locals. However, it isn’t long before she can’t officially work as a consultant due to a personal conflict. As a highly intelligent and educated, strong woman, she also falls into an overplayed trope—the woman who has accomplished so much suddenly becomes a damsel in distress relying on the sexy detective. She doesn’t lean into this trope fully, and fights against it at times, leading me to like how well-rounded the characters are. They make mistakes, they have flaws, they feel real. 

As another murder occurs, the island begins to feel more and more claustrophobic, casting suspicion on everyone around Ryan. It was reminiscent of the Cal Hooper series by Tana French, with the small-town and pretty isolated setting that becomes like another character in the story. Additionally, there was the insulated community who has lived there for generations and all grow up in a small area that makes it hard to keep secrets. In this book, the ritualistic overtones of the first murder are repeated while the police are doing their best to find their suspect before any more murders occur, and our thought-hopping reveals an underground, occult society. 

Overall, this was a gripping start to a series and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. While there are some overused tropes present, I appreciated the way the author allowed the characters to exert a little force against those tropes, and showed them actively fighting against their innate tendencies, but also that they both have reasons for their actions. This was a fast-paced, tense police procedural with a locked-island feeling that only ratcheted up as the story progressed, with a thrilling ending. There were lots of twists and turns that I was consistently surprised by, although I found the way it ended to be a little bit of a disappointment. The ending—particularly the last scene in the book—felt unrealistic and a bit over the top. Even with these aspects, it didn’t feel like they took much away from the overall feel of the book. I still found the story hard to put down and one that I loved being immersed in. I’m looking forward to checking out more of this series from a highly talented author.

Bottom line: A fast-paced, tense police procedural with small-town vibes and plenty of unpredictable twists and turns, despite a couple of minor issues.

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