Kate RhodesBurnt Island: A Ben Kitto Thriller 3

Really enjoyed this book. Kitties and cast are interesting characters that I enjoyed reading about and the scenery and description of the islands and island culture is magnificent. I didn’t love the way it ended as it felt a bit rushed to me. Still, I would highly recommend this book.

Another adventure with DI Ben Kitto on the Isles of Scilly. This time he is based on St Agnes, one of the smallest of the Isles (and now home to his deputy, Eddie, who has moved there with his fiancée and their new baby daughter) The discovery of a burnt body means Ben has to set up a temporary headquarters on St Agnes where he once again finds locals harbouring old grudges and incomers that aren’t fully accepted. Particularly those like the victim, an eminent astronomer, and well known artist, Naomi Vine, who both want to bring changes to the islanders’ way of life.A likely candidate for the murderer is an odd loner who has disappeared and manages to evade the police even on such a small island.The story follows pretty much the themes in earlier books with the murderer taunting Ben with cryptic messages (in Cornish this time) and setting more pyrotechnics until another potential victim goes missing and it’s a race against time to find them.I find it’s best not to look too closely at motivation in these books (or you’ll find yourself thinking….but why did…?), but the author does know how to pull the reader along for an exciting ride and the ending was a genuine surprise.

As with the first 2 books in this series, I loved Kate Rhodes' writing, along with the lead character, Ben Kitto. I found this book a real page turner with lots of red herrings, so as usual I didn't guess what was going on. In the previous books, I found it hard to accept the who and why, but this time it made sense once we knew the background and character of the killer. Throughout the book I was worried about the safety of "Birdman Jimmy", fearing he would suffer a nasty fate, and was pleased that it all worked out ok for him in the end. I also enjoy the atmospheric nature of these islands, despite Kate's artistic licence to mess with the geography. Therefore, I have bought the final 2 books in the series. Very good, but not quite a 5 star for me.

I spotted a reference to this trio of books on another well-known author's Facebook page. You know the sort of thing. "I've read all 'x's' books, who else is there I should give a try?" Several people pointed the lady in this direction, so I thought I'd follow. From the first few pages I knew it was a mistake. These books are wonderfully written. If you enjoy intricate word pictures that involve three hundred similes when describing a short boat trip from one island to another then good luck to you. I'm not a highly-educated person, and I recall struggling with Shakespeare and Chaucer at school. These books are as challenging to read as Old English. I couldn't see the wood for the trees. When I stripped away the layers of eloquent description I found flaws in what was at heart a fairly basic plot. In future, I think I'll stick to finding my own next book and concentrate on writers who get the story done in words that everyone can understand. When I completed all three books I wondered whether these belong in the same group as those that everyone claims to have read - when in reality they skipped through the word picture overload to discover whodunnit.

We are back on the beautiful Isles of Scilly which seems to have more than its fair share of brutal murders. Just as the residents of the small island, St. Agnes, are about to celebrate November 5th a burnt body is found. Deputy Chief of Police, Ben Kittow needs to find the killer quickly, but even with a limited number of residents it seems that some of them are keeping secrets which does not make Ben's life easy. There were plenty of twists and turns and I can honestly say I didn't see the end coming. I have already started the next book in the series.

Great third book in the series. I loved the descriptions of the unique island setting which transports the reader. It really made me want to visit the Scilly Isles.Ben Kitto is an excellent main character; a Detective investigating a murder on a very small island where he effectively has a very small pool of suspects. I enjoyed Ben’s character development and his growing feeling of wanting to form lasting relationships with friends and colleagues.Kate Rhodes is a wonderful story teller who has injected so many twists into her book that I was unable to work out who the real killer was!Looking forward to the next in the series!