#BlogTour-‘Dark Sky Island’ by @laradearman

About the book…

‘Dark Sky Island’ by Lara Dearman is available in paperback from 18/04/19.

‘A brooding, complex mystery’ CAZ FREAR

‘A deeply atmospheric and gripping thriller with a wonderful sense of place’ ROZ WATKINS

There’s a killer on the island – and someone knows who…

When human bones are found in a remote bay in the Channel Islands, DCI Michael Gilbert is plunged into an investigation to find out who they belong to. The remains are decades old – but after another body is discovered, the police realise they could be dealing with a serial killer.

Journalist Jennifer Dorey is desperate for answers, driven by a secret of her own – but it soon becomes clear that nobody on the island is quite what they seem. Will anyone tell the truth before it’s too late? Or will the killer on the island strike again…?

A confession-I had literally no idea about the Channel Islands before starting reading this book, the hook of the thriller reeled me in and then I found myself reading about all these little islands and not a clue!

So I did a bit of research and found that the title refers to Sark ,the island location of the book,being named the world’s first Dark Sky Island, the obesrvatory built there and just how small and insular it is.

This really added to the atmosphere which Lara Dearman stunningly creates in this, her second novel set in her home of the Channel Islands. Beginning with quite literally, a cliff hanger opening, she manages to a) make you forget the unamed character she has put in such peril and b) introduces her cast of characters who are central to the novel.

What a feat! To put a person in mortal danger then manage to misdirect the reader…I was chapters deep before thinking ‘What happened to the person at the start!!;

The idea of an island to escape to is an intriguing one-so many of us hold it as an idyll but once you get there, what if you cannot escape? If you live somewhere so small that cars are outlawed and is so safe that rarely are there locked doors, how does a murder affect that community?

By giving us the story of Jen, the investigative reporter who is the principle narrator with a back story linked to Book 1, Lara gives us eyes and ears on the ground as readers, she is an outsider as are we yet also a native insider providing balance to what she is seeing.

The investigation in to the human remians found in a cave comes courtesy of a tip off-but what was the aim of this and who did it? And whilst recovering the bones, an islander is found brutally murdered. The story then goes back in time to the 1970’s ,and a woman named Rachel, leaving the reader dangling by their fingertips but this time, we are storing the relevant details and placing the facts in  storage for future use.

Added to this, there is a billionaire who has bought an island off the coast to make it his personal retreat and is squeezing the island dry in an attempt to take it over.The old and the new are unwelcome bedfellows, the traditions and tales of the island versus the ability to buy Waitrose stock, the tourists  that they rely on versus the ‘toast rack’ tractor pulled transport that serves the island.

The atmosphere is stunning, the characters relatable and the story keeps you on tenterhooks!

I absolutely loved the way that the threads were pulled together towards a climactic finale that leaves you both reeling, and wanting more. If you need me I’ll be listening to the album Enya wrote based on Sark and the poems of writer and collaborator Roma Ryan

About the author…

Lara was born and raised on the beautiful Channel Island of Guernsey. She moved to the UK to study International Relations and French at the University of Sussex, after which she endured a brief career in finance before giving it up to be a stay at home mum to her three children.

A short course in Creative Writing at Richmond Adult Community College led to Lara studying for a Masters in Creative Writing at St Mary’s University, London. She graduated in 2016 with a distinction. Having moved from Guernsey to Brighton to London to Paris to Singapore and back to London over the last fifteen years, she has now settled in Westchester, New York, with her family.

‘The Devil’s Claw’ is her first novel and combines her love of Guernsey, myths and folklore with her obsession with crime fiction and serial killers…

Links-https://www.laradearman.com/

https://www.compulsivereaders.com/

Twitter@laradearman

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