Bamburgh: A DCI Ryan Mystery (The DCI Ryan Mysteries Book 19)

Product Information

When a cantankerous old woman dies at her home in the sleepy, picturesque village of Bamburgh, DCI Ryan doesn't think much of it - except, that is, for the small matter of it having been his wife who happened to find her body. But 18 books later, Ryan and Anna's relationship is still going strong and I began to enjoy their chemistry much more easily.

Anna, DCI Ryan’s wife, has all of DCI Ryan’s CID team at a masquerade party taking place in the King’s Hall at Bamburgh Castle which is being held to support the archeological dig at the castle when Chief Constable Morrison introduces the team’s new DCS - Andrew Forbes. When I started this series, I loved how the books built up to be one big conspiracy, wonderfully connected. One of the previous books tried to clear the force, but still we found some rotten ones in the previous book.unfortunately, i just can’t rate this 5⭐️ — here we have a 3rd DCS that is corrupt (you learn this yourself from chapters from their perspective) and it just feels like the same plot is being recycled over and over again. Then shortly after the party, Anna and Emma, Ryan and Anna’s young daughter, are visiting the village of Bamburgh and discover another body.

I liked the idea of having the main character of the author’s Alexander Gregory Thrillers series pop up in DCI Ryan’s latest cases. For me L J Ross has let me down as a long term fan because she seems to have forgotten what makes a good murder-mystery/thriller really work. LJ Ross is such a natural storyteller than you can’t help but become completely involved and engrossed in the lives of her characters.Don’t get me wrong – the writing is still good; the characters interact with each other in familiar and heart-warming ways, making the bonds they’ve developed over the years and many cases rock solid… or are they? Then another body turns up amongst the sand dunes at the base of the mighty castle fortress, and he decides it can’t be a coincidence! But as Melanie delves deeper into the secrets of the past to uncover the truth, she soon realises it lies much closer to home. Mel has become obsessive since some DNA recently surfaced that matched the DNA found on her murdered twin’s body in 2007.

Overall, one star for the whole gang, one star for the engaging storytelling, half a star for the humour, and half a star for the gardener. I thought the story line about another police chief psychopath - the third in that force - a little far fetched but in light of recent events about rogue police maybe, sadly, not. DC Melanie Yates who is also at this party, but when her name is mentioned, DS Frank Philips says that he is concerned about her and with good reason. When a cantankerous old woman dies at her home in the sleepy, picturesque village of Bamburgh, DCI Ryan doesn’t think much of it except, that is, for the small matter of it having been his wife who happened to find her body. The ideas – the structure, the character, the psychopathy, the ability to fool peers and family for decades, everything, have been used not once, but twice before.

It seems to me that the L J Ross, perhaps due to the pressure of fans and publishers, is being pushed with getting the next book out as quickly as possible whilst sacrificing the skill demonstrated in the earlier books that kept me hooked from page one. The Bookseller magazine has reported on Louise having topped the ‘Most Read’ and ‘Most Sold’ fiction charts, and she has garnered an army of loyal fans who love her atmospheric and addictive storytelling. The plots are solid, the countryside and other settings beautifully drawn and the characters – well, they’re what really make this series sing. Her eleventh novel, The Infirmary, is a prequel story to the DCI Ryan series and is available as a major Audible Originals audio-drama starring Tom Bateman, Kevin Whately, Bertie Carvel, Hermione Norris and Alun Armstrong.