Lara Dearman

The Devil's Claw is the first book in the Jennifer Dorey Mystery series and I read a sample of this book a while back and loved the intro of this book and couldn't wait to get the chance to read the whole book.

Now, I read a lot of mystery books and I especially love harsh island settings like in this one. Part of the charm of reading this book was just that the mystery takes place in Guernsey, an island that was occupied by Germany during WW2. Add this dark history seems to have a connection to the crimes that journalist Jennifer Dorey thinks has been committed for several decades. But, how to stop a killer if there is no proof that a murder has been committed?

The Devil's Claw is an interesting book. I loved the setting, the Nazi connection was intriguing. And I found Jennifer Dorey to be an is an interesting character whos return home from London occurred when her father died. But something happened in London that made her afraid to go back. DCI Michael Gilbert is also a great character with a tragic past that almost killed him a few years back. Now they, this odd duo starts to work together to solve a maybe crime. I wish I could say that the crime captivated me, but one some level I felt that I never really got truly invested in the criminal case. I wonder if it is because it was not hard to figure out who the baddie was. There are a couple characters introduced as the potential candidates and I nailed it quite easily. Sure, there were moments when I wondered if I was truly correct. But, in the end, I was right, so yay to me. But, I think that the main problem is that the case just did not really get suspenseful. The case moved too slowly forward.

Nevertheless, I quite liked the characters, and, despite the slowness of the case was it an interesting one to try to figure out the motive for and I would definitely read the sequel.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!… (more)

For me was this book a bit of an upswing from the first one. Don't take wrong, I liked the first book. Loved that the story took place on Guernsey and I quite liked DCI Michael Gilbert and journalist Jenny Dorey. Storywise is this book superior. I found myself quite hooked and breezed through the book.

There is just something very special about a small island and brutal crimes. Closed communities with secrets and resentment against outsiders. And, on the island of Sark has boon been found and that will be the start of a very dark story. Whose bones is it? DCI Michael Gilbert and Jenny Dorey will both be on the island working. And, there are some really strange things going on there...

I especially liked that this book also brought up the death of Jenny's father. The suspicious death that Jenny has been working on. She has felt that there was just something wrong about it. How could Charlie have drowned? He was such so experiences when it came to boats. Perhaps this book will give Jenny closure...

DARK SKY ISLAND is a really, really good book and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!… (more)

Dark Sky Island is the second book in the Jennifer Dorey series. Jennifer is a reporter for a newspaper in Guernsey. In this new story, skeletal remains are discovered on nearby Sark Island. Sark is only about 9 miles from Guernsey, but it's a very different place. It's what they call a "Dark Island'' -- the only one in the world in fact. No streetlights. No cars. No airport. No light pollution. Tourists who visit there can have a view of the night sky like no other. DCI Michael Gilbert, a love interest of Jennifer's mother, is also on the island. He's reported from Guernsey to investigate the remains because Sark doesn't have a police force of its own. Turns out the skeletal woman was murdered. The case turns out to be much more complex than just a decades old skeleton, pulling in the death of Jennifer's own father and a long-ago disappearance.

This story had me engrossed from start to finish. I love how the author wove in local island superstitions like the Beast Man and the Tchico black dog along with the more modern dangers like drug traffickers. The story moved along at a fast pace with plenty of twists and suspects. I enjoyed the characters. Jennifer is a strong woman and a great reporter, but has her faults which she is trying to deal with. Michael Gilbert is an aging cop dealing with job stress, a budding relationship and his friendship with a reporter who won't stop nosing into his cases. I have not read the first book, The Devil's Claw, in this series yet, but I enjoyed this second book enough to back-track and read it.

The setting for this story reminded me a lot of the small town I grew up in. Same politics. Same attitude towards strangers. And the same resistance to modernization. There are only 450 residents on Sark Island. They resent outsiders and resist change. Superstitions, old legends and island gossip can hide many things....but also cause local issues to blow up into much bigger problems. This local atmosphere, plus discovery of human remains and other criminal elements at work on the island made for a suspenseful, thrilling story. I'm definitely looking forward to more by this author!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Crooked Lane via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (more)

The Devil's Claw by Lara Dearman is a beguiling mystery set on the island of Guernsey. This first installment in the Jennifer Dorey series stars an intrepid newspaper reporter who unearths a series of murders  that stretches over a span of 50 years.

Jennifer "Jenny" Dorey  returned to her small hometown following the death of her father and a rather traumatic incident in London. She is a thorough reporter who uncovers some very unsettling information following the recent drowning death of a local young woman, Amanda Guille. Discovering a startling pattern of young women's deaths that begins in the 1960s, Jenny teams up with Detective Chief Inspector Michael Gilbert to learn the truth about what happened to these troubled young women who bear an eerie yet striking resemblance to one another.

Jenny has suffered a couple of traumas in her life and at the start of the story, she cannot be certain whether or not someone is following her. Could the person who threatened her on her last story in London have tracked her down in Guernsey? Or is someone much closer to home responsible? Before she can get to the bottom of her personal mystery, Jenny is distracted by her mother's recollection of the drowning death of her childhood friend back in the 1960s. This startling revelation catches her attention and she begins researching the deaths of several young women who have drowned over the past half century.

Well aware of the implications for the police department's handling of these deaths, Michael  immediately begins reviewing the old case files. Although he is not particularly well-liked by his colleagues, no one can deny that Gilbert is a thorough investigator with incredibly well-honed instincts. Once he finds definitive proof that indicates a serial killer has most likely been operating under the radar for nearly fifty years, Michael has no choice but to go public with these findings in hopes of uncovering new evidence.

Interspersed with the chapters which follow Jenny and Michael's investigations are entries from the killer's point of view. His identity is unknown but startling details about his parentage, unhappy childhood and his derisive opinion about his mother offer insight into this very troubled man. Will Michael and Jenny unmask his identity before he kills again?

The Devil's Claw is a clever mystery that incorporates elements of Guernsey's history and folklore into the storyline. Jenny and Michael are wonderfully developed characters who both have somewhat tragic and troubled backstories that are easy to relate to. Lara Dearman's descriptive prose brings Guernsey and its inhabitants vibrantly to life. The truth about the killer's identity is carefully concealed right up until the novel's nail biting conclusion. Fans of the genre are sure to enjoy this first installment of the Jennifer Dorey series.
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