The Shrine by LJ Ross

Today Mandie is back to share her thoughts on The Shrine, the next book in her catch up of the DCI Ryan series by L.J. Ross. Here’s what it’s all about:

About the Book

A murder for the history books…

After a long and eventful winter, DCI Ryan and his team are looking forward to the joys of spring. But, when one of their colleagues is shot dead on her own doorstep and the brass think it’s an inside job, Ryan finds himself drafted in to investigate.

He’s barely scratched the surface when reports flood in of a terror explosion at Durham Cathedral. Chaos descends on the sleepy, historic city and, when the smoke clears, they find a priceless artefact that once belonged to Saint Cuthbert is missing.

With tensions running at an all-time high, unable to trust the local police, can Ryan and his team bring a killer to justice — and restore Cuthbert’s cross to its natural resting place?

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular landscape of County Durham.

Mandie’s Thoughts

The Shrine starts with a bang quite literally with an explosion at Durham Cathedral and the murder of a fellow police officer known to the team. With Anna getting caught up in the blast in Durham, Denise is put in charge of the investigations whilst Ryan and Phillips investigate the murder.

With everything that has gone on recently Ryan is unsure who he can trust within the force and added to this there are a few that resent someone from another area being drafted in to head the investigations. Its not going to be an easy task for him that’s for sure. Then there is the matter of his wife being in hospital that is occupying his thoughts and leaving him more than a little distracted.

The two investigations seem totally unrelated and have the team stretched to their limits meaning we get to see more of the dynamic developing between Lowerson and Yates and I think I am definitely getting to see which one of them is truly in charge (at least in their personal lives) and its nice to see them taking on a little more responsibility in investigations. As an added bonus we finally get to meet Ryan’s parents and boy you can see that there isdefinitely similarities between Ryan and his father. Hopefullywe will get to see more of their relationship in the future as its nice to finally see where Ryan gets his determination from.

I have never visited Durham but as with all the previous books I was able to picture all the locations in my head as I read the book, and that is part of their appeal as the locations are clearly chosen with care and are close to the author’sheart. I love when books explore history, myths and legends and The Shrine is no exception. The pacing of the story had me finish it in one sitting and with the ending leaving me wanting more for once I was glad that I was a little behind in the series as it means that I can find out what happens next without having the usual wait of the next book being published.

About the Author

LJ Ross is an international bestselling author, best known for creating atmospheric mystery and thriller novels, including the DCI Ryan series of Northumbrian murder mysteries which have sold over four million copies worldwide.

Her debut, Holy Island, was released in January 2015 and reached number one in the Amazon UK and Australian charts. Since then, she has released a further sixteen novels, all of which have been top three global bestsellers and fourteen of which have been UK #1 bestsellers. Louise has garnered an army of loyal readers through her storytelling and, thanks to them, several of her books reached the coveted #1 spot whilst only available to pre-order ahead of release. Her eleventh novel, The Infirmary, is a prequel story and is also available as a major Audible Originals audio-drama starring Tom Bateman, Kevin Whately, Bertie Carvel, Hermione Norris and Alun Armstrong.

Louise was born in Northumberland, England. She studied undergraduate and postgraduate Law at King’s College, University of London and then abroad in Paris and Florence. She spent much of her working life in London, where she was a lawyer for a number of years until taking the decision to change career and pursue her dream to write. Now, she writes full-time and lives with her husband and son in Northumberland, where she enjoys reading all manner of books, travelling and spending time with family and friends.

Louise is a keen philanthropist, and is pleased to have supported numerous non-profit programmes in addition to founding several of her own, including the Lindisfarne Reading Challenge and the Lindisfarne Prize for Debut Crime Fiction.