*4.5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book really had you thinking who the killer was as it pointed to a few suspects. I found it to be an interesting read with interesting characters and I'd like to read more of this series.

This author never fails to thrill
Page turning plot
Beautiful setting and characters that are believable and sympathetic
Recommend

A gripping, well plotted, and tightly knitted story that kept me guessing and turning pages.
Great setting, well developed characters, excellent storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Another great read in this Laura Hart series set on the beautiful island of Anglesey. The books just keep getting better and better. Lots of action and plenty of twists and turns. Really enjoy the different characters and the way they interweave throughout the story and series.
Thanks to Avon books and Netgalley for the ARC.

#TheDrowningIsle #NetGalley Another great read in this series set on the beautiful island of Anglesey. Lots of action and with plenty of twists and turns to keep the pages turning well into the night!! A big twist at the end that I didn't see coming and a massive cliffhanger with Laura and Pete that makes me hope that I don't have to wait too long for the next in this series!! A well deserved 5 stars.

This series keeps on delivering first rate police procedural crime, with a believable family back story for the two main characters Gareth and Laura.
The descriptions of Anglesey make the reader want to visit, despite the murders in the book!
Roll on the next installment, especially after the ending...

A gripping novel in the Laura Hart series, this is as good if not better than the other books good characters and pacing. Love the continuing arc of her husband death, roll on the next book. Thanks to Avon books and Netgalley for this review copy

Anglesey series book 4.

Oh wow. I loved this book. As well as hunting for the killer of a teenage boy, Laura must deal with the continuing fallout of her Husband Sam's death. I read this book late into the night and o.m.g. That Ending!! That's one way to ensure your readers read the next one!

Callum and his three best friends are celebrating their eighteenth birthdays with an epic camping trip to the mysterious Llanddwyn Island, off the coast of Anglesey. Then Callum disappears, and the others return to the mainland in a state of shock.

When his body is discovered, DI Laura Hart is brought in to investigate. Is the murder the work of the Fair Men, a pagan group with a dark history who still hold their ceremonies on the island? Or were the boys less tight-knit than they would have Laura believe.

In this next installment of "The Anglesey series", DI Laura Hart and DI Gareth Williams are called in to investigate the disappearance of a teenage boy Callum Newell, when he had gone camping with his friends Osian, Tom and Ethan. This case hits close to home for the entire team as Osian is DS Declan's son and Declan is a close friend of Gareth.

A wide search for Callum yields no results until the next day when his body is found in the beach by a walker. The investigation into his murder leads the team to a religious cult living nearby and to a wad of cash food underneath his bed, with the search leading to a most unexpected suspect.

Meanwhile, Laura is repeatedly contacted by Pete Marsons, her former friend and current suspect in the death of her husband Sam four years ago. Unable to know whom to trust, she decides to contact an investigative journalist with everything she knows, so that the corrupt officers in the whole operation could be identified and brought to justice. Will her intention be fulfilled? The book ends with a wonderful cliffhanger which will keep its readers hooked and anxious for the next book to arrive.

Simon McCleave has written a great follow-up to the previous book, particularly with respect to the ongoing investigation into Laura's husband. The case of the missing boy made for an intense and thrilling read; I was reading with bated breath most of the time and definitely didn't see the final twist coming. I was more emotionally invested as the victims and the suspects are people close to Gareth and Laura.

I also liked the way the overarching story of Laura's husband's murder has been handled till now. McCleave has managed to pull his readers into the paranoia and tension Laura must be going through because of it. And I absolutely love where that part of the narrative has been taken to. This is another brilliant book by the author and I would like to read more to see where the story is going to.

This is the latest book in a series around Detective Inspector Laura Hart. So far the series ahs been very good and this is just as good as all the rest. Maybe even better.
Set in Anglesey Wales it follows the latest investigation into the death of a young man.

Great story

This is an intense and poignant police procedural with a believable investigation team and a mystery with numerous twists. I did work out the antagonist before the reveal, which I enjoyed. It is heartbreaking in parts, and there are many viable suspects. The thread that runs through all the books in this series gives the story underlying menace, culminating in a cliffhanger conclusion. I like the characterisation, the island setting and the investigation team dynamic. It's a suspenseful crime thriller.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

It's so great to be back with Laura and her family on Anglesey! I've been travelling with them since the beginning and I feel like I know them a bit by now -
While the previous three editions blew me away, I have to admit that I was a bit let down by this fourth volume. Don't get me wrong, I read it in one day, but I found the story to be quite predictable and I had figured out fairly early on what had happened, although I did find the reason for the crime a bit far-fetched and therefore not entirely believable.

The author displays a clear affection for Wales, its history, and language. However, I did not sense the same level of ‘hiraeth’ as in earlier editions, despite the inclusion of some Welsh idioms.
While the author spends a lot of time on some historical context at the start of the book, I would have liked to see more of that woven into the narrative. I also think that the line of the pagan cult should have been more elaborated.
This is, for all, the ancient land of druids and dragons and shapeshifters, where battles and love stories would later form the basis for the Mabinogion and Arthurian legends.

You'll find that it's easy to follow even if you haven't read the previous parts. However, as someone who has read from the beginning, I found the constant references to past events a bit repetitive. It felt like a summary of what had already happened. I do think it's about time the author clarify the issue with Pete and move away from it, I got the feeling that this issue is now being unnecessarily prolonged.

Albeit I find this the least of the series, a quick and enjoyable read for me.. 3..5/4 stars

Thank you Avon Books for the review copy. I leave this review voluntarily.

The Drowning Isle is book 4 in the Anglesey series by Simon McCleave and it is a compelling crime story with interesting and complex characters.
Fast paced and exciting this is a police procedural that is full of exciting moments.
This book is wonderfully written and intricately detailed. The crime itself was interesting and so different.
I will definitely be reading the first couple titles in this series.

Thank You NetGalley and Avon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Four friends celebrating the end of exams go on a camping trip. Innocent enough- until one of them produces some 'Magic Mushroom' chocolate. The boys at first are happy & charging around. But Callum runs off . They are on Llanddwyn Island, a small island off Anglesey. An island steeped in ancient legend & still reputably used by the 'Fair men'- a pagan group. The other boys return home shocked. DI Laura Hart investigates, she is not sure if it is a help or a hindrance that one of the last to see Callum was the son of a trusted colleague.

This is the first one of this series I have read but I didn't find it spoiled my enjoyment of the story. The setting was captured very well & the characters drew me in. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. I will be looking out for more by this author.

The Drowning Isle by Simon McCleave is the fourth in The Anglesey Series. This time, four male friends in their teens go camping at Anglesey in Wales to celebrate an eighteenth birthday with alcohol and magic mushroom experimentation. Callum goes off but doesn't return. We are privy to last moments of his terrified life before his body shows up on the beach. DI Laura Hart and DI Gareth Williams have problems of their own but are now faced with discovering what happened to Callum and why. It was interesting to learn more about the detectives' pasts and what makes them tick in the present. Police corruption, dark angst and cults add intrique to the multi-layered story.

Though secrets, reveals and twists keep coming from all sides and the ending is smashing, this installment didn't reel me in as the others have. Excessive alcohol and other drug use in books aren't my wheelhouse. Police procedurals are less and less my thing, too. However, I will continue the series as the writing is clever and magnificent. Perhaps it's an, "it's not you, it's me" situation.

My sincere thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this novel.

I could not put this book down and devoured it within a day. It’s the fourth novel in the series but I read it as a standalone and was given enough of a backstory that I knew what had been happening in the previous novels. Four boys head off on a camping trip to celebrate their eighteenth birthdays. They indulge in both alcohol and drugs and one of them runs off but fails to come back. What starts off as a missing person case soon turns to murder and DI Gareth Williams and DI Laura Hart head up the investigation. This book is a fast paced, gripping thriller with some great twists that will keep you entertained. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

A dark and twisty one and no spoilers from me except to warn against flipping to the end. Callum goes missing during an 18th camping trip birthday party and then, sadly, his body is found. This then unwinds many secrets in the community, secrets, DIs Laura and Gareth aren't expecting. This is nicely atmospheric with bits of Welsh folklore (for want of a better word) and topical issues both. Laura is also still dealing with concerns about the death of her husband Sam,a police officer, in Manchester four years earlier. While the writing is sometimes a bit stilted, the characters are terrific and the mystery itself kept me guessing (and surprised). Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I'd not read the earlier books in the series and this was fine as a standalone. A good read.

This is the 4th installment of a series set on Anglesey, you can read alone as I did, but ant wait to read the first three books.

Callum and his friends are on a small island camping celebrating their 18th birthdays, fueled with drink and drugs, Callum ends up missing. None of the boys know anything so DI Laura Hart and DI Gareth Williams gets involved.

This is a gripping crime/detective story that had me guessing till the end. I liked all of it, it was an easy read that will keep you guessing. The story is written well and I liked the back story that I think relates back to the previous books in this series. Will be reading them in due course.

Edgy crime reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

AMAZING ONCE AGAIN!!!

Simon McCleave's Anglesey Series in outstanding. I i’s an atmospheric, fast paced, police procedural series and it certainly has a hold on me. This is the 4th book and each book has been truly unputdownable.

The series is set in Beaumaris on the Island of Anglesey in North Wales. Simon always manages to add stories, tales and local knowledge to the area that are even new to me, as a local, and I love that. It is certainly a wonderful island to set a series on.

This story starts with a teenage boys camping trip in the beautiful area of Newborough Beach. McCleave builds the tension immediately with of one of the young boys being chased to his death through the forest, and this sets up a great foundation for the book. The book encompasses cults, drug trafficking, OCG's and difficult family relationships. It certainly packs a lot in!

I love the developing relationship between DI Laura Hart and her boss DI Gareth Williams of Beaumaris CID. And the backstory of Laura’s husband’s murder in Manchester a few years earlier is captivating. I love these elements of the book, its brilliantly interwoven and very exciting, I can’t wait to see how events continue to unfold.

Overall, “The Drowning Isle" is a fantastic read, with a very well plotted storyline, that will appeal to fans of suspense thrillers and police procedurals. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast-paced, engrossing read by a skilled author.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books UK and Simon McCleave for a copy of the book in return for an open and honest review.

The Drowning Isle is book 4 of The Anglesey Series. I haven't read any of the previous books in the series and found this very easy to read as a stand alone book. Having said that, I do intend to read the previous books now as I enjoyed this one so much. This one had plenty of unexpected twists and turns that kept me hooked and interesting characters that kept me reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my ARC.