Great characters! And interesting story that kept me reading. I will go back to read the first in the series to get to know more about Jennifer and Michael.

Unaufregend, in weiten Teilen eher sehr sachlich, aber mit Spannung verfasst - der etwas andere Krimi.

Sark a small island where everyone new everyone else and nobody’s business was private. DCI Michael Gilbert came to Sark when bones were found in a cave but this would lead to more intrigue and murder. Who is keeping secrets on Sark and who knows. A fast paced mystery with plenty of twists and turns to keep you page turning to the end.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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!

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.**

Somehow I managed to miss the first mystery in this series but, as soon as I can, I will be reading it. I love the Channel Islands and to find a mystery set on Sark was one I couldn't pass up. Sark is a small island, 3 miles by about one mile in size with about 500 residents. That number swells during the tourist season and day trippers keep the local ferry full. The island became part of England back in 1066 and kept its feudal way of life up until about ten years ago. Until then 40 families held control over every part of island life. The island of Little Sark is privately owned and has a major part in this mystery. Because there are only horse drawn carriages and tractors on the island, along with one street light, Sark has the honor of being the first official Dark Sky Island - no residential lights at night to spoil the star gazing. Boy, does that add to the atmosphere - things really can, and do, go bump in the night.
I don't normally enjoy stories told from multiple voices but, in this case, I'm glad I made an exception. There is no confusion between the voices of Jenny, the reporter, Michael, the DCI investigating the murder (and who is also dating Jenny's mother and investigating Jenny's father's death). The third voice is Rachel, in 1979. All of the threads come together seamlessly.
Sark has only one police officer, on a volunteer basis and depends upon the police force of Guernsey to investigate crimes. When a skeleton is reported to be in one of the "pirate" caves, Michael is sent to investigate. Jenny, who has spent a fair amount of time on Sark and who's late father had many friendships on the island, is sent over to get the story. It gives her even more reason to continue trying to find out what really happened to her father.
Soon there is a fresh death to investigate when one of her father's friends is found with his throat slashed. Found by a little boy with a very protective mother who works very hard to keep him out of the investigation. The big question is - are the past death and the present deaths in any way connected? Given that the residents of Sark are good at keeping silent when the police are around, it's a hard investigation to conduct.
All of the characters are well developed and Sark is front and center. After reading Dark Sky Island, I came away with a strong feeling for the island and its residents. The pacing starts out slowly, like the reader is being properly introduced to the island and to its secrets. As the mystery progresses, the tension builds and builds, each pice, each clue laid out bit by bit. When it all comes together in the final chapters I knew I was going to be staying up past my bedtime to finish it. This is one series I will put on my "not to be missed" reading list.

I love a atmospheric mysterious story and this was one of the best I have read.
This is the second in series after the first Devils Claw which I highly recommend.
The small island of Sark is a "dark sky" island where cars are banned and there is no light pollution so the nights are dark and scary. This is a quiet island where the people keep to themselves and no much happens. Its moody as its residents and has a mysterious history surrounding pirate lore, murders and unnamed happenings.
When bones found are anonymously reported a detective DCI Gilbert comes to the island to investigate. A journalist Jenny joins him on the tiny island, desperate for a scoop. She has history with the island as it was a place she visited . Then another body a elderly man is found dead by homicide. Something very strange and dark is at work on the island and they find very mysterious happenings as they investigate together. They are soon in danger and each finding the island very intimidating and frightening.
This is such a fun moody thriller that I enjoyed very much. Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my review . This is a book I highly recommend for your reading enjoyment.

I thought that the beginning was too slow. It took me some time to get into it but it finally pay off. Having the story told by multiple POV was really interesting and helped building the characters. It is a great read. I should definitely read the first book of the series.

This is the second in series and, although the main story is self-contained, please do try and squeeze The Devil's Claw in first. If nothing else, it will give you a better background to Jenny's character and the connection between her and Gilbert.
The action in this book takes place on the small island of Sark where cars are banned and there is no light pollution (the Dark Sky status of the title) so the nights are proper dark, and a bit scary. Bones found in a cave are anonymously reported, causing a visit by Guernsey's DCI Gilbert to investigate. Tipped off, journalist Jenny joins him on the tiny island, desperate for a front page scoop. She has history with the island as it was a place she visited regularly with her father before his recent death at sea. But just as they are beginning to investigate the bones, an elderly man is found dead, and not from natural causes. But, as the duo start their separate investigations, things start to get a bit weird. Is it just the superstitious ambience of the island that is spooking them or is there something much darker going on?
Ooo, I do love a good isolated island murder mystery and this was a doozy! Sark is steeped in history, both good and bad. Smugglers, pirates and more than its fair share of myths, legends, and foul beasts all play their part in the intrigue surrounding the bones and the old man's murder in this book. As with all books of the genre, we have twists and turns aplenty, as well as a few red herrings thrown in for good measure. We follow the investigations both from the police point of view with Gilbert and also, hand in hand, Jenny's investigations as a journalist. The two meander around each other, sharing some but not all along the way, until we eventually get to the bottom of things at the end. Where exactly Jenny's father comes into things is another story completely; or is it?
One of the things I especially loved about this, and indeed the first in series too, was the setting. In book one, I learned quite a bit about Guernsey, here similarly with Sark. The old feudal system giving way to democracy and incomers rocking the boat with the tight knit small community of residents. Having visited and loved Jersey last year, I now kick myself that I didn't take the opportunity to visit Sark on a day trip, something I do hope to rectify in the future. Here, in this series, the settings are almost to be considered as characters in their own rights, being as integral to the plot as they are.
With how this book ended I wonder how the author will carry things on. I have a few ideas and am quite eager to see if I'm right. Either way, I do hope she does carry it on, in one way or another, as I am really starting to enjoy this series. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is the second in the Jennifer Dorey series. This time the action moves to Sark, a small island near Guernsey that shares the same police force.

Told from multiple POV, this alternates between Michael Gilbert, the DI, and Jennifer Dorey, the reporter. We also hear from a woman named Rachel in 1978, who ended up leaving the island under questionable circumstances. All the characters are well drawn and fully fleshed out.

In addition to the discovery of a pile of bones in a cave on the island, Dorey is coming to grips with the mysterious drowning of her father two years previously and Gilbert is dealing with an investigation into his police force by Scotland Yard.

Sark is known as a dark sky island due to the lack of street lights and motorized vehicles. Dearman does a great job of making the Channel Islands as much characters as the people involved.

The Sarkees are an odd, insular community and not prone to opening up. It makes it difficult for both Jennifer and Michael to do their jobs. I enjoyed the tension that’s created here. While it took a bit to get going, once it did, I was fully vested.

My thanks to netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance copy of this book.

Dark Sky Island by Laura Dearman is the sequel to her first Jennifer Dorey mystery. Although second in the series, I can assure you it can, and should be read, as a stand alone book.

Sark is an isolated small cozy island with 400 residence. The only way to travel to and from is by boat or ferry service, and bikes and tractors are there only mode of transportation due to the rocky terrain. Nothing much ever happens there until human bones are discovered in a cave.

Reporter Jenny Dorey and DCI Investigator Michael Gilbert are sent to the island to investigate, but for some reason no one in this tight community will talk about anything, except they love to gossip about everything. Then a gruesome murder occurs within hours of finding the bones. Could they be related? But how?

Intertwined in the main story is the continuing arc of Jenny's dad's questionable death. Charlie Dorey was a fisherman and mysteriously died when he fell off his boat months prior.

On an island in which no crimes occur other than a little vandalism, who could be involved in a killing and why are the locals so silent and who do the bones belong to? This book is full of mystery and surprise. With descriptions of the hauntingly beautiful scenery one can get swept up in the folk lore of the island.

Dark Sky Island is a terrific read which I highly recommend. It's release date is September 11. 2018. Thank you NetGalley for the e-book. #NetGalley #Dark Sky Island

I just finished Dark Sky Island and must admit that when I read it I didn’t know that it was the second in a series. It did leave me a bit behind and struggling to keep up with the different characters on top of prequels, and switching between now and 30 years ago. That said it was well worth the perseverance and I ended liking the book very much. It was interesting to read about an isolated island whose inhabitants number in the hundreds and everybody know every little thing that is going on. To have several police incidents happen at the same time would seem easy to solve but not when everyone is against you. I thank NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review. I give this book 4 stars and would recommend it to others.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. This is the second book featuring Jenny Dorey. I haven't read the first, but I will. You don’t have to read in order, but the second book frequently refers to people, events, and relationships that formed in the first of the series.
Bones are found in a cave on the island of Sark. Jenny, as a reporter for the Guernsey paper goes to the nearby island to cover the story. While there, an elderly resident, Reg iis brutally murdered. Sark is a small island with a small population. The people are insular and not willing to share any information. The story covers three people, Jenny, Michael, the DCI on the case, and Rachel, Reg’s wife who disappeared from the island several decades ago. The tension in the story builds, are the bones Rachel’s, did Reg kill her all those years ago? Who killed Reg and why. There is a lot of tension in the story, rumors of drug smuggling, a newcomer who is damaging local businesses. It us difficult to know who to trust. The author knows the islands well, the history and descriptions make the setting very believable. It’s a good story that I would recommend to most readers. Definately a twist at the end that I did not see coming.

Lara Dearman has written a wonderful second addition to the anxious journalist, Jennifer Dorey series, working for The Guernsey News, troubled by the apparently accidental death of her beloved father, Charlie, in circumstances that she believes do not make sense, off the coast of Sark. Sark is known as the Dark Sky Island, with no streetlights or cars, with a history of smuggling and pirates, where superstitions are rife, with its myths and legends of beasts and curses, it is the land that time forgot. In a cave on Derrible Bay, the bones of a long dead woman are discovered and DCI Michael Gilbert returns to lead the inquiry, and he is not best pleased when Dorey turns up on the scene. Then a young boy, Arthur, finds the murdered body of Reg Carre in his home, and the police suspect the traumatised boy may have seen the perpetrator.

Dorey has fallen into a tenuous relationship with her colleague, Elliot, and her past exclusives have made her unpopular with others on her paper. This situation is exacerbated when the notoriously reticient billionaire living on Sark, Corey Monroe, wants to be interviewed by Dorey. Monroe's presence has got the backs up of the locals and their protests against him have been vociferous but make little sense to him as the economic opportunities he offers are rebuffed. Gilbert has to put up with the irritating and boastful presence of the ambitious DS Richard Fallaize on his team, and he feels guilty about not being open about the police files on Charlie Dorey's death with Jenny. The concerned mother of Arthur, Tanya La Page, is reluctant to let the police interview her vulnerable son, Arthur, but Michael is determined. The Sark islanders have been less than helpful, and leads in what turns up to be connected cases are scarce. Sark lives up to its name as the dark sky island, harbouring deception, lies, murder and more, posing grave dangers to both Michael and Jenny.

I really have become attached to the marvellous locations of the Channel Islands that are brought vibrantly alive by Lara Dearman, and the central characters of Jenny and Michael. It is the inclusion of the culture and wide range of local characters shaped by the insularity of island living and closed communities, and their hostility to outsiders that proved to be a major highlight of this novel for me. I am not sure if Dearman is going to continue with the series with Jenny finally have got to the bottom of what happened to her father and Michael's thoughts of the future. I hope she does continue with this series, it has grown on me, it is so atmospheric and gripping. A brilliant read that captured my interest with ease. Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books for an ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book
I loved this book .
It is told from three viewpoints but still keeps you interested. The setting is uniquely beautiful and almost a character itself . The plot is well executed

It all starts when a bunch of bones are found in a cave. She's sent to get a story. She gets one, but it's not the one she went for...

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published September 11th.

She decides to investigate her father's death while she's there. She doesn't think his death was a fishing accident. It wasn't but what it was involves the whole island and makes it a very dangerous place to snoop. Not even the police are safe there.

Another death overshadows the bones and the investigation continues. The island is dark and dangerous. Will she and her friends survive?

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advance copy of this intriguing mystery. I love a story that takes me to a new location and a different way of life. The setting is the tiny island of Sark located about an hour by ferry from Guernsey. It has been designated a Dark Sky Island due to the absence of street lights. It is about 3 square miles in area and population is about 450 people. No automobiles are permitted. It was the last place in Europe to do away with the feudal system when democracy was established ten years ago, but some preferred the old way and some of their former customs still remain.

The story begins when Detective Michael Gilbert is called from headquarters in Guernsey to go to Sark when bones are found in a cave. He is near retirement age. Jenny Dorey is a young journalist working for the Guernsey newspaper. She follows Michael to Sark determined to get a story but also to investigate the death of her father who drowned off the coast of Sark two years earlier. Her father was an experienced boatsman and falling off his boat never made sense to her.

Shortly after they arrive at Sark an elderly man is found murdered. In separate investigations Jenny and Michael try to solve both deaths, and speculate whether there might be a connection between the current killing and the decades old remains found in the cave. The small community thrives on rumors and secrets. They are not forthcoming to the police or the reporter about evidence they might be withholding. Some of the citizens appear hostile to interference by outsiders.

The setting is rugged and beautiful, but something sinister seems present. There is a conspiracy of crimes, silence and deceit. The story starts out slowly, and is told from three viewpoints. There are chapters involving Jenny’s interviews with townspeople alternating with that of Michael’s police investigation. This gives a chance to get to know some of the characters essential to the plot, and not everyone is what they seem. There are also sections featuring a woman named Rachel in the 1980s. The story proceeds at a leisurely pace but towards the end becomes tension filled and exciting with unforeseen surprises. Jenny and Michael are both in mortal danger.

An interesting, twisty mystery enhanced by a unique setting and descriptive sense of place. I now plan to read the first book in the series.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance copy of Dark Sky Island, the second novel to feature reporter Jenny Dorey and DCI Michael Gilbert, set on the islands of Guernsey and Sark.

DCI Gilbert receives an anonymous tip about bones hidden on Sark and hurries over to investigate but while he is there an elderly resident, Reg Carré, is brutally murdered. Are the two incidents related? Nobody can say but it causes uneasiness on the island. Reporter Jenny Dorey hotfoots it over to Sark as soon as she hears about the bones, not just for the story but to try and learn more about the death of her father, an experienced sailor who apparently fell overboard and drowned while returning from Sark.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Sky Island which, once it gets going, is an exciting read with plenty of twists and action. Despite the early excitement of finding the bones and the murder the novel is slow to develop further in the first half but stick with it because it's all go in the second half with several unexpected twists and both Michael and Jenny facing danger. The first half does a lot of scene setting both geographically and culturally. The island sounds lovely and interesting with its old fashioned customs but Ms Dearman doesn't do the islanders any favours, describing a closed, insular society with well hidden secrets.

The novel has a shifting perspective and timeline with the narrative switching mainly between Jenny and Michael with chapters from a character called Rachel's past on Sark. It's not my favourite format as I find the constant change of viewpoint distracting as it prevents total immersion in the novel. I think all the switching about adds to the slowness of the first half as the author has to introduce the reader to three different characters and backgrounds. The second half, as the reader becomes accustomed to all the chopping and changes, is tense and action packed and full of "I didn't see that coming" moments.

I like Jenny and Michael as characters. They are both flawed in a human, not a bad way. She is an anxious person with, if you want to be unkind, daddy issues, or more realistically an obsessive need to understand what happened to her father. Michael is older with a lifetime of mistakes behind him and as he is no Supercop he's determined to investigate thoroughly on Sark.

Dark Sky Island is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

The island of Sark is a world unto itself, with no cars and no streetlights it is indeed a Dark Sky Island and a place one would imagine would be safe as houses. Because the island does not have trained detectives, D.C. Michael Gilbert is called over to Sark from Guernsey to investigate when human bones are uncovered and a resident of the island is murdered. He’s joined by journalist Jennifer Dorey, who has her own reasons for being on the island. As Gilbert scrambles to uncover a killer, Jennifer investigates the mysterious death of her father, who drowned off the island. Amidst rumors of devil worship and ghostly sightings, the two work to uncover the truth in a place that seems unmoved by the modern world. Sense of place is foremost in this story and sets a tone of darkness, myths and secrets