Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic version of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
“Death Under a Little Sky” is the debut crime thriller by author Stig Abell. Uniquely written and subtly impactful, it is a slow burn of a novel that takes you on a ride you did not expect.
When Jake Jackson’s uncle dies, leaving him a remote home called “Little Sky” in the middle of nowhere, Jake takes it as an opportunity to go off the grid. He leaves his job as a police detective and his dissolving marriage behind him, in hopes of finding peace and solitude. But of course, Jake finds far more excitement than he ever expected when a bag of bones is uncovered during a community ceremony, which leads Jake to the investigation of a young woman who had a mysterious accident years ago. Although not everyone in the community wants Jake investigating, and Jake soon learns how desperate his new neighbours are for this particular secret to stay buried.
It took me a few chapters to get used to Abell’s writing style. It is poetic, flowing and smart without making the novel chunky or hard to decipher. Once I got used to the style though, I immediately dove into the plot. Jake’s remote life, even without Wi-Fi or any connection to the outside world, was idyllic and surprisingly appealing. Once the mystery of the bones begins, Jake reaches out to his eccentric small-town neighbours, who all have various levels of skeletons in their closet to create a masterful whodunnit.
“Sky” is a police procedural, with a reluctant ex-police officer at its helm, with a slow-burn of intrigue, instead of high-octane action that is the norm for this genre. As Jake begins to adapt to his new life, the reader’s rapport with Jake goes, and the more interest is focused on his outcome.
After pages of suspicion and speculation, the perpetrator is outed and it is believable, even if the twists rendered it unsuspecting and surprising. I love the way Abell ended this novel, as everything played out the way I wanted it to, and there were no loose ends. This is apparently the first novel in a series featuring Jake and I cannot wait to experience more of his adventures. The reluctant, reclusive, almost-hermit detective living in almost complete isolation and still managing to solve crimes? Sign me up!

Death Under a Little Sky took a bit to get into. The setting kept me reading until I was far enough in that the story also kept me reading. It’s not fast paced but there is a good story and I fell in love with the land.

This was a mystery with a very unique setting, an off the grid cabin that was inherited by Jake, a former detective from London. I enjoyed the descriptions of the cabin and especially the library stocked with mystery novels.

The book starts out a little slowly with routine details of Jake adapting to living off the grid in his remote cabin. We hear about his exercise routine, sourcing food, etc. The book slightly picks up when the bones of a murder victim are found.

I liked the mystery and the thought behind naming the chapters was very clever. If you name a chapter Cold Comfort Farm, say no more, I know what to expect. I also liked the references to mystery classics like Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie.



3.75 rounded up

This was a miss for me.

While I don’t need an action-packed pace and I do enjoy a slow burn, I’d like to stay engaged throughout, and sadly this was a little too musing and wandering to interest me as a mystery. I don’t feel compelled to read further in the upcoming series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When Jake Jackson inherits his uncle’s remote property, he decides it might be a good time to leave the stresses of London behind. A successful detective, with an unsuccessful marriage could use the peace of life in the country. Unfortunately, he is quickly pulled into a murder investigation and someone doesn’t want him investigating.
This isn’t a high-octane detective thriller. The novel matches the pace of life in a remote part of the English countryside in a home with no running water and a close-knit community of eccentric residents, of which at least one has a secret. The novel is atmospheric, descriptive slow burn and character based.
The second book in the series, Death In A Lonely Place is due to be released in July! I look forward to continuing the journey of Jack Jackson and hopefully, Livia his neighbor with whom romance started to blossom in the first book.
This book reminded me of Still Life, the first in The Three Pines series by Louise Penny, which is a favorite of mine. I’m hoping this series evolves into something similar.

This one was good . It was a typical British mystery with an atmospheric setting and plot . I liked it and it kept me engaged to the end

Unusual fish-out-of-water crime story with many twists kept me guessing and engaged. An inheritor of an property in Great Britain navigates a closed society of locals after a murder, in order to determine his place in his uncle’s former isolated world.

Ahh, we'd all love to be there- to inherit a peaceful property, enough money in the bank to retire, and a library filled with books and records. heaven, right? But Jake is there to heal- to recover from a divorce he didnt want, and the end of his career (also unexpected). But as he finds the tranquility healing him, like his uncle thought it would, he also has to step in and figure out his uncle's secrets and that of those in his community, that resulted in the death of a young girl, and possibly his uncle. All while finding love and peace. Call it chick lit for men, with a touch of mystery, and this charming book will find it's way quickly into your heart, and FYI this is book 1 in the new series, so YEAH, more to come from Jake!

DEATH UNDER A LITTLE SKY by Stig Abell (How Britain Really Works) is the fiction debut from a former editor of The Times Literary Supplement. Perhaps that explains the relatively little dialogue in this mystery story. Instead, there are long paragraphs of description, generally told from the third person. Still, Abell offers intriguing insight on life in the English countryside. The main character (who will also feature in a subsequent mystery scheduled for mid-year publication) is Jake Jackson, a newly divorced former copper. He moves to a remote cottage that his recently deceased uncle has left to him. In many ways Jake's world narrows to the few local inhabitants with whom he has contact and yet, he simultaneously seems to grow in self-knowledge and resourcefulness. That transformation and his somewhat reluctant involvement in investigating a local death cold case propel both the story and his increasingly affectionate feelings towards Livia, single Mom, local vet, and neighbor. Publishers Weekly issued a starred review, calling DEATH UNDER A LITTLE SKY an "impressive mystery" and saying, "Kate Atkinson fans will be in heaven."

I was really into Death Under a Little Sky at the beginning, I loved the lyrical writing and the development of the story. It felt “grown up” or mature in a way that I couldn’t really place or name. I was having a grand old time initially reading about this man maneuvering his way around life the countryside and slowly developing his relationship with the local vet…until the bag of bones showed up and the murder mystery started. I had honestly forgotten about the somewhat spooky prologue but I guess its a good way to get a series started (which I see is what’s happening, Abell’s next installment Death in a Lonley Place comes out in July.) The slowness that worked in favor of the first half of the book didn’t work for the murder mystery half. It became too flowery and descriptive, explaining with the same gusto and passion something that we have already heard and read about five times before. I almost wished I was watching it instead of reading it, I would really enjoy this if it was adapted for film or tv. Ultimately this book didn’t work for me but I would recommend it to someone who was looking for a small town mystery on the cozier more slow paced side.

Death Under a Little Sky was absolutely fantastic. The protagonist has left his career and marriage behind (well, technically his wife left him!) and is starting over at an inherited property with no telephone or internet, and without a car, in the middle of nowhere. The villagers are, with a few exceptions, not the friendliest group. Beautifully written...I rarely give anything 5 stars, but I felt this was truly worthy. Looking forward to a second title is what is billed as a series.

Death Under a Little Sky is a mystery with a thriller edge. A policeman is bequeathed his uncle's remote property. He begins a personal transformation while he is drawn into a mystery of an unsolved murder.

The writing in this book is fabulous. I loved the character development. I enjoyed the beautifully atmospheric landscape descriptions. I guessed who the murderer was before the big reveal, but I didn't really care this time because I enjoyed this book so much. Reading it is like enjoying a box of good chocolates. You want to savor and you want to gorge yourself at the same time.

It has a been a long time since reading a work of fiction has moved me to make changes and examine my own life, but this book did it for me. The motives of different characters in the book forced me to examine my own motives. The protagonist's personal transformation has made me long for more discipline and growth in my life.

I hope this author will write more in the future. It was obvious from this book that he enjoys the mystery genre. I think this one was a shot out of the park. Please write more!!

I finished this book and immediately wanted to start reading it again. It was that enthralling for me.

One note, this book does contain scenes of sensuality, though without open doors.

I highly recommend this book.

Retired policeman Jake Jackson retires to the remote country hoping for a quiet life. When bones are discovered from a past ruled suicide, he can't help but find out the truth about what really happened. Rich characters, setting and story makes this title appealing to all patrons.

"In this widely praised debut crime thriller, a high-flying detective leaves London for a fresh start in the countryside - only to find himself on familiar ground hunting for a dangerous killer.

When Jake Jackson inherits his reclusive uncle's property in the country, the detective seizes the opportunity for a new life away from the hustle of London.

The new home in this charming rural idyll is beautiful and the surroundings are stunning. While the locals are a bit eccentric, they're also friendly and invite the newcomer to join their annual treasure hunt.

When a young woman's bones are discovered, Jake finds himself pulled back into the role of detective, and on the trail of a dangerous killer hiding within this most unlikely of settings."

I love the trope of a detective retiring only to have crime land literally on his doorstep.

Sorry to say this book wasn't for me, but I'm sure it will find its audience. I found it a bit too dull and unlikely. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

A burned out detective inherits a home from an estranged uncle only to find himself thrown into a murder mystery when old remains are discovered…I love a good slow burn mystery; however, I didn’t really feel there was much about the actual mystery in here. It mainly centered on the detective ruminating on his life. Many may like this book, it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

Who hasn’t thought about what it would be like to go off and live a solitary country life? Suddenly and unexpectedly, that happens to Jake Jackson, a 38-year-old London police detective. His marriage fades away due to the couple’s inability to have children, and they amicably decide to split. His favorite uncle dies and leaves him a good deal of money and house with a lot of land, deep in the English countryside, in a village with only a handful of residents.

I love a novel with lots of description, and this book is so satisfying in that regard. First off, it begins with a map of Jake’s new surroundings. Then a detailed description of his uncle’s house, which is large and in two parts: an old long stone house with a big kitchen, and a big addition to make the house form an L. The addition is one huge library room, and houses the approximately 5,000 books of Jake’s uncle’s mystery collection, from the Golden Age to the present. Jake is happy to spend solitary evenings in the library with a fire and a book. He’s not even bothered that the house has no running water except for two toilets. He arrives in the spring and is fine with bathing and washing his clothes in the lake at the front of the house. He has no car and walks into the tiny village center to the general store to buy groceries and prepares simple meals with fresh local meats, vegetables and fruit. For someone ready to embrace the solitary life, this is unbeatable.

But Jake soon meets his neighbors, which include a beautiful young veterinarian named Livia. They team up in an annual event that attracts people from all over the region, and that involves a scavenger hunt for a hidden bag of fake bones. When the bones turn out to be real, Jake and Livia become unofficial aides to the overstretched police detective from the next town. But their queries among some villagers meet with considerable hostility and even danger.

The summer wanes and autumn comes in. Jake works on getting in more wood for heat, breaks ground for a vegetable garden, builds a sauna next to the lake, and tries to figure out how to put in a shower and a laundry. His investigation moves slowly, his relationship with Livia even more so.

This is not a book for the mystery/thriller reader who is only interested in the plot. This is more of an atmospheric novel and character study with a mystery plot to move the characters along. The writing is beautiful and observant.

This was a great crime thriller, it had everything that I was looking for in this type of book. The characters were strongly written and had a great concept overall. Stig Abell does a great writing style and I enjoyed how good the characters were.

The atmospheric writing and low-key pacing of this book lead you to believe it’s a cozy mystery until you get to the one-chapter, 21-page detailed, gratuitous attempted rape scene, the end of which the victim’s daughter sees. It is so out of keeping with the rest of the book that I wonder what the author was thinking. It feels like that was the scene the author initially envisioned and then built the book around. The answer to this is a clear no: no I won’t buy this book. No I won’t recommend it to my readers. No I won’t look for other books by this author.

A beautifully descriptive debut mystery set in the lush countryside of England. This isn’t a race to the finish thriller, rather a delve into one man’s metamorphosis from city noise to village solitude. A reinvention of himself under highly unexpected circumstances. Jake is in his thirties, married and stuck in a mundane job. This part of his life is ending and the antithesis is beginning. Along that journey he leaves everything behind for a remote, sprawling off-the-grid house surrounded by land, forest, wildlife and water. The author uses words like a paintbrush which drew me into the mood and life in peaceful glorious nature. I’m a country person in my heart and soul and was deeply moved by the landscape described and the aura of the sparse longtime citizens. Jake has met one of the distant neighbors, Livia the local vet. She persuades Jake to participate in a mythical local tradition wherein faux bones are hidden. Their game takes a dark turn with the discovery of a bag of actual old bones. Jake had been with the police in the life he left behind and has a law degree. His love of detective/crime novels is genuine as referenced throughout the story. How can he not snoop around to determine whose bones have been unearthed. His pursuit of answers and justice for the mystery skeleton will uncover more than bones and lead to attacks, more death and more questions. Was there actually a murder, an accident or perhaps even suicide? The more he digs, the higher the risk of impending danger to his new relationships. The secrets and dastardly crimes he unearths are unforgivably evil. The violent acts are authentic enough to cause triggers for some readers (only one particular chapter). The perpetrator in my theories proved to be wrong as the finale unfolded.
This is an author to watch with a distinctive writing style, strong characters and exquisite atmospheric prose. You can count on me to read the next in the series. Thanks to NetGalley, Stig Abell, and HarperCollins Publishers for the digital advance reader copy of “Death Under a Little Sky “ Jake Jackson (volume 1). These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without any compensation.