A modern mystery novel set on the Cornish coast, involving an unknown drowned swimmer, a writer with a secret of his former life living in a remote cottage, a disused tin mine that was the site of a tragic accident and an enterprising young journalist for a sleepy local newspaper trying to make sense of it all. I aimed to read this while getting ready for and starting off on a trip to Cornwall, but it was so good I had finished it before we left Paddington station! 5/5 ( )

Up until now I've only read the author's Victorian era horrors, which I have loved. This is my first of his earlier work and I'm happy to say that it is also a great read! The story starts with a writer, living in a remote cliff top cottage witnessing a mysterious swimmer who is later found drown and smashed up. It then continues into an investigation of the swimmer's death and the events in the local mine decades before.

It's a well written thriller that is paced well. The revelations along the way are interspersed with the development of the relationship between the two lead characters. The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene.

It does have a couple of flaws, the first is that the style of switching between characters is a bit abrupt, leading to some confusion when reading. The other is that it's a local mystery, I felt that this could have been worked a little more as I didn't get a good read on the community, only a few personalities within it.

They are minor issues and they didn't spoil my reading of this excellent thriller, the writing is engaging and the story interesting. All in all a good read.

This is the author's first book and I'm pleased to say he has started well and developed fantastically, an author well worth following. ( )