Detective Adam Dalgleish and his team—Kate Miskins and Sgt. Benton-Smith—find themselves detailed to Combe Island off the coast of Cornwall to scope out its safety for a visit by the Prime Minister, when the inevitable happens: much-detested writer Nathan Oliver is murdered. Plenty of the staff and guests on this private retreat had motive, but who could have had the strength to display his body in such a startling way? James has written an interesting version of the classic locked room mystery, with mysterious characters, a wild Cornish setting, and a bit of SARS thrown in to complicate the investigation. Kate takes center stage partway through the book, but she’s ready. And Det. Dalgleish spends a fair amount of time in self-examination of his distant relationship with Emma (hence, the three stars). Not one of my favorites, but I appreciated the setting.

Also, thanks to the previous reader who included a handy list of characters on a bookmark—a smart trick that I won’t forget!