Death at Castle Cove by Mary Grand

The story begins in October. We meet Susan, who is 62 and lives on the Isle of Wight with her cocker spaniel dog Rocco. Every morning, she takes Rocco for a walk, with her young lodger Colette (23) and her dog Libs. They meet up with a group of other dog walkers Susan has come to know well over the months – Nikki, Nathan, Trystan, Torri, Beatrice and Robert.

Later, Colette is found dead at Castle Cove and suspicion falls on the group of dog walkers, who were the last to see her alive.

Susan is such a great character, you really have to admire her. She isn’t happy with what she hears from the police and decides to look into Colette’s death herself. Even though she didn’t know her lodger for long, she feels a sense of duty and really wants to get to the bottom of how her young friend died.

Like any good book in this genre, you follow along with Susan, trying to pick up clues to see if you can work out who killed Colette and why. It seems even though their community is quite a small one, everyone has secrets and things they would rather keep hidden from other people. But who would kill, to protect their secrets?

The characters are a varied and interesting bunch. I kept changing my opinions on the dog walkers, as more things came to light. I was always on Susan’s side and hoping she could solve the mystery.

I enjoyed reading a novel with lots of dogs in and the canine companions in this book are such a lovely mix, though Libs was my favourite.

The setting of the Isle of Wight is really well brought to life. I used to live in Portsmouth so went to the island several times in the 1980s and 1990s and it was good to revisit the area, if only via the pages of a novel.

BLURB

Death at Castle Cove

Island life suits Susan, and she can’t imagine ever moving from her beloved Isle of Wight. So it gives her real pleasure to see her young lodger Colette settle in to life by the sea, especially knowing that she has such a troubled past.

Susan’s days are comfortingly routine, starting every morning by exercising her beloved Rocco on Ventnor beach with her fellow dog walkers. The group may have bonded over their fondness for their canine companions, but over time their friendships have deepened.

So, when Colette dies in suspicious circumstances at Castle Cove, Susan is devastated to realise that the dog walking group were the last to see Colette alive, and one of her friends must have been responsible for her death.

And when Susan begins to suspect that the police are minded to put Colette’s death down to an accident, Susan decides she won’t rest until she solves the mystery and finds the murderer.

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Author Bio –

Mary Grand writes gripping, page-turning suspense novels, with a dark and often murderous underside. She grew up in Wales, was for many years a teacher of deaf children and now lives on the Isle of Wight.