The Isles of Scilly are synonymous, with some of us at least, with Harold Wilson. He would holiday there with Mrs Wilson, and be photographed on the beach with a pipe, and he was subsequently buried in St Mary’s. I’m blathering on about Wilson because I’m not sure where to start in discussing Deadman’s Pool, the new Ben Kitto thriller by Kate Rhodes which is set (as are the others in the series I guess) on the Isles. I’m late to this series, and the plot involves crimes I am uneasy about being fictionalised, and yet here I am having binged the novel pretty much in one sitting.

When the remains of a dead girl are found on an island better known as a historical and holy shrine, detective Ben Kitto and his colleagues are up against the elements (that I am writing this while Storm Amy rages around my house can only help with the atmosphere), rumours of a powerful crime syndicate and their own revulsion about crimes involving people trafficking and the potential kidnapping and abuse of a young person or of young people.

I don’t think I was at a disadvantage not having read earlier instalments in the series. Although Kitto’s colleagues are important characters, and the relationships between them extremely important to the flow of the plot, it is Kitto’s family that are the centre of the novel. It was extremely easy to feel that we were among the Scilly community, with their love of seafaring and surfing, and their tight-knit bonds. Rhodes depicted the harshness and the warmth of the life of the islands in a way that was both sympathetic and uncondescending, romantic and realistic. Kitto’s discussions with Nina about whether they should remain on the isles long-term felt authentic and reflective of the debates that many couples must have.

Which is all very well, but this is a thriller. I’m always quite uncomfortable with crimes of this nature and the prospect that they might be mere plot points for our entertainment. Rhodes I think weaves her narrative around this quite neatly. There is the moral outrage of Kitto and his family but also of the isles’ teenagers who are appalled at what they see as the degenerate elders. In fact, although at times I’m wondering how Rhodes might have found a way in which to give her victims more ‘voice’, by the end of the book I think she has managed this all quite deftly, exploring and contrasting power differences across classes and professions.

Kitto is an interesting protagonist. He’s unusual for a lead detective, what with him being a well-adjusted member of society in a happy relationship. Not for Rhodes the broken and brooding wise-cracking loner (although Kitto is quite funny at times). It’s all rather refreshing. But don’t worry: Rhodes follows some of the other rules of the genre: there are twists galore and plenty of red herrings. You’ll promise yourself just one more chapter, and then another, and before you know it the rather shocking denouement will be upon you. A fabulous choice for a winter weekend afternoon.

Thanks to Orenda Books for the review copy and to Anne Cater for the blog tour invitation.