Coffin Island by Kate Ellis

 What did I just read? A supposed police procedural with cut corners, conclusions and unprofessional characters.


This is a disappointing read, with stereotyping of a Scouser in the Liverpudlian DI, Gerry, and of Wesley, a DI with roots in the Caribbean. Of course, George calls people 'love' and makes inappropriate comments. Of course Wesley has experienced racism, but there's no evidence or clarification given. 


I tried to ignore the above, but the jumping-to-conclusions/not investigating thoroughly before announcing things to potential bereaved persons/the unprofessional actions of both Wesley and George/the frankly boring  characters in this book, made me think I'd wasted my time. The only interesting version were the words of the old clergyman, about the necromancer (rumoured).


On top, the characters were forgettable and why oh why use the same first character for so many names? We had:


Gerry the DI, George the racist, misogynistic old guy, Greg and Ginevra. 

Kylie, Karen and Kiara. 

Annabel, Amelia, Ashley, Anne and Alison. 

Craig, Charlie, Cuthbert, Colin and Carl. 

Eddie, Elias and Edith. 

Rachel and Rob. 

Neil and Nigel. 

Meera, Michael, Matt, Maggie, Mark and Moriarty. 

Pam and Paloma. 

Jack and Julia.

Barbara and Bryan.


The Scott plot involving a power of attorney and selling someone's house using the document? Uh uh. Wouldn't work, because a power of attorney dies when the donor does, and any solicitor worth their salt would check this out or risk reputational damage and being sued. The Swiss bank account plot? Wouldn't work, as you need to be a millionaire in the first instance (it's part of the day job, dealing with this sort of stuff), and Scott wasn't. On top, AML amd KYC checks would've caught him out. 


Sooo many characters not relevant to the plot made it into the book. There was so much filler, there's no way it's been edited. The mention of Rachel, a new mother, and Wesley, the DS, once almost having a 'thing' because of some glances, but hey, she had Neil and he had Pam and nothing came of it? Not just urterly irrelevant but insulting to their partners. 


Save your time, don't bother with this one. The blurb is written to draw you in, but the book lets you down.


ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK. 

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