The Shrine by LJ Ross is the sixteenth book in the DCI Ryan series. This book was published in May 2020. As always, Ross has set the story to highlight an area of Northumberland in the UK. This story is set in Country Durham with a key focus on the Durham Cathedral. Durham Cathedral is a Norman building constructed between 1093 and 1133 in the Romanesque style. It was founded as a monastic cathedral built to house the shrine of St Cuthbert, replacing an earlier church constructed in his honor.
The story starts with an apparent explosion at the Cathedral that one of the main characters gets caught in. It turns out it was a robbery. Then a senior police officer who played a role in an earlier story is murdered. Even though Durham is not in their area of responsibility, Ryan’s team is brought in to work the cases.
The story is a quick read. The opening section of this story evokes an emotional response. It demonstrates how well Ross has built a connection to her key characters with the reader. The actual story moves pretty fast after that. It doesn’t have as many layers as some of the earlier books. Despite that, fans of the series will enjoy it.
Read more about The Shrine by LJ Ross on the author’s site.
The Shrine by LJ Ross
A murder for the history books…
After a long and eventful winter, DCI Ryan and his team are looking forward to the joys of spring. But, when one of their colleagues is shot dead on her own doorstep and the brass think it’s an inside job, Ryan finds himself drafted in to investigate.
He’s barely scratched the surface when reports flood in of a terror explosion at Durham Cathedral. Chaos descends on the sleepy, historic city and, when the smoke clears, they find a priceless artefact that once belonged to Saint Cuthbert is missing.
With tensions running at an all-time high, unable to trust the local police, can Ryan and his team bring a killer to justice — and restore Cuthbert’s cross to its natural resting place?
Published May 10, 2020
236 pages (print)