About the book:

Following a traumatic incident in London, journalist Jennifer Dorey has returned home to Guernsey, taking a job as a local newspaper reporter. When she finds a drowned woman on a beach, Jennifer uncovers something much bigger and more sinister than she first thought.

Jennifer enlists the help of DCI Michael Gilbert, an officer on the verge of retirement, to investigate a pattern of similar deaths over the last fifty years. They follow a dark trail of island myths and folklore to the illegitimate son of a Nazi soldier, whose painstakingly executed work has so far gone undetected. But as Jennifer gets closer to the truth of the killer’s identity, she finds herself stepping deeper into his grasp.

Jennifer thinks she’s safe, but the dark hides sinister things in The Devil’s Claw, Lara Dearman’s exhilarating debut novel.

My review:

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book through NetGalley.

This mystery thriller brings you to one of the small islands in the English Channel. The author obviously knows the place very well. Afterwards, I found out that Lara Dearman is a local of Guernsey which explains such an amazing representation of the island.

The plot is quite unusual. I found it intelligent, a mixture of mystery murder, history, a psychology of a killer, myths and storytelling. It was fascinating to read about Guernsey and life there and reminded me of life in a small town where I come from. Where everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everything, but still some things get missed which creates town legends.

The stories about Guernsey and its myths are just great. I had an urge to look them up online and read more.

I really liked the main character – journalist Jenny who had to come back to her hometown after pretty dramatic events in London. In my opinion, Jenny is extremely professional and doesn’t give up, trying to help people and find out the truth. She is driven by her profession, but also by natural curiosity. If I were a journalist, I would’ve liked to be like her.

The mystery part is good. The author keeps you guessing who the killer is and keeps throwing some twists and turns.

This is a debut novel and a first part of the series, so I look forward to reading more books by Lara Dearman.

My score is 5* out of 5*.