The Wild Coast – Lin Anderson
A remote shoreline. A lethal killer. As lone visitors disappear from the rural northwest of Scotland, campsites are becoming crime scenes. The Wild Coast is a chilling thriller from Lin Anderson.
When forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is brought in to analyse a shallow grave on Scotland’s west coast, she is disturbed by a bundle of twigs crafted into a stickman and left in the victim’s mouth.
Then, when a young woman is reported missing from a nearby campsite with another sinister figurine left in her van, it seems that someone is targeting wild campers. An idyllic coastline known for providing peace and serenity, now the area is a hunting ground.
As her investigation proceeds, Rhona is forced to reconsider her closest bonds. Rumours of sexual assault offences by serving police officers are circling in Glasgow, which may include her trusted colleague DS Michael McNab. Could it be true, or is someone looking to put him out of action?
All the while a young woman’s life is on the line and the clock is ticking…
My thanks to Pan MacMillan for the review copy I recieved and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the tour for The Wild Coast
Well this got dark!
Confession time…The Wild Coast is the 17th Rhona MacLeod book from Lin Anderson and it is also my introduction to the series. I’ve seen Lin at several festivals and events and heard her speak (often) about her books. I do actually own around half of the books in the series already as I have been picking up the previous titles with the intent to catch up. But this is the first I have actually read and I am kicking myself this evening as I thought it was terrific. And far darker than I had expected.
Jumping into a well established series can seem daunting and the obvious question is “Do I need to read the books in order?” Undoubtably readers will get more enjoyment from following a series from the first book and following the character development over all the subsequent books in order. But if you don’t have time to commit to reading sixteen books before picking up The Wild Coast I can confirm there was no point in The Wild Coast where I felt I wasn’t enjoying the book because I hadn’t read what had gone before. Naturally there were character interactions and comments relating to prior events where I didn’t fully understand the context but it didn’t impact upon my understanding of the story I was reading. Nor would I expect every book in an ongoing series to be written in its own bubble – the balance was spot on.
So now you know returning readers are well covered and new readers (like me) can slip straight into events what’s the book about?
The story opens in one of the remote corners of Scotland. In a campsite on the route round the North Coast 500 (a journey around which follows the road up one coast of the Scottish Highlands, crosses the very North of the country and then slides back down the other coast) a woman vanishes from her campervan. She’d arrived the day before, befriended two small children in a neighbouring caravan and then during the night she disappeared. The two children are potential witnesses to what may have happened but other than the sign of a small struggle and a mysterious wooden figure of a man which police found hanging in her campervan there is not much evidence of what may have ocurred.
Rhona MacLeod is called to the scene when a woman’s body is discovered, buried not far from where the missing woman was last seen. But to Rhona’s surprise she discovers the body has been buried for several weeks and cannot be that of the missing woman from the nearby campsite. This poses a new problem for Rhona and the police – does that mean two women have been targeted? Is the premier tourist attraction in the Highlands too dangerous for lone travellers?
Meanwhile back in Glasgow there’s a separate investigation underway. There are strong, persistant rumours of police officers committing violent sexual attacks on women in the city. Rhona’s colleague, Michael McNab, has been behaving in an extremely odd manner and it is causing his friends and colleagues to take note of his behaviour. McNab is spending time in the clubs where attacks have happened and victims frequented – he can’t easily explain his actions but now he’s going to have to think carefully about what he tells people as one of his colleagues has spotted him in a place he really had no right to be in.
With Rhona spending time out of the city, assisting with the investigation into the body recovered in the Highlands, McNab seems to be sliding further into trouble. Something was going to happen. Something bad. I could feel the author building up to a crash for one or more of her cast – when the moment came it wasn’t what I had expected but it was very nicely done. I’d been looking in the wrong place and I was wholly committed to seeing this book out before I got out my chair!
What had initially felt like a slow burn was suddenly a dark and sinister story and it was fully ignited around me. The missing girl, the murdered girl, the children on their holiday who met the nice lady that went missing, their anxious mother and their overbearing father, the forensic scientist the children are comfortable speaking to, the nervous policeman attending clubs he should avoid. All these threads started to pull together. The clever, clever plotting taking the reader to an extremely uncomfortable place and shining a light on a particularly unpleasant crime.
I really wasn’t expecting The Wild Place to take me where it did. Is there any better feeling for a reader than to be entertained and thoroughly caught off guard? Whether you’ve been a Rhona MacLeod fan for many years or, like me, you’re just meeting her for the first time – this is a cracking read which will make you crave more.
The Wild Coast is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-wild-coast/lin-anderson/9781529084566