Bestseller Pearse's so-so sequel to 2021's The Sanatorium takes British police detective Elin Warner to an isolated luxury resort off the coast of Devon, a setting much like the first book's Swiss hotel. Elin used to investigate major crimes, but after she suffered a breakdown because she couldn't catch the man who killed two young girls, she was assigned to less significant duties. Now, she's dispatched to Cary Island, the site of a wellness retreat, where one of the guests has fallen to her death. The fatality appears to be an accident, with the victim's last moments captured on video and no indication that anyone pushed her. But after another guest's body surfaces, with ample evidence of foul play, Elin probes whether the deaths are related and whether they're connected to the island's grim history, which includes the slaughter of a group of teenagers on a school outing 20 years earlier. The plot twists and characters are unremarkable, as is the familiar story of a traumatized police officer getting an opportunity for redemption by catching a killer. Hopefully, Pearse will broaden her repertoire next time. Agent: Charlotte Seymour, Andrew Nurnberg Assoc. (July)

Pearse follows the best-selling first "Elin Warner" novel The Sanatorium with a riveting, twisty page-turner. Memories of the murders at Reaper's Rock, a small island off England's coast, still linger. But, 20 years later, it's the site of a luxury eco-resort. When the guests find a body on the beach, Detective Sergeant Elin Warner is sent to the island. After a recent case triggered panic attacks, Elin isn't sure she's ready to run an investigation again. It appears the young woman's death, a fall over a banister, was an accident, but she wasn't supposed to be on the island, and something about her death tweaks Elin's suspicion. When two more people die, Elin begins to wonder if the stories of a curse on the island might be true. The murders pile up, and Elin and Police Constable Steed dig into the island's history of murder and violence, looking for connections to the current deaths. VERDICT Readers of Pearse's earlier book or Ruth Ware's suspense novels will be hard-pressed to put down this atmospheric, sometimes creepy novel.--Lesa Holstine

A woman's death at a luxury resort off the coast of England leads to fears a serial killer has returned. This is the second installment of Pearse's Det. Elin Warner series, and while you can read the novel as a stand-alone, familiarity with Elin's background would be helpful to understanding her character's emotional arc. The case into which Elin is drawn this time takes place at a luxury resort on an island off the coast of England, an idyllic setting with a dark past and the foreboding nickname Reaper's Rock. Despite the fine dining, upscale accommodations, and amenities like yoga and kayaking, an old series of murders haunts the island, now rumored to be cursed. When a woman dies falling from a balcony, Elin and her partner, DC Steed, set out to investigate what they think is an accident. But then another guest linked to the first victim drowns, and Elin begins to believe the deaths are connected and that someone is targeting a family gathered at the resort for a vacation. Gradually, secrets and ties to the island's past are revealed. The plot is solidly grounded in thriller tradition, but at times Elin doesn't seem to act like a real detective. She's still shaken by previous events in her life, but would she really be so quick to invite her boyfriend, who designed the resort, to join her on the island while she's working the investigation? And why is she so quick to fall prey to the foreboding atmosphere? Pearse sets up a classic premise but too often relies on coincidence to push the plot forward, and the threat of a storm brewing as the case draws to a close feels like a cliché. Coincidence and cliché mar this traditional detective thriller. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.