Hemlock Press Death Under a Little Sky (Jake Jackson).

Jake Jackson #1

by Stig Abell

A detective ready for a new life
Jake Jackson, high-flying ex-city detective, inherits a rural retreat from his reclusive uncle. It's the perfect chance to start anew.

A death that disrupts everything
But then the local annual treasure hunt spirals into terror when a young woman's bones are discovered. Suddenly, Jake is back to being a detective, as he tries to unearth a dangerous killer in this most unlikely of settings.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, British Literature

356 pages, Paperback

First published April 13, 2023

About the author

Stephen "Stig" Paul Abell is an English journalist, newspaper editor and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the Monday to Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio with Aasmah Mir.

Abell was from 2016 to 2020 editor of The Times Literary Supplement and from 2013 to 2016 managing editor of The Sun. He was formerly a fiction reviewer at The Spectator and reviewer at Telegraph Media Group as well as The Times Literary Supplement. He was also a presenter on LBC Radio.

Abell educated at Loughborough Grammar School, and went on to graduate with a double first in English from Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

In September 2001, Abell joined the Press Complaints Commission as a complaints officer; he completed other roles at the PCC including press officer, assistant director and deputy director before being appointed Director of the PCC on 19 December 2010. In August 2013, Abell joined The Sun as managing editor, his role until the end of April 2016.

In March 2014, Abell started co-presenting a show on LBC Radio alongside Sky News television presenter Kay Burley from 8am to 11am on Sundays. Burley was the main presenter while Abell reviewed the papers and added political comment.

From August 2014, the show was co-presented by Abell and LBC's Petrie Hosken. In January 2015, he was given his own show from 8 am to 10 am on Sundays. From April 2016, Abell moved to the afternoon slot on Sundays of 3 pm to 6 pm.

Abell has been heavily criticized for publishing an article in 2015 by Katie Hopkins. The article argued for "gunships sending these boats back to their own country", and described migrants as "like cockroaches". It concluded that Britain should "force migrants back to their shores and burn the boats".

In May 2016, Abell became the editor of The Times Literary Supplement, succeeding Sir Peter Stothard, who had edited the newspaper for the previous 14 years. He held the post until June 2020, when he was succeeded by Martin Ivens.

Reviews

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake Jackson’s marriage to Faye is over as is his career as a detective at the Met. He travels to his late Uncle Arthur‘s place, determined to honour his last wishes and instructions. After a lengthy walk from the taxi, he arrives at Little Sky bang slap in the middle of nowhere. Arthur‘s final letter to Jake is very telling about Jake‘s state of mind, so his bequest of Little Sky and all the surrounding land will be his place of renunciation with no distractions such as the Internet. Little Sky is beyond quiet, Jake thinks it’s possibly the quietest place in England. On one of his many rambles he hears a discordant sound of someone wailing but is uncertain of exactly what he hears. Later, a discovery is made of a bag of bones which may indicate a major crime. Has Jake to reprise his role of detective in this most unlikely of settings?

This is a beautifully written and very accomplished debut novel as you feel as if you are in the scenes, walking in the landscape or sitting in the wonderful library at Little Sky. The writing is lyrical at times, the descriptions of the surroundings create a wonderful atmosphere which contrasts sharply with the discoveries that Jake makes. The pace is very slow to start with but that seems to suit Jakes laid-back bucolic existence but it does take a while to get to the nitty-gritty.

Jake is an intriguing and very likeable and unconventional central protagonist and equally likeable is Livia the rural vet. The dialogue between them and other characters in the locality is smart and feels natural. You got a good mixture of characters from the taciturn to the dodgy to the somewhat aggressive which adds to the atmosphere.

One of the best features of the book is the role of detective stories in the plot, especially the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. I really enjoy the clever use of those literary references.

It is not really until the final half the danger and threat levels start rise, then there is plenty of tension and I like the shades of light and darkness in the storytelling. It transpires there is a very definite black hole lurking at the heart of this picture perfect place.

Overall, I did enjoy this good blend of mystery, of atmospheric setting with some romance and relationships. It’s just a little bit different from the norm and if you don’t mind a building pace than this could be for you.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A thriller with the difference that the detective really didn't want to detect. He wanted peace and quiet.

Jake's uncle leaves him Little Sky, a smallholding miles from civilisation in order that he can rebuild his life after splitting from his wife. An ex-policeman Jake finds himself thrown all too quickly into investigating a decades old death that certain members if the community want hushed up.

If you enjoy a cosier type of thriller with not much gore but enough action to keep you interested and intrigued then this may be the book for you. I enjoyed about two thirds of the book and the only parts I became bored with was the relationship between Jake and the local vet. The whole on again-off again aspect grated after a time.

But apart from that it was a good whodunnit in that I didn't guess whodidit. It was an easy read and I have a suspicion that Stig Abell could be a name to watch as his skill develops. I'd certainly read more.

[Genevieve Paquette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprisingly bad.

This is the line that broke me: "a soft, biscuitty smell on her clothes." Full body cringe, gag-reflex activated. Awful, florid, excessively cute, I hate it. And the thing is, that was one of the less egregious examples! It's just one that stood out. Biscuitty. Soft. A soft, biscuitty smell. Aaargh.
Yeah, the prose was so purple it was nearly eggplant. And speaking of which, the romantic subplot (main plot, more like) was bad. Insta-romance between paper thin characters that only served to give the author the opportunity to describe her milky breasts and his pubic hair. No, really.
The pacing was glacial. The character development was non-existent (unless you count getting a tan and growing a beard...) The plot was thin and incredibly dull. The mystery wasn't much of a mystery, the "detective" basically does nothing of value to solve it, and the solution lands in his lap in a last-minute sequence that contained the only real action in the book.
I am thrilled to be able to return this.

[NILTON TEIXEIRA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generous 3 stars.

I can’t remember how this book ended up on my list. I’m quite sure it was not a recommendation. Perhaps a good advertisement.
Anyways… the main character is so dull and the writing, although good, is on the verge of being self-indulgent or a bit pretentious.
For a thriller or suspense this was very underwhelming and did not work for me.
To be frank, it was quite boring (except for the last 5 chapters) and I didn’t like the interaction between the protagonist and Livia Bennet, the veterinarian. Some dialogues were creepy (but perfect if the story was set during the 80’s).
At least the main character was not given some kind of superpowers or high intelligence. He was just lucky that everything fell into his plate. And the conclusion wasn’t farfetched, like some many other authors like doing.
But don’t mind me.
There are plenty of good ratings, so give it a try.
This was the author’s debut, released about one year ago.
The second book, “Death in a Lonely Place”, is scheduled to be published on April 11, 2024 (in Canada).

e-book (Kobo) - Release Date: April 13, 2023: 298 pages (default), 92k words (60 chapters!)

Paperback (Harpercollins), published January 9, 2024: 352 pages

[Freya · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of those books where you drift along slightly confused throughout because it’s so dull you haven’t kept track of what time of day any action is taking place (aside from the protagonist’s morning routine which we hear about frequently), or the names of secondary characters because they are so two dimensional they blur together. I get excited when books have a map at the start, because it usually means it will be key to the mystery, but in this case it was entirely pointless. The premise was also fairly ridiculous, as if the police would allow a retired officer to lead the investigation in the first place. The retired detective also fails to do much detecting at all, he mainly just bumps into suspects and dives straight into questioning them in a very unnatural way. The protagonist is a cringe male fantasy, (as is the love interest), and despite the characters’ love of Sherlock Holmes he doesn’t have any of his genius. There was no pace or intrigue whatsoever. I feel like the author loves crime fiction but actually would prefer to write cheesy romance, and felt he had to cram a mystery plot in to have an excuse to write it.

[Eline Van Der Meulen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dodelijke afloop van Stig Abell is het eerste deel in de serie rond Jake Jackson. In dit boek maken we kennis met Jake, een ex-politieman die alles achterlaat om een nieuw leven op te bouwen in Little Sky. Hij erft er een huisje op het platteland van zijn overleden oom Arthur en besluit erheen te trekken nu zijn huwelijk gestrand is. Hij ervaart hoe het is om met weinig middelen tevreden te zijn en probeert zijn draai te vinden in de besloten gemeenschap. Hij plant zelf bomen en groeten en timmert een sauna en douche in elkaar om enige vorm van luxe te hebben.

In het boek komen er heel veel gedetailleerde passages aan bod en meermaals gaat het dan om Jake’s routine op het platteland. Hij gaat hardlopen, zwemmen in het meer, hij wandelt door de velden, hij plant iets op zijn domein of hij zit in de gigantische bibliotheek van zijn huis. Het voelde op bepaalde momenten echt wel aan als overkill. Het had voor mij allemaal wat minder gemogen. Er komt pas wat spanning in als er botten ontdekt worden tijdens een traditioneel zoekspel van het dorpje. Jake en Livia (de plaatselijke dierenarts) vinden in een zak echte menselijke botten. Na wat speurwerk komt Jake achter de identiteit van de vrouw en wordt er gezocht naar een dader. Veel verdachten zijn er wel niet echt want het dorp telt maar een tiental personen.

Toch was ik wel nieuwsgierig naar het einde en hoe het meisje aan haar einde gekomen was. Het plot is nog zeer spannend (hoewel ik wel geraden had wie de schuldige was) en maakte dat ik het toch met plezier gelezen heb. Een echte hoogvlieger is het boek niet, maar het was een fijn tussendoortje. Ik geef het dan ook graag 3.5 sterren.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars
This is the beginning (I suspect) of a new crime series. Jake Jackson retires from the police force at the grand old age of 38. His uncle has died and left him a property in the country, a house called Little Sky (with attached lake). The house is odd, there is no internet connection or signal for a phone. Some aspects are rather primitive (no washing machine), but there is a massive library with a collection of thrillers and crime books.
The novel is about how Jake becomes embroiled in a local mystery and possible murder. Jake works with a local policeman. There is a love interest (inevitably), some rather odd and often surly locals. There is plenty of eccentricity and no shortage of suspects. It is well written and rather predictable at times and probably falls into the category of “cozy crime”.
It's easy reading, not at all demanding. Perfect bedtime reading.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake Jackson is thirty eight and works as a detective, mainly dealing in cold cases, in London. He is married to Faye, but they have struggled to start a family and the stress and the pressure has forced them apart. So, when Jake's uncle dies and leaves him a house in the countryside, the couple agree to split up and Jake, financially secure, heads off to his new home.

The village has very little. A general store, which doubles as a bar. A church, but no vicar. No school and not much of anything else, while Jake's new house has a magnificent library and a lake, but no bathroom or washing machine. Gradually, he begins to get to know his surroundings and the few locals. Livia, the local vet, Dr Peter, an elderly biologist, Sarah at 'The Jolly Nook,' and a host of vaguely hostile, insular locals, mainly consisting of recalcitrant matrons and aggressive farmhands.

A village tradition involves hunting for the 'bones' of a local Saint - the bones being a representative bag of sticks. Of course, though, it is Jake who discovers the bones and they turn out to be real. Before long, Jake is involved in digging up the past and trying to discover who the bones belonged to and whether any of the local inhabitants were involved. For a small community, who are already wary of strangers, and who have secrets they prefer to keep close, this soon makes him unpopular.

There was lots I really liked about this. It had a slow pace, was very descriptive and character driven. I enjoyed getting to know Jake, his unfolding relationships with the other villagers and following his investigation. One thing that I was a little disappointed with was that, like Jake, I am a huge fan of crime fiction and, pretty early on, I guessed (correctly, which is unlike me) who the murderer was. Still, although the mystery element was, to my mind, a little obvious, I would definitely read another book featuring Jake as I found this a very enjoyable read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

[Adrian Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A debut novel that is decent if a little lacking in content.

Jake who is recently separated leaves the bright lights and bustle of London to move into his late Uncles house in the country. An ex detective, Jake wants a quiet life away from the stress of the job and to re-evaluate his life after his marriage has failed.

It’s not long before he finds that a woman died in the small village a decade earlier under mysterious circumstances. When he brings the subject up with the locals, they close shop and don’t want to discuss it at all. Some even start to warn him off about digging up the past.

This is classed as a thriller but it’s more of a cosy thriller imo. The pace here is very pedestrian due partly I feel to the thriller element not having much meat on the bone. The mystery itself moves at a snails pace.

We have a love interest as well that bulks the book out and some very stereotypical nasty villager types.

I enjoyed this one to a point. It did seem a bit confused about what it wanted to be. Starts as a mystery thriller then veers into cosy thriller, a sort of self discovery book and a romance novel. The end I thought was a bit of a let down and a bit hard to swallow.

Still overall it’s a decent effort. The writing is pretty good, if a little over descriptive. It did feel a somewhat padded story but the main character was pretty interesting.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC though Netgalley.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book for review.

This book is an account of Jakes move from the city to the country after inheriting a property from his uncle. Jack has left a broken relationship in the city to start afresh. He was a detective in the city to start afresh. He was a detective in the city and has to use those skills again when some bones are discovered. I love the cover of this book and with Stig's creative writing it sets the scene and landscape of Little Sky. This is a classic whodunnit that moves at a slow pace for the first 1/2 then ramps up towards the end. Throw in some romantic suspense as well. I loved the fact Bones and Booth got a mention. For me it was very much a character driven story rather than the action.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moody and meditative…

Jake Jackson has reached a point in life where he needs change. His job as a detective investigating cold cases gives him satisfaction and he’s good at it, but perhaps he cares too much about the victims and the horrors he has seen have just about drained him. His marriage is also quietly collapsing – after years of trying unsuccessfully for children and suffering miscarriages, he and his wife have both come to a point where there seems nothing holding them together any longer. So when his uncle dies, leaving him an isolated house in the middle of nowhere and enough money that he need never work again, it seems like a possible answer. Without rancour, he and his wife separate and Jake goes off to start anew, living almost as a hermit and learning the skills of self-sufficiency. But it isn’t long before he starts making tentative connections with his few neighbours. And then some old bones turn up, and Jake finds himself back in the role of investigator, though unofficially this time…

Stig Abell is a successful and well-known British journalist and this is his first venture into fiction. He has apparently been a fan of crime fiction since his pre-teen years, having followed the same trajectory as so many of us have, via Holmes, Christie, Sayers, etc., and then on to contemporary crime. I wondered if this was going to be a kind of homage to the golden age authors he clearly reveres, but although he references many of them entertainingly, his style is very much his own. And he writes like a dream, making this pure pleasure to read (despite being in the present tense) with a distinctly literary feel.

It’s told in the third person but almost entirely from Jake’s perspective. There is a prologue that is dark, atmospheric and intriguing, and I was immediately hooked. As a woman stands atop a flight of crumbling stairs, the reader is swept round the neighbourhood, peering through the windows at the various inhabitants…

The laughter between mother and daughter as bedtime approaches. The awkward stiffness between husband and wife who have run out of things to say to each other, and sit restless and aloof. The widow lost in front of a television screen. Two grown up brothers who should have left home in pursuit of separate lives, but have been imprisoned by their own lack of ambition, their vitality and empathy drained year after year. One sneaks out while the other dozes in the corner, his dirty boots falling off his feet, the night outside preferable to these four walls. An old man at his kitchen in a dirty long shirt, painting the woman now standing on the tower. He can see her in the daylight of his imagination, the reflection of the water playing idly upon her pale skin.

When the bones of a young woman turn up during a treasure hunt, it is among these people that Jake will have to seek for answers. Strangers at first, he and the reader will gradually come to know them, to see their connections to each other – the loves and jealousies, the kindnesses and brutalities, the secrets and the fears. The depth of the characterisation is wonderful, layer built on layer. Many of the characters are eccentric, but none are caricatured – I found each one credible in his or her own life, seeing how the claustrophobia of isolation affects both individuals and community.

Jake himself is at the centre and in a sense the whole book is a character study of him, seeing how he retreats gratefully from a world that has become difficult for him, embracing the isolation absolutely but also wondering if this is a temporary healing process or how he wants to live for ever. He is damaged, but so much more authentically than the drunken angst-ridden detectives who bore their way through contemporary crime fiction. Introspective and aware of his own emotional state, he is also empathetic and kind, and those qualities mean that he gradually starts making tentative connections of his own. And he finds in himself a love of nature, of the joy of growing his own food and making things from wood, and of watching the weather and the seasons; all of which Abell writes about beautifully.

The plot is rather less convincingly done, in that it disappears for long stretches while we follow Jake’s progress in adapting to his new life. Obvious investigative avenues are left neglected both by Jake and, even less credibly, by the local police, who seem quite happy to leave the bulk of the job to Jake. However, the story underlying the plot is both dark and interesting. The bones, we soon learn, belonged to a young farmgirl, whose status as both foreigner and incomer left her isolated even within the general isolation. But her youth, friendliness and beauty caused her to become an object of attraction, even obsession, for several of the men in this woman-starved community. Is this why she died? Or did she inadvertently learn a secret that was dangerous to someone? Or did she, as the original inquest decided, simply slip and fall to her death? And why is someone so determined to have her death reinvestigated?

The pace at which the answers to these questions are found is slow, but I found it completely absorbing, savouring every lovely description of the natural world and every layer of characterisation. I do hope this isn’t a one-off – I don’t know if a series about Jake would work, but I hope Abell sticks with the genre and continues to lift it with his literary style.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.

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[Fictionophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written partly as an homage to detective fiction, this stellar debut is a must read!

Former London police detective Jake Jackson's marriage has been snuffed out due to apathy and repeated failure to conceive. He and his wife are still friends, but the love and the spark have died. When Jake learns that he has an inheritance from his uncle Arthur, he leaves his wife and his job behind to narrow his horizons in the countryside. A fresh start - just exactly what he needs.

Once ensconced in his new rural home, he is a changed man. No television, internet, or even phone service would be enough of a deterrent for many people, but not Jake. He embraced this solitude and reverts make to nature. He swims in his own lake, runs on his own acreage, and reads from his new and extensive library of crime fiction that his uncle bequeathed to him. Idyllic right?

"Sometimes the sound of his own voice surprises him, scraped from his throat, out of use like an old piece of machinery pulled from storage."

Jake discovers a need for more than this when he meets Livia, the attractive local vet. She invites him to participate in a local treasure hunt for a historic 'bag of bones' and he rises to the challenge. Only what he finds is not the pretend bones put in the bag by the hunt's organizer, but real, very human bones. Discovering the mystery behind his find leads him and those he has come to care for down a very dangerous path indeed... He unwittingly, has stumbled upon a crime a decade old - and cold case crimes are what he excels at.

This crime novel will be especially attractive to bibliophiles. "There is something about shelves upon shelves of books to gladden Jake's heart; they suggest an infinite amount of diversion, the endless scope of information, the sense that he will never be entirely alone, his life never completely lacklustre."

What a truly delightful and well written read. And realizing that this novel is the beginning of a new crime series is the icing on the cake. I am very eager to read the next installment in the Jake Jackson series. This is an auspicious debut that mystery fans must add to their TBR pile!

[Karen Chong · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 / 5

A slow burner, if you can handle the slow pace you’ll enjoy this book, but if you don’t like slow paced plot this isn’t going to be your cup of tea.

I enjoyed this book, partly due to the external references to other authors and their fantastic work. I also enjoyed the development of Jake as he progresses and adapts to a new life. But for me personally this felt too obvious?, It felt too obvious in a sense, and I was disappointed to be proven right. But nevertheless it’s a good read, it’s a short book as well. The only issue with the physical hardback is that the pages smudge.

Hope that a sequel is made of this book.

[Merlin’s Cove · Rating 1 out of 5]

The language was so ridiculously overly descriptive that I was struggling with migraines for the entirety of my attempts to read this book. DNF for self preservation.

[Steve Donoghue]

Virtually everything in this book should be working against it; the basic premise is beyond hackneyed, all the characters (with only one exception) are one-dimensional props that speak exclusively in crime-novel cliches, the thrilling surprises wouldn't startle a 70-year-old nun, the murderer is so clearly identifiable there's practically a name tag saying "Hello, My Name is ... The Murderer" - and so on down the line. And yet, somehow Stig Abell makes it all work as a very enjoyable story. My review is here: https://openlettersreview.com/posts/d...

[Kilby · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I had the power to unread books, I would unread this one.

[Silvie Klokgieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake Jackson staat bekend als een van de meest ambitieuze rechercheurs in Londen. Als hij op een dag een brief ontvangt waaruit blijkt dat zijn oom hem al zijn eigendommen heeft nagelaten, waaronder een woonboerderij op het platteland inclusief bibliotheek met eerste drukken van populaire thrillers, is zijn keuze snel gemaakt: hij vertrekt naar Little Sky.

Zijn nieuwe leven biedt Jake alles wat hij wenst, tot tijdens de jaarlijkse speurtocht in het dorp de botten van een jonge vrouw worden ontdekt en hij opnieuw in de rol van rechercheur wordt geduwd.

In eerste instantie tast hij volledig in het duister, dus hij zal het over een andere boeg moeten gooien. Staan de antwoorden misschien in ’s werelds bekendste thrillers?

Deze cover sprak mij meteen aan en ik was erg benieuwd naar het verhaal!

Jack is het hoofdpersonage in dit boek en hij erft de woonboerderij van zijn oom in het dorpje Little Sky. Eenmaal daar aangekomen hangt er al een beetje een aparte sfeer. Jack komt in contact met Livia en het klikt enorm goed tussen dit tweetal.

Dan worden er botten van een jonge vrouw gevonden en Jack gaat op onderzoek uit. Hoe is deze vrouw aan haar eind gekomen? Ondertussen wordt de sfeer steeds grimmiger.

Ik moest enorm wennen aan de schrijfstijl en het verhaal komt ook langzaam op gang. De sfeer vond ik wel goed beschreven en ook de vondst van de botten was interessant.

Toch moet ik eerlijk zijn. Het verhaal viel mij wat tegen. De twee punten die ik hierboven noemde waren goed, maar het verhaal was voor mij te traag. Ook vond ik dit niet echt een thriller. Je leest veel over de gedachtegang van Jack en over zijn relatie met Livia.

Ik had er dus meer van verwacht. Sowieso qua spanning, maar ook het verhaal an sich. Het is dus een kleine tegenvaller, maar omdat ik de mysterieuze sfeer wel redelijk goed vond, geef ik het toch een krappe voldoende. Jammer!

Ik wil @harpercollins_holland heel erg bedanken voor het recensie-exemplaar!

Beoordeling: 3,0 ⭐️

[Emma Pugsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to get into this book I have it five try’s and it just got worse.

I ended up DNFing this.

Basically, recently divorced ex cop ventures to the countryside to be a man and live off grid in a house he inherits from his deceased uncle. He goes full houso and lets himself go only bathing in the river. He immediately falls in love with the town vet who visits her patients on a bike?!

Let’s skip to 70 odd pages when something remotely interesting happens (a bag of human bones are found) which isn’t that interesting because again it takes another 50 pages to get to something that offers more than an eyebrow raise.

Apparently he goes on to help investigate the origin of these bones (how?, he doesn’t work, it’s not his jurisdiction, he’s just being nosey) . I don’t know much more that happens after this mostly because it was so boring but secondly I could not get over how wankerish the writing style was. My eyes bled at how overly descriptive everything was.

I want my $16 back.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I nearly abandoned this book several times because it was very slow, plodding along and rather flat, and the main character wasn't very endearing. But, as usual, curiosity prevailed.

I managed to finish it but the plot was tired and the ending was predictable and contrived. The culprit, as often happens, is just about the only character who WASN'T a "person of interest"! Disappointing.

[andshe.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, let's start with the setting.. the countryside.. the author made this superbly atmospheric.. throw in a murder and you've got the perfect story. The fact that the small village was completely isolated from any real civilisation made it a whole lot more eerie. 

There was a mix of characters.. you're usual country folk, the single mum and her daughter.. the criminal tough guys and of course.. the young retired detective [Jake] who has never experienced country life before. I really enjoyed getting to know him, and I hope we will be seeing our off the books detective more in the future. To say there wasn't a huge number of characters, the author did a great job at bringing them life and fulfilling the realistic sense of community you get in a small village. 

I do think this was more of a cosy thriller compared to the more edge of your seat thriller. However, that didn't take away my enjoyment of the book. 

It's a great debut novel, I'll definitely be looking out for more from this author in the future. 

Read as part of a book tour with InstaBookTours. Thank you. 

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death Under a Little Sky is erstwhile editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Sig Abell’s first foray into crime fiction, a genre for which he admits to having an insatiable passion. It’s a curious, Straw Dogs style, slice of rural gothic with a strong central character, Jake Jackson, an ex-Metropolitan Police detective in search of a quiet life in the country. Instead, he finds himself in a tiny community where everyone has something to hide and the mysterious death of a young German woman some ten years before still hangs over the village like a bad smell. The plot has more holes that your dad’s favourite gardening jumper, but Abell writes with style and panache and with subtle appreciation of the natural world and human relationships. For a first novel, there’s plenty of promise here for the future.

[Penny Nowak · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would have potential... But omg it's bad. The dialogue reminds me of video games when you talk to a NPC and they just spew a block of words at you with no emotion or realness.
The characters had, well, no character. They were one dimensional and that made the romance totally predictable and unbelievable.
A good book should let you get lost in the story, I couldn't even get interested so I didn't even finish it.

[Linda (Lily) Raiti · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 amazing stars
Think Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. This was one unique and incredibly atmospheric, crime thrillers with a bit of romance. Wonderful, rich characters set among a beautiful backdrop of Little Sky. Unpredictable and wholly engaging.
Many thanks to @harpercollinsaus for this beauty.

[Emma Ehrlich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incredibly stilted dialogue and contrived and tired plot.

[Rick Rapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once thing that is pretty clear in mysteries...the obvious "bad guys" are red herrings. Another thing that should be obvious...anyone too easily dismissed is most certainly the villain. Well, that's certainly true here. The hero is "off the grid" in attempt to find himself. Trite, but necessary for his presence in this quaint little village chock full of dark secrets. Abel does a pretty good job of character development here. He also keeps the suspense strong and the pace relatively clipped. The drawback, for me, was the predictable romance and complications that ensue. The story didn't really need that, and I felt it cheapened the work. The Hallmark ending was saccharine, if expected. All in all, though, this is a good mystery, and justice is served.

[Julia Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, poetic writing, fantastic setting, a new twist on the traditional mystery, in that the detective is "off the grid."

I enjoyed the literary references and the lovely homage to detective fiction, with nice little nods to mystery writers in every chapter. In addition, the dialogue was better than usual, distinctive and often very funny.

Overall, I loved it!

[Janvi Subramanyan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Better left unread

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid attempt for a debut detective novel, but unfortunately it fell a little short as there were just too few suspects. Death Under a Little Sky lacked the complexity of many books in the genre and so the suspect was obvious by omission, really quite early on.
The isolated setting worked well, although it was fairly unbelievable that you could have a whole house and modern extension, with some modern fittings, without any kind of access road or lane. There seemed to be no issue with vehicles travelling across anybody’s land (and the locals are hardly amenable.)
As others have stated, the novel is written in an overly elaborate style. For example: ‘Loud sounds always appear perverse in the depths of the countryside, especially on a balmy, gentle evening, and this one jolts him utterly. He looks around. The noise returns, and he recognises the articulation of his own name.’
There is also some odd dialogue, very stilted ways of talking even from the policeman Watson (!) And some of the exchanges between the couple made me cringe at times.
Also, I agree with another reader who wonders how a vet could carry out her profession cycling around the countryside on a bicycle. Whenever I’ve seen vets at work they have cases and cases of medicines and all kinds of equipment in their vehicles. Another thing that struck me was the implausibility of putting a shotgun into its box and a backpack, without any suspicion on the part of the other person. It must have been an extremely long backpack!
However I would be interested to read another novel by the author, to see how his writing develops in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.

[Allison Gilmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author’s first attempt at a mystery, Abell’s Death Under a Little Sky is slow going. The protagonist is a young London detective, Jake Jackson, who abandons his career and the city life when his marriage disintegrates and he inherits an isolated home in the country (Little Sky) from his uncle. Much of the story revolves around Jake’s efforts to acclimate to the isolation of his new life, develop some level of self-sufficiency, and modernize the primitive home he has acquired. Jake is drawn into a mystery when the bones of a young woman who died 10 years earlier unexpectedly turn up and his life as a recluse comes to an end when he develops a romantic attachment to the local vet almost immediately upon his arrival in the countryside. The mystery isn’t that enthralling and the author has a tendency to overwrite, which doesn’t help move the story along. Not sure I’ll go looking for another book by this author.

“He shivers. His whole experience at Little Sky has been one of discovery, both internal and external, but it is also one of strangeness and, he thinks, sporadic sadness. He has given up life to come here. He has lost the chance at a loud, well-lit home, boisterous with youth, shouts and hugs and moments of togetherness. He is wealthy, in a way, but he is deeply, oddly alone.”

[Caley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just can’t stop thinking about chicken coops on 15 foot stilts!
I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I was very disappointed by this, especially after the author’s introduction where they talked about how much they enjoyed reading mystery novels. I also enjoy mystery novels but this was not it
The main character was an ex detective who was really irritating, pretentious, and a terrible detective with poor hygiene and no sense of self preservation. The romance was unbelievable. The mystery was predictable and I was just so disappointed
I’d never heard of this author before but I think they may be some sort of public figure here in the UK, I won’t be reading any further books by them though
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review