Clara’s Verdict
Dark Skies is the DCI Ryan Mysteries firing on every cylinder. The seventh instalment marries a genuinely haunting cold case to the most personal threat Ryan has yet faced at work, and LJ Ross braids the two together with real skill. Several readers call it the best in the series to that point, and I understand the impulse.
What lifts it is the doubling of danger. A body rising from the depths of a vast reservoir is eerie enough on its own, but Ross pairs it with a new adversary inside Ryan’s own force, and the professional peril proves every bit as gripping as the murder. It is dark, yes, but never joyless, and the emotional stakes give the whole thing a charge that kept me firmly hooked.
What I find most accomplished is the balance of scales. Ross sets a vast, impersonal danger, a body surfacing after thirty years, against a small and horribly personal one, a superior determined to ruin a single man, and refuses to let either overwhelm the other. That the domestic warmth of a new marriage survives in the middle of it all is no accident. It is the contrast that makes the menace bite.
About the Audiobook
The seventh DCI Ryan Mystery begins on one fateful, starry night when three friends embark on a secret camping trip and only two return home. Thirty years later, the body of a teenage boy rises from the depths of England’s biggest reservoir and threatens to expose a killer who has lain dormant until now. It is a premise steeped in the quiet dread of things long submerged.
Ryan returns from honeymoon to face danger from every side. In the depths of Kielder Forest a murderer who has escaped justice before will do anything to protect the secrets of the past. Meanwhile, back at Northumbria CID, an old foe has taken the helm as Superintendent and is determined to destroy Ryan at any cost. Ross keeps both threats taut across the spectacular Northumbrian landscape, peppering the murder and mystery, as ever, with romance and humour.
The Narration
Jonathan Keeble reads a listen of a little under eight hours, and he draws out the watery menace of Kielder beautifully. From the darkly descriptive prologue onward, he lets the reservoir and forest feel cold and deep, so that the discovery of the body genuinely chills.
He is especially good with the new Superintendent, giving that character an icy, manipulative edge that made me dislike her exactly as intended, while keeping the warmth of Ryan’s marriage and the loyalty of the team fully alive. Balancing a decades-old crime against a present-day office war demands clarity, and Keeble delivers it, guiding the two timelines without ever losing the listener. It is one of his strongest turns in the series so far. Across a little under eight hours he never lets the two timelines blur, and he tightens the pacing by careful degrees so that the final reckoning lands with real force. It is the sort of controlled build that makes a longer listen slip by.
What Readers Say
Dark Skies holds an average of 4.5 stars from 43 ratings, and the enthusiasm runs high. One reviewer who came to the series late, discovering it on a recommendation and starting with the Holy Island audiobook, declared this one a cracker and among the best yet. Another praised the darkly descriptive prologue and the way the reservoir setting transports you instantly to the place.
The reviews return often to the strength of the ensemble. Readers write about being fully invested in Ryan and those around him, naming the characters like acquaintances and caring, as one put it, what happens to them both personally and professionally. Others single out the vividness of the setting, praising a darkly descriptive opening and the way Kielder is rendered so completely that you feel transported to the water’s edge.
The reviews are also revealing about the villains. Readers reserve a special, delighted loathing for the scheming new Superintendent and note how she sets out to destroy Ryan and divide his team, a sign of just how vivid Ross makes her antagonists. Longtime followers write about being fully invested in this cast, calling them well drawn, believable and lovable, and several say every book leaves them wanting the next. It is the response of an audience that trusts the series completely.
Who Should Listen?
This is one for the reader who likes a cold case with an eerie, elemental setting, and for series followers who enjoy watching the threat come from inside the ranks as much as from the killer. It rewards those who have grown attached to Ryan and his team, since the office intrigue lands hardest when you know the people involved. Newcomers can follow the mystery, but the emotional stakes belong to the faithful.
If the depths of Kielder call to you, you can Listen to Dark Skies on Audible and see what the reservoir has been hiding.
