Jenny Dorey, a reporter for the Guernsey News, takes the ferry to the tiny Channel Island of Sark (population 450), the only island in the world to be designated a Dark Sky island—no lights or autos allowed. Old bones have been found in a cave and ambitious Jenny sees a story in the making. Also, she wants to investigate her own father’s accidental death there two years before, when he fell off his boat and drowned. She’s never accepted the accidental death ruling.

Also on the island to investigate the bones is Jenny’s good friend, veteran DCI Michael Gilbert of the Guernsey Police Force. But before the Sarkees (as the islanders are called) can even start a good round of rumors over the bones, another murder occurs, that of old reprobate Reg Carre, whose wife Rachel disappeared years before.

Michael and Jenny, teaming up to exchange information, wonder if there’s any connection between the two cases—and possibly Jenny’s father’s as well. But the Sarkees seem reticent to answer questions or allow the boy who found Reg to be questioned. The more questions they ask, the darker and more sullen the Sarkees become. Soon it becomes obvious that there are secrets here that no one wishes to reveal, although talk of boats in the bay and flashing lights lead Jenny and Michael to believe there is something amiss. And where does the reclusive billionaire Corey Monroe with his secluded mansion, an outsider whom the islanders are suspicious of, fit into the picture?

In Lara Dearman’s atmospheric second novel in the Jennifer Dorey Mystery series, the island of Sark, with its rugged beauty of high cliffs and dark corners, is as much a character as any of the humans. Told from the points of view of Jenny, Michael, and flashbacks from the missing Rachel, it has twists and turns that will keep readers guessing to the very end.