The Mermaids Cry by Kate Rhodes @OrendaBooks @K_RhodesWriter @RandomTTours #MermaidsCry #BlogTour #BenKitto #CrimeFiction #IslesOfScillyMysteries #Cornwall #20BOS26

The bestselling, critically acclaimed the Isles of Scilly Mysteries series continues…

DI BEN KITTO RETURNS…

During Cornwall’s Dark Sky Festival, children begin to disappear, with mermaid charms left behind. Grieving DI Ben Kitto desperately races to stop a killer before his own young son is next.

Book blurb

A KILLER IS WAITING ON CORNWALL’S DARKEST SHORE…

A COAST IN CELEBRATION

When DI Ben Kitto sees a baby thrown into Penzance harbour, he prays it’s a trick of the light. But the threat is real. The child survives – barely – and soon a chilling pattern emerges. As the Dark Sky Festival brings dancers, dreamers and stargazers to Cornwall’s coast, children begin to vanish.

A KILLER IN THE CROWD
A small mermaid figurine is found beside each scene, echoing the legend of the Mermaid of Zennor, who lured a man to his death beneath the waves. Still reeling from a devastating bereavement and determined to protect his young son, Ben is pulled back into the field and into a deadly investigation. When the killer’s messages begin arriving at his home, the threat becomes terrifyingly personal.

A FINAL RECKONING
Suspicions fall on familiar faces. When the summer solstice approaches, Ben must confront the boundaries of love, loss and obsession. In a final, desperate chase along the headland, only his bond with Noah – and the loyalty of his dog, Shadow – can prevent tragedy from repeating itself.

My thoughts

What on earth is going on? The ninth book in the Isles of Scilly mysteries but we’re not on any of the isles no we are in Penzance and Ben isn’t a police officer is this an alternate universe?

There is good reason for this which soon reveals itself. Ben has taken a leave of absence and is working as a carpenter. He and Noah are settling into this new role, this new place together after a terrible tragedy.

Ben works with his hands making furniture during the day and Noah is in day care. It’s working well so far. Penzance is good for Noah Ben thinks and that’s what matters to Ben.

This night Noah won’t settle so Ben packs him up into his pushchair and goes for a walk down towards the seafront, shadow is with them. Ben notices a woman with a pram another parent with a wakeful child. He’s walking along when he sees a hooded figure rush out from the darkness grab the woman’s baby and throws it into the water! Surely it’s an illusion? But Ben leaves Shadow to guard Noah and rushes into the sea. He eventually gets hold of the baby and brings it back to shore.

So begins an investigation by the police in Penzance. Ben is hailed as a hero, though he prefers not to be in the spotlight. He is intrigued though.

It is the run up to the Dark Sky Festival and summer solstice. Kate Rhodes captures the geography and the atmosphere beautifully bringing it to life and so immerses us in this new era for Ben and Noah. Ben gets roped into volunteering at the Festival. Then there is another incident and Ben, who had already begun to ask questions about the first event, is asked to join the investigation as a consultant.

These are harrowing incidents of harm to small children but it is deftly handled by the author and they are not gruesome. There are mermaids left at the scene which conjures up the myth of the Mermaid of Zennor. We hear a voice through the book that tells a deeply disturbing story that connects the perpetrator to the myth and allows us to understand why the incidents happen, it is a twisted tale from a twisted mind.

As the investigation progresses it is clear that more young children are under threat. Ben begins to piece together some of the story but there are several suspects when at the opening of the Festival another child disappears, one very close to home for the investigation team. There follows a desperate chase to find the child and the perpetrator before it is too late!

This is another exceptional piece of storytelling from Kate Rhodes, it is set in a beautiful part of the world and that place is vividly brought to life by the author, some of the characters are familiar and we are immersed in their story too, other characters are new yet feel real and this is the skill of the writer who has a wonderful sense for description that brings not only the place, the characters but also the story to life.

I cannot recommend The Mermaid’s Cry highly enough this book takes those of us who know the series well quite a bit out of our comfort zone yet keeps it very much a Ben Kitto mystery. I haven’t said a lot about Ben’s personal story which threads through the book as I didn’t want to give away any spoilers but it is very well written and so touching.

What a story! I can’t wait for the next.

Read

The Stalker | Reversal | The Alice Trap

Thanks

Huge thanks to Anne Cater at RandomThingsTours for the invite to the BlogTour of The Mermaid’s Cry by Kate Rhodes. It’s an immense pleasure and privilege to be a part of this event and to receive an eARC from Orenda Books for review.

I love being able to read the latest in this series before it’s published and I’m able to buy the paperback edition for my collection of Kate Rhodes books, thank you so much.

BlogTour

You’ll find lots of great blog posts on this amazing BlogTour so why not take a look?

This is a fantastic BlogTour – don’t resist checking out all these wonderful blogs then pop to the links below for your very own copy of The Mermaid’s Cry by Kate Rhodes.

#20BOS26

I know, I’ve done it again, gone off piste! But who could resist a Kate Rhodes Isles of Scilly mystery? Not me that’s for sure!

You can read all about the #20BOS challenge on Annabel’s blog at AnnaBookBel. Annabel has taken sole charge of this challenge in 2026 having been co-host with Emma Words and Peace in 2025 after taking over the challenge from Cathy @ 746books.

Information

Published: Orenda Books Ltd | 16/07/2026 | 276 pp

Paperback ISBN 781917764322 £9.99 16/07/2026

ebook ISBN 9781917764339 £7.99 16/07/2026

Further reading

The Mermaid of Zennor | Zennor | Cornish Folklore, Myths & Legend

Author

Kate Rhodes is an acclaimed crime novelist and an award-winning poet.

She lives in Cambridge with her husband, the writer and film-maker Dave Pescod, and visited the Scilly Isles every year as a child, which gave her the idea for this series.

She is one of the founders of the Killer Women writing group.

Follow Kate on: Kate Rhodes website | X @K_RhodesWriter| Instagram @katerhodes-writer | facebook.com/katerhodesauthor |

Books

ISLES OF SCILLY MYSTERIES

ALICE QUENTIN SERIES

STANDALONE & POETRY

The Stalker

Reversal | The Alice Trap

Out now!

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