Cold Island: A Novel (Detective Tommy Kelly Book 1)

When the remains of a young murder victim on Nantucket Island are discovered after thirty-five years, a detective begins to unearth the dark secrets of a community gone silent.

Massachusetts State Police detective Tommy Kelly is called to Nantucket Island, where a boy's skeletal remains have been discovered at a construction site--interred for thirty-five years. The crime is especially gutting for Tommy, the father of two boys. It's also the beginning of a grim mystery. Because no child during that period was even reported missing.

Tommy is partnered with Nantucket PD's best detective, Jo Harris, who first chafes at the idea of a mainlander encroaching on her territory. And their work together is only raising more troubling questions. Then a possible link is found to the decades-old case of a serial killer--a vigilantly hidden part of the past that this tight-knit community would prefer to forget and never speak of again.

The secrets in their silence are so shocking they soon pull Tommy into a very dark place. Suddenly, offseason on Nantucket has never felt so cold, so isolating, or so dangerous.

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Published Sep 1, 2025

238 pages

Average rating: 8

3 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Sue Dix
Mar 14, 2026
10/10 stars
The first in a new series, I can’t wait for the second. This novel went to a place I could not foresee. Talk about being blindsided. Detective Tommy Kelly is sent to Nantucket Island to oversee the discovery of a child’s body. The case is more than cold and there seems to be no chance of solving it when he and the local detective Jo Harris get a series of lucky breaks. This novel will flip you on your head. A great series beginner.

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