The sleepy little British town of Broadchurch has everything to offer families as well as vacationers. It is located by the sea in a beautiful area that provides rest, relaxation and fun in the sun. Everyone knows everyone in Broadchurch and people care about each other here.

That may be why it is such a shock for Detective Ellie Miller to return from a three week vacation to find everything upended. Two things happen almost simultaneously. First of all, she finds that she has been passed over for a promised promotion while she was away. Outsider Alec Hardy has been given what should have been her job. While she is still reeling from that little bit of news, a call comes in saying that the body of a young boy has been found dead on the beach.

She heads to the scene and discovers that the boy is eleven year old Danny Latimer, her son Tom's best friend. Ellie and her husband Joe have been close friends for years with Danny's parents, Beth and Mark. It is horrific that murder has dared to touch this special community but that it is a child, one that she knows personally, is almost too much to bear.

Ellie is thrust into working with the surly, bad tempered Alec Hardy before she even has a chance to process why he was given what was to be her job. On top of that, she is trying to deal with her own grief over this murdered child. She must put her own feelings on hold because the most important thing is to find out who would have done such a terrible thing.

BROADCHURCH is an all-encompassing novel that is nearly impossible to put down until that last page is read and all of the secrets are out in the open. When I first chose to read this book, I had no idea that it was based on a British television show of the same name. Not only that; but a show called Gracepoint is the American version of Broadchurch. I had begun watching Gracepoint and was a few episodes in when I started reading BROADCHURCH. Both book and show are exceptional.

Writer Erin Kelly sets the mood for BROADCHURCH in a way that I instantly felt drawn into that community as if I lived there myself. Every carefully constructed character becomes a neighbor, friend, or irritation. There is no way that everyone reading BROADCHURCH will not be caught up in the daily lives of the families that were touched the most by Danny's death.

Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller are two of the most interesting characters of any book I've ever read. They are total opposites but, once you get to know them better, you will begin to understand more about them. Together, the two of them forge ahead to catch a murderer before another child ends up dead. The shattering conclusion of BROADCHURCH will make you think twice the next time you think you really know someone.

BROADCHURCH is a story of secrets, lies, mystery, love, forgiveness and healing. It just does not get any better than this.