THE VISITORS by Simon Sylvester, £13.99

THIS is a polished debut novel from South Lakes tutor Simon Sylvester - and it was a worthy winner of The Guardian's Not the Booker prize last month.

The Visitors, narrated by a teenager Flora, reveals how the fictional Scottish island Bancree, which has always seemed a safe haven, becomes gripped by murder and mysterious disappearances.

Attention focuses on a father and daughter - the 'visitors' of the title - who have just moved into the island's isolated Dog Cottage.

Flora is drawn to them, even though the father "radiates menace". Other islanders suspect the newcomers are somehow responsible for the tragic events that are unfolding, but Flora is determined to protect her new friend Ailsa.

Sylvester, who was born in Inverness, says he was inspired to write the book after a family holiday to the Scottish island of Kintyre. He later visited Islay and Jura as part of his research into the setting for the novel.

He works as a video production teacher at Kendal College and is currently writing his second novel, The Hollows.

ALLAN TUNNINGLEY