Devilweed by Bill Knox - first published in 1966
Despite being published 46 years ago, this crime novel in the Webb Carrick series doesn't feel dated. Webb Carrick is Chief Officer on the Fishery Protection cruiser Marlin. He and his colleagues have been tasked with looking for the Mora, a lobster boat, which has gone missing from the fictitious Rathbeg Isles, which are located somewhere between the Inner and Outer Hebrides. They find a boat drifting half submerged near the Black Reef Lighthouse but it isn't the Mora. It is the Thrift, the floating branch of the Bank of Central Scotland. Her crew of 3 are nowhere to be found. They tow the Thrift to Kenbeg, the largest of the Rathbeg Isles where they beach it and drain the water out. As it will take a day for the police to arrive on Kenbeg, Carrick begins to investigate but most of the residents of the Kenbeg are less than friendly. Drammy MacPherson, a Kenbeg fisherman went missing at the same time as the Mora and is suspected of 'borrowing' it. On the neighbouring island of Buidhe Robert Tenford has a successful bulb growing enterprise but why does he not welcome visitors to his island? There is an exciting ending and even a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.
Devilweed is a local name for a dark brown seaweed that is rarely seen on the surface of the sea except after a storm. 8/10
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