Lorraine Kelly returns with sequel to Orkney-based bestseller

It is a welcome return to Orkney for the queen of daytime TV, as broadcaster and bestselling author Lorraine Kelly releases her second book.

The Island Secret, the sequel to The Sunday Times bestseller, The Island Swimmer, continues the story of Evie, who returned home to Orkney in the first book and made peace with her past.

Now the second novel from the pen of Orkney super-fan Lorraine sees a mysterious visitor arrive, Amelia, claiming to be Evie’s long-lost relative.

She looks strangely familiar, her stories seem plausible and she quickly slides into island life.

Yet Evie soon starts to feel unsettled and suspicious — and with her hard-won happiness slipping through her fingers, she knows she must uncover the secret at the heart of the stranger, before it’s too late.

Moving things forward, the new book turns up the intensity, leaning towards a thriller compared to Lorraine’s first work.

But it retains the moments of humour, rounded characters and sense of place that shone through in the first book.

“I just hope people like it,” Lorraine told The Orcadian.

“I wasn’t finished with those characters. I think there was a lot of relationships that needed to be explored more because Evie, the central character, although she was healing and getting better at the end of the first book, she was still pretty damaged by what had happened.

“Now there’s a person from her past who comes back and creates havoc. This person is not what she seems and it actually gets a bit dark, and characters that I hope people have learned to love, are put in jeopardy.

“There is a twist. It’s a bit of a thriller. But, essentially, it’s about relationships and it’s about the community helping each other out — and how one person, telling lies and distorting the truth with a really horrible plan, can just disrupt so many lives.”

Like in the first book, she was keen to do justice to Orkney and represent it in a way locals would appreciate.

Lorraine said: “You know, just because you happen to live in one of those beautiful parts of the country, doesn’t mean that it’s not got problems, I think it was important to reflect that.

“I didn’t want to do the whole rose-tinted glasses thing. That’s easy. I think a lot of people do that when they get here — but it’s like they don’t see the whole picture.

“And that whole picture, people, complications, life — that’s what makes a place so incredibly special.”

Speaking of complications, Lorraine said she found the second novel tricky, but help from a friend, an esteemed wordsmith, helped.

“The second book was more difficult to write,” explained the Glasgow-born presenter.

“I’m very lucky that I get to talk to a lot of writers. I said to Marion Keyes, who I love, I’m having bother with this book.

“And she said, ‘Good! You should be, that’s what happens. You should be questioning yourself, all writers struggle with their second book.’

“That made me feel a lot better.”

Fans of Lorraine’s writing, and Orkney, shouldn’t worry. Although this may be the end of Evie’s turn in the limelight, the isles continue to inspire Lorraine’s pen.

“It’s really sad to say cheerio,” she said, “but I have more ideas.”

These include following characters introduced in the latest book, who move to the isles with “stars in their eyes” and the dream of renovating a hotel.

Shining through her work though is her passion and love for Orkney.

“I’ve been coming to Orkney since the eighties,” she said.

Daughter Rosie took her first steps in Shapinsay and the islands have played a great role in her life.

She said a dream move would be to relocate to the isles, though that would require the whole family to come too.

“If my daughter and my granddaughter lived there, oh that would be joy of joys.”

Lorraine, for the moment, is happy in Buckinghamshire, near another Orkney advocate, and morning TV star, Timmy Mallett.

Having heard of his turn as an extra in BBC crime series Shetland, inspired by Ann Cleeves’ Jimmy Perez books, Lorraine is also keen to stretch her acting chops.

“I loved Ann Cleeves’ Orkney book,” she said of The Killing Stones, which sees Perez move to the county, and would be delighted to be asked should it ever make its way to the screen.

“I want to play the body that gets found in Maeshowe, no need for acting experience — but I could say that I acted in a drama and it happened in Orkney!”

The Island Secret by Lorraine Kelly was released on Thursday, June 18, and is available from The Orcadian Bookshop, priced £20.