303 Pages
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Welcome to Eldey, an island with deadly secrets.
Mona: a carefree artist, staying at the Cloister to work on her illustrations.
Beth: the harried mother of a toddler, on the remote Welsh island for a weekend with her family.
Charlotte: a reluctant stepmother who wanted a romantic getaway with her husband.
One of them is a serial killer who poisoned four of her friends at her eleventh birthday party.
They all fit the profile. Who will risk everything to kill again?
This is a very gothic type murder mystery. On an island cut off from the mainland by a malevolent, brooding storm, the guests and staff begin to die one by one. It's up to the newly appointed Night-Manager Mallory Dawson to try and keep what's left of the guests alive while at the same time trying to puzzle out who the deadly poisoner is.
But Mallory has experience on her side being an ex-Met detective, albeit one with her own demons as well as physical injuries.
Are these deaths just straight forward murder or are they linked to the islands macabre past.
The author does an excellent of maintaining a sense of panic through out the book. The pace is breathless. You really do feel like one of the chickens trapped in the henhouse while the fox picks you off one by one. Is it going to be me next? When will help arrive? Will it arrive at all?
I think the blurb gives a little too much away as it narrows the suspect pool for the reader needlessly but apart from that it's a very good read. It will leave happy to breathe a sigh of relief at the end.
Now in my head Mallory Dawson inhabits the same literal universe as Jonah Greene from Graham H Miller's "The List" and DI Mandy Wilde from Jacqueline Harret's "The Whispering Trees." South Wales is matching Midsummer for murders.
The island is Eldey, which is reality is a faintly hidden version of Caldey. Caldey was also the fictional setting for Sleepless by Louise Mumford. Perhaps there should be a sub genre for Caldey Crime.
"The legend around here is the island likes to choose its guests."
"..trying to identify the killer is an impossible task for a single person. The whole point of poison as a method of killing is that the guilty can be far removed from the victim."
"He swung around. ‘And you’re sure you can’t tell me the guest’s name?’ Mallory tried a smile. ‘Even the dead are entitled to their privacy."
- If You Liked This Then You May Like...
Sleepless by Louise Mumford (see our review here)And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
I’m the author of four contemporary crime novels set in the Derbyshire Peak District. My debut novel, In Bitter Chill, was described by the Daily Mail as a ‘tense, well-told story of loss and family secrets’. My second book, A Deadly Thaw, was called ‘relentless in its grip’ by the Financial Times. The third book in the series, A Patient Fury, was The Observer’s Thriller of the Month and The Shrouded Path was described as ‘macabre and unsettling’ by The Guardian.My Gothic thriller, The Quickening, published using my middle name, Rhiannon Ward was a Radio Times book of 2020 and shortlisted for the Dracula Society Children of the Night Award. The Shadowing was published in September 2021 and was a Daily Express book of the year.
In addition to writing, I’m an experienced event chair, Board Member of the Crime Writers Association, and a Trustee of Friends of Buxton International Festival. I’m a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Sheffield University. I’m also a member of the Welsh crime writing collective Crime Cymru.
I’m represented by Kirsty McLachlan at Morgan Green Creatives. She can be contacted on kirsty@morgangreencreatives.com
