Review by Booklist Review
Evie Mead, deeply grieving her husband's sudden death, learns she will probably lose her home but may inherit a hotel, Tregarrick Rock, on one of the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornwall coast. As a distraction, her sister Margot convinces Evie to visit the hotel, where the two pretend they are scouting locations for a movie. The owner and his family, an elderly woman, a small staff, and a famous photographer are the only other inhabitants of the hotel during the off-season. Soon a murder occurs, closely followed by a second one. Since the island is accessible only at low tide, the murderer must be one of the island's few residents. Considered a suspect, Evie must untangle secrets from the past to solve the crime. Meanwhile, she and her sister are keeping secrets from one another. In a thrilling conclusion, Evie fights for her life and exposes the killer. A vividly described setting, effective plot twists, and a strong portrayal of sisterly love distinguish this "locked island" mystery, the first in Dennison's Island Sisters series.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of this winning series launch from Dennison (the Honeychurch Hall mysteries), 36-year-old Evie Mead learns that her recently deceased older husband, Robert, has left her in financial difficulties, but a document discovered at his accountant's office indicates she may have inherited Tregarrick Rock, a hotel on the island of Tregarrick off the coast of Cornwall. Accompanied by Margot Chandler, her glamorous Hollywood producer sister, Evie heads to remote Tregarrick to check out her possible inheritance. Nasty Jago Ferris claims he owns Tregarrick Rock, and denies knowledge of Robert and any such document, though Evie later finds a photo of them together next to a picture of Robert's first wife in Jago's office. Jago's artist wife, Tegan, takes a particular dislike to Evie, and two hotel employees are conspicuously cool to the sisters. Two murders and a high tide cutting off the police heighten the suspense. Intriguing characters and an intricate plot lift this twist on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Cozy fans will look forward to further skullduggery on Tregarrick. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A pair of sisters team up to claim a once-grand hotel on a remote Cornish island in this series kickoff from a veteran writer. Evie Mead loves her husband, Robert, a silver fox with a penchant for speed sports and eccentric investments, and she's stunned when he suddenly drops dead of a heart attack. Her shock is compounded when his financial adviser, Nigel Hearst, regretfully informs her that Robert was so deep in debt that she may not even be able to keep their home. Among Robert's papers, however, a curious promissory note turns up: Evie is apparently owed either 100,000 pounds or the deed to Tregarrick Rock, a hotel in the Isles of Scilly. Evie's sister, Margot, freshly home from Los Angeles and determined to cheer up her sister, insists on an expedition to the islands before Evie can even plan Robert's funeral. The sisters high-tail it off to Cornwall and cadge a ferry ride from an implausibly handsome treasure hunter to find an art deco gem in dire need of renovation on an island so small it has no resident medical professionals or police. To avoid tipping their hand, Margot spontaneously decides to pose as a more successful producer than she is, with Evie as her location scout, in search of a site for a pirate movie. The treasure hunter turns out to be the heir to Tregarrick Rock, with whom the hotel's cook has an unhealthy obsession. The imposing owner of the hotel, who's unsurprisingly unhappy to see Evie, insists that he's already repaid the debt. When he's found dead on the beach, Evie and Margot, as outsiders, are automatic suspects. The police officer from the next island over gathers everyone in a parlor for questioning, reads them their Miranda rights just for fun, and accepts testimony from the local vicar, who claims to be speaking for the hotel cat. The heroine may be an utter fool, but the author clearly expects her readers to be even stupider. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
