Marooned and in Peril: Five Crime Novels Set on Islands
By Edwin Hill
August 22, 2019
There’s something inherently interesting about a mystery set on an island. There are those that are set on small islands: ones that are remote, wind-swept, and hopefully facing a devastating storm. The threat of isolation without the possibility of outside assistance makes for great storytelling. Then there are the ones that explore those tiny close-knit communities filled with characters who choose island life, an existence that’s unique and far away from the rest of the world. Here, long-standing rivalries among people who all know each other a bit too well can spiral and wreak havoc in all the best ways.
So, here are five novels, old and new, set in the remotest, most wind-swept corners of the earth (and one with a decidedly more urban setting):
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I’ve seen so many movie versions of this story (the 1974 version starring Elke Sommer was a mainstay on of my childhood, though time has not been kind to it) that I almost forgot the original novel takes place on an island off the coast of Devon, England. Almost everyone knows the set up: eight strangers arrive on the island with invitations tailored to their own needs—an offer of employment, a free vacation, etc.—only to get killed off one by one, by methods outlined in a nursery rhyme. If you haven’t read this book in a while, or if you’ve only seen the movie versions, you might be surprised by how delightfully dark the original is, or how much influence it has had over later works, including ‘80s slasher movies. Christie adapted it into a stage play, and even she thought the ending should lighten up for theater audiences. I think she got it just right the first time around.
The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson
The Icelandic landscape lends itself to crime writing. The idea of an entire island nation of fewer than four hundred thousand people huddled together against the elements, fending off the light of summer and the darkness of winter makes for great storytelling. One of my favorite authors to come out of Iceland in recent years is Ragnar Jonasson. The Darkness (translated by Victoria Cribb), the first in his Hulda series, uses prose as sparse as the landscape to create an atmospheric thriller that explores themes of loneliness, sexism, and aging as he follows Hulda, a 64-year-old detective facing forced retirement, while she makes one last-ditch effort to solve the murder of an immigrant woman no one seems to care about. A surprise ending will make you want to continue with what promises to be a thrilling trilogy.
Stay Hidden by Paul Doiron
The ninth outing in Doiron’s Mike Bowditch series takes the game investigator Bowditch to a speck of an island twenty miles off the coast of Maine, the fictional Maquoit Island, which Doiron even had a mapmaker draw up for the book. The story exploits all the beauty and complications of such a remote setting, including the once-a-week ferry that plays an important role in the intricate plot. This is a great series that captures Maine living at its best and worst, and you might want to start at the beginning with The Poacher’s Son.
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Murder with Puffins by Donna Andrews
The second book in Andrews’ Meg Langslow series takes a cozier view of a Maine island, stranding Meg and her extended family on the very real and very remote Monhegan Island when a hurricane hits. The plot in this novel is well executed and, like with all the books in the long-running series, the fun is seeing Meg’s coping strategies for her large and eccentric family. Andrews does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of Monhegan, a four-square-mile hunk of granite eight miles off the coast of Boothbay Harbor that hosts artists in the summer and where cars aren’t allowed and the year-round population hovers around forty.
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
For another classic, you can visit my favorite island of them all, Manhattan Island, which is anything but bleak, and down a few (or many) cocktails with Nick and Nora Charles, while flitting around town to speakeasies and clubs. The plot in this novel is intricate—involving gangsters, a missing inventor, adultery, lots of subterfuge, and much more—but it also introduces two of the most endearing crime fighters, some of the best dialogue you’ll ever read, and a spitfire of a dog named Asta, so it won’t be all bad if you have to read it more than once to figure out what the hell happened. I did.
About The Missing Ones
Hester Thursby has given up using her research skills to trace people who don’t want to be found. A traumatic case a few months ago unearthed a string of violent crimes, and left Hester riddled with self-doubt and guilt. Caring for a four-year-old is responsibility enough in a world filled with terrors Hester never could have imagined before.
Finisterre Island, off the coast of Maine, is ruggedly beautiful and remote—the kind of place tourists love to visit, though rarely for long. But not everyone who comes to the island is welcome. A dilapidated Victorian house has become home to a group of squatters and junkies, and strangers have a habit of bringing trouble with them. A young boy disappeared during the summer, and though he was found safely, the incident stirred suspicion among locals. Now another child is missing. Summoned to the island by a cryptic text, Hester discovers a community cleaning up from a devastating storm—and uncovers a murder.
Soon Hester begins to connect the crime and the missing children. And as she untangles the secrets at the center of the small community, she finds grudges and loyalties that run deep, poised to converge with a force that will once again shake her convictions about the very nature of right and wrong . . .
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The 1940s Rene Clair “And Then There Were None” is one of my favorite films! And the 1960s version of the story set at a ski lodge is also very good! I saw the 1970s version in the theatre when it came out and it always seemed deeply, deeply flawed!
Lsmoore43@yahoo.com
I loved the first book and can’t wait to read this one. I would LOVE to have a copy of this for my book room.
I would love to read and review the missing one
I absolutely love all of Agatha Christie’s books and seeing the list of books where the setting was an island, has me adding them to my TBR list.
Angie@bling45.vip
suspenseful
An interesting and diverse list of mysteries set on islands. I have read them all.
Thanks for the chance to win a copy of The Missing Ones.
What an interesting article! I’d love to read and review this new one. Several friends have been recommending your books. Thank you so much for the chance!
I’d love to read these.
Gah!!!! Cannot wait to get my eyes in this book!!!
Awesome. Thanks!
Cover looking good. Would like another book in my library. Thank you for the chance.
I’d love to read this book. Thanks for the chance to win it.
This sounds so good! Thanks for the opportunity!
Lovely
I would love the chance to read my first book by Edwin Hill.
sounds interesting
Captivating.
Thanks for this great giveaway.
Mysterious island? Spooky house? You can never go wrong there! Definitely eager for the chance to read this one!
I would love to read the book.
Sounds like a winner.
Please and thanks.
Mr. Hill is a new author to me and I would love to read and review his latest novel The Missing Ones.
page turning about to commence
Looks like a great read!
island mysteries are the best ones
Sounds awesome
I think “And Then There Were None” was the first mystery I read as a teenager, it made a huge impression at the time and still holds a high place in my list of favorites. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of The Missing Ones!
Enjoyed the first book in this series
– thanks for the chance to win….
Great list! The TBR pile grows again…
I would love the chance to read this book! Thanks for the chance.
Have seen a few of the movie adaptations, but now need to read the originals again. But they all sound like good reads.
Sounds like a good plot!
I’ve read some of the listed books. Islands don’t have to be surrounded by water in crime books to be effective as crime novels. Just separate the area by weather, by desert, by mountain, by fire or whatever works and you have what you need.
I am anxious to read this novel. Sounds very suspenseful.
It sounds like a very interesting book. Thank you for the chance.
TravelAddict would love an opportunity to be Marooned and in Peril with this novel
Edwin Hill is my kind of writer! I’m going to look up and follow on Amazon, Goodreads, bookbub. Thank you!!!
TravelAddict would love to be Marooned and in Peril with this novel.
Your novel sounds very compelling. It will be in good company with the other island-based books you listed. (Nice list–I wouldn’t have thought of the Thin Man, but of course Manhattan counts!)
To find what was lost! Yes!
Sounds like a great read!
Great list of books. Can’t wait to read this one.
Sounds intriguing! I would love to win a copy!!
Please count me in for this sweepstakes.
Thanks!
This sounds interesting. I hate I missed the first book (I’m going to find it now).
Good list of books….a couple I’ve read and a couple I haven’t heard of before. The Missing Ones sounds like it will be a good read. Even the description produces a feeling of uneasy tension and suspicion.
Sounds intriguing.
I’ve only seen the movie version of “And Then There Were None”. I also haven’t read the other four books in the essay. Looking forward to reading these PLUS “The Missing Ones”. Sounds like my kind of crime novel.
This sounds interesting and full of suspense. Just the kind I like. Thanks for the chance to win.
Always wanted to go to Maine and I love islands and mysteries!
This sounds great
Sounds like an interesting read! I love mystery/Thrillers!
Would love to win this book! It looks like a good one!
Sounds great! Going on my TBR!!
An interesting list! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
This looks great
I really want to win this book.
It’s interesting how well islands work as settings for novels. I loved the Martha’s Vineyard mystery series by Phillip Craig and of course the Nantucket books by Elin Hilderbrand and the Gansett Island books by Marie Force are huge bestsellers. When done well, there’s something magical about novels set on islands.
sounds interesting
Would love it…
thanks for the chance to win!