Displeasure Island
ISBN: 9781838958435
Description
Professional medium turned detective Claire, her best friend Sophie (a 17-year-old ghost) and their pals are enjoying a much-needed cheap holiday in an unfinished hotel on Spike Island off the coast of Ireland. Claire is flattered to be asked by the local ghost of a pirate captain to investigate the theft of treasure from the shipwreck that stranded him there several hundred years ago. But just when she thinks she is closing in on the culprit, a murder takes place, and Claire and her friends quickly become the chief suspects. Can they recover the treasure, solve the murder and clear their names before all is lost?
Reviewed on 26th May 2024
Back for a second adventure, Claire and Sophie go on holiday to an Irish prison island turned wellness retreat. Naturally given this is cosy crime, murder ensues, and the pair and their friends need to work out who dunnit, alongside a host of other mysteries.
I found this more challenging to read than the first novel. In part I suspect that’s because my copy has been printed with enormous letters, which means fewer words per line and I had to hold the book further from my face than normal. This may be a sign of my own aging too. But the text was a bit extremely big and made me feel like the novel was being artificially lengthened to meet a page count.
The range of new characters were good. They were a distinctive bunch, each with solidly identifiable traits, complex interpersonal dynamics, and a bunch of motives which is always important. And they showed an impressive range of diversity (in some metrics at least) which I enjoy in a novel and feels more reflective of my experience of the real world.
For whatever reason though it didn't grip me as much as I wanted it to, and now I’m less confident about recommending this series to friends as I was before.
