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Transcript

Welcome to Mystery Books Podcast, where you’ll discover new mystery books and authors. I’m USA Today bestselling mystery author, Sara Rosett. I’m also a bookworm who specializes in the mystery genre. I love sharing my favorite mystery discoveries from classic golden age novels to contemporary cozies.

This is season four, episode four, and it’s all about Death on the Isle by M. H. Eccleston. Death on the Isle was published in 2022. It’s the second book in the Astrid Swift mystery series. 

Blurb

Here’s the blurb, amateur sleuth, Astrid Swift investigates a maritime mystery in this cozy crime adventure set on the aisle of right.

The first line is Astrid stumbled back, felt a sharp stab of pain as her head hit the wooden seat of the dinghy, and she rolled over the side.

So I have to say that I am not fond of books that start like this, that they begin at a really high point of action and then you are cut off and have to go back. Several hours, days, months, perhaps, and get back to that high point. But I’d read the first book in this series. This is the second book. And I enjoyed the series and I wanted to see what had happened. So the series won me over and I overlooked my quibbles with the beginning. 

Setting and Characters

So let’s talk about the characters. Astrid Swift, she’s an art restorer. She’s gone through a huge life change recently. And this is book two of the series. It opens with her living in Dorset on a boat she’s inherited. So we’ll take a pause here and tell you a little bit about book one.

It’s called The Trust. It’s a mystery set at a stately home run by the National Trust. And I would recommend that if Death on the Isle sounds like something you’d enjoy, definitely go back and read The Trust first because it, the books, they can be read as standalones, but there are a couple of themes that kind of flow throughout them and you’ll just enjoy them more if you begin with the first one.

Okay, so back to Death on the Isle. In this book, Astrid is hired to assess the inheritance tax of an art collection that’s part of an estate on the Isle of Wight. And I love this setup that she has an expertise that is needed. She can be, she’s basically working as a freelancer for the tax authorities. And it’s just a great setup because it lets you see her using her expertise and then she becomes involved with this family and she has a reason to be there. Just, it’s a great setup and it lets you get into the mystery more quickly, sometimes in cozies, it takes a while for the amateur sleuth to get around to actually being involved in what will be the case. But because she’s in this profession and the tax authorities have asked for her help, it’s an automatic entry for her into this story and this mystery. 

So on the Isle of Wright, it is peak summer season at the seaside. There’s a week of yacht racing going on and you have a mix of locals with super wealthy visitors who are there for the races.

Okay. Circling back to the characters. When Astrid arrives on the island, she goes to Abbotsford Manor. She likes to check out the stately homes in the area. Cause that’s what… She’s one of her interests. So she goes there and she meets the Abbotsford Art Club, and that consists of Wren, Kabir, Frank, and Annabelle.

So these are all artists, and throughout the book they have issues with their character issues to resolve and art issues often linked to each other. And the estate manager lets this art club use the estate’s potting shed as a studio. So because Astrid is interested in art, they invite her to join their club while she’s there. And so she gets involved with this group of four artists. 

There’s also another character named Celeste. She’s inherited the estate that Astrid is valuing. She’s the daughter of the man who died. 

And then there’s a death of a local and that sets Astrid on this track of trying to find out what really happened to this man. And in her quest for the truth, she’s assisted by the art club. 

Themes and Tropes

Okay. So for themes, one of the themes that begins in book one and continues into this book is a theme. It’s a little bit stronger in this book than in book one. It’s a theme of fatherhood and it’s about parenting, and specifically relationships between fathers and daughters, and Astrid’s relationship with her father. I would say that’s the main theme. 

And then there’s also like this more subtle theme of holiday, summer holiday on an island. If you enjoy books set on an island with that type of atmosphere. Or, if you are in a dreary winter location and you want to escape somewhere summery, this would be a good choice for that because it does describe like the summer vacation or holiday feeling of the island at this time.

We have a couple of tropes in this. Book one has the stately home setting and there’s a little bit of that in this book as well. But I would say this one is more has a feeling of the lifestyles of the rich and famous type trope. It’s you get a peek into this world where people have beautiful estates, they have these luxurious yachts that they go spend time on in their spare time, and it’s just a peek into a different world.

There’s another character he’s a super successful businessman, very wealthy. He’s written books. He’s a lot liked and admired. He’s here for the Yacht Races, and in a way, his character made me think of the Glass Onion with the exploration of super wealth and what benefits and drawbacks that brings and when somebody has that much wealth can be used for good and evil and sort of an exploration of that facet of wealth.

And then another trope in this book is of course, boats and seaside mysteries. If you enjoy boating, if you enjoy that type of culture and atmosphere, you’ll enjoy this mystery. 

The Story Behind The Story

For the story behind the story and the fun facts. I found the bio from the the author’s agent’s website, and it says H. M. Eccleston worked as a journalist, mostly at the BBC, then as a TV presenter and a film critic. He’s now a full time screenwriter, and also a novelist as well. 

Recommendations

The third book in the series, Death Comes to the Costa del Sol, is also out. If you like the sound of this and you’re looking for some read-a-likes, I would recommend the first in the series, The Trust.

This, with the art club characters, it has elements of an ensemble mystery, so if you enjoy the different personalities coming together to solve a crime, I would recommend The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. very popular, very easy to find. 

I would also recommend a newer book called The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall that has a seaside setting as well. And it also has an ensemble cast. So that’s a really good match for this.

If you enjoy Island set cozies, check out Aunt Bessie Assumes. It’s the first in the Isle of Man series by Diana Xarissa. 

Another book set on an island is Death at High Tide. It’s the first in the Island Sisters Mysteries by Hannah Denison, and it’s an island off the coast of England. 

And then there’s a whole series called Death on Demand by Carolyn Hart, and it’s set on an island off of South Carolina.

And, of course, I can’t leave out the two very famous classic Christie mysteries set on islands. One is, And Then There Were None, and the other is Evil Under the Sun. And I’m sure there are plenty more classic mysteries set on islands, but those are the two that are the most well known and come top of mind for most people.

So my question for you is what are your recommendations for boating or island or nautical mysteries? You can find me on Instagram as Sara Rosett or you can leave a comment on the show notes for this episode Which will be at sararosett.com/isle. I S L E 

Thanks to the publisher for sending a review copy. All opinions are my own. I hope this podcast has let you revisit a favorite book or perhaps helps you to discover a new author to try. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, I hope you’ll tell a fellow mystery reader. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time.