The Blurb
Emma Galway's suicide has haunted the Meredith Island for fifty years.
Back on the island to lay her grandmother to rest, Kate can't avoid reflecting on the death of her aunt. Learning that her late mother had believed Emma was murdered and had conducted her own investigation, she decides to track down her aunt's killer. With the help of her neighbour, impetuous and hedonistic sculptor Siobhan Fitzgerald, Kate picks up where her mother had left off. When the two women become the subject of threatening notes and violent incidents, it's clear that one of their fellow islanders is warning them off. As they begin to look into Emma's connection to the Sutherlands, a prominent Meredith Island family, another islander dies under suspicious circumstances, forcing Kate and Siobhan to confront the likelihood that Emma's killer is still on the island.
My Review
I love a book about hidden secrets and there are plenty in this novel.
The book is set in a small town on an island in Canada. The inhabitants know one another well. When the main character, Kate returns to the island she decides to continue with the investigation that her mother began into the death of her aunt which occurred some fifty years previously. It quickly becomes clear that somebody does not want her to ask too many questions.
There are some quirky characters on the island. I found Kate easy to engage with and her friend, Siobhan was a humorous addition to this cast of characters. I found all of them to be well fleshed out and utterly believable.
I liked the way this cosy mystery was written. It was evocative and entertaining, was paced well and kept me hooked. The resolution came as a surprise. I love it when that happens.
As a debut novel this is excellent. This is the first in a planned series based on Meredith Island. A Dark Death is due to be released in the UK in June 2025 and I am very much looking forward to reading it.
Book Details
ISBN: 978 1988754604
Publisher: Stonehouse Publishing
Formats: e-book and paperback
No. of Pages: 340 (paperback)
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About the Author
Alice was born on the English side of the northern Welsh border and was raised in a small town in southern Ontario. After abandoning the idea of becoming the youngest person to win the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, she earned both her BA in Fine Arts and BEd in English and Drama. Along the way, she received my MA in Interdisciplinary Studies.
She has taught creative and therapeutic writing, English as a Second Language (ESL), and high school English and drama while publishing literary short fiction and personal essays.
Then she turned her hand to writing mysteries.
The Meredith Island Mysteries, a traditional mystery series set on a Welsh island, features historical novelist Kate Galway. The second novel in the series was a finalist for the Killer Nashville Claymore Award. That Which is Lost is a standalone crime novel set in Massachusetts.
A member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and Crime Cymru, when she is not writing, she can be found singing or reading mysteries with her cats.
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