Murder mystery set on an island

Submitted: 22nd March 2021

The Invitation by A M Castle

A classic example of a book that comes along at the right time. Thirteen guests on a remote island. There’s limited access as the causeway is often cut off by the tides. There’s a storm coming and just as the guests are sitting down to dinner, the lights go out. The lights come on again and….there’s a dead body in the room….

Setting: a castle on a remote and isolated island…in the dark….at halloween…

BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Invitation

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Would you attend a Halloween party on a remote island?

First of all I have to say that was a book I had such fun with! This is a reading experience for sure. I felt I was playing a parlour game where I, as well as the guests, was dressed up in a costume waiting for something to happen, someone to speak, a clue to appear. Tell you something, I had chills down my spine as I read as I had flashbacks to And Then There Were None, The Guest List and The Wedding Guest by Lucy Foley with a bit of Ruth Ware thrown in. Plenty of loud noises and theatrical darkness. I could imagine this taking place on the stage.

Booktrailers don’t be too disappointed but the setting is fictional – somewhere on an island off the coast of Cornwall. I suspect it’s Mount St Michel given its description of a causeway and proximity to the mainland. However it’s the distance when it’s cut off by the tide that provides the biggest link to this place. I really want to go here now and take this book with me so I can sit safely on the mainland and look out to the island, trying to see if I can see any lights on anywhere, or people trying to attract attention..

BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Invitation

As part of this play we see unfolding infront of us, there’s a huge cast of characters but it’s easy to keep track as each one is well written. You soon get a sense of who has secrets and what those secrets are. I was on tenterhooks waiting for someone to slip up and the wall of secrets to come spilling out!

Oh this had all the thrills of a theatre play, a who dunnit detective novel and a Christie-esque treat. I had the urge to find a mask and cloak like the characters at their party and play along. Immediately after reading this, I went and played a game of Cluedo to stay in the gothic and old-school vibe this novel gave me. Quite a treat.

A lot of fun, lots of red herrings, great and disturbed characters and a number of secrets just waiting to spill out at the Halloween party you’ll never forget. 13 guests……but not for long.