Death on the Island

Death on the Island

THE chill of fall permeates former Icelandic first lady Eliza Reid's first novel, a murder mystery set in the cold, wet autumn of a small, wind-swept island off the coast of mainland Iceland.

At a dinner party attended by business and political higher-ups at a lauded, high-end restaurant, the deputy ambassador of Canada to Iceland suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances, seemingly poisoned by a signature cocktail. With the fall's howling winds kicking up and the ferry system shut down, guests are stranded on the island — in the company of a murderer.

Jane Shearer, the wife of Canada's head ambassador, sets out to help a young policeman figure out who is responsible for her husband's colleague's death — all while the killer remains among the group who attended the dinner. Could it be the award-winning author, the lauded chef, the mayor or… the ambassador himself?

Reid's first foray into fiction is a cosy-adjacent, locked-door, Agatha Christie-type whodunit — that alone makes it worthy of reading in the fall. Toss in some punishing Icelandic autumn weather and you'll be tucking under a warm blanket (or pulling on your Icelandic wool sweater) while sipping a cup of tea and rifling through Death on the Island.

— Ben Sigurdson