The Lone Island Mysteryis the seventh Shell House semi-cozy mystery by Emylia Hall. Released 28th April 2026 by Amazon on their Thomas & Mercer imprint, it's 392 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the others in the series) are currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
This was such a fun and engaging read. The characters, including main protagonist widow Ally Bright, are rendered believably and the author gives readers realistic and natural dialogue and interaction throughout the read. This time MC Ally and partner Jayden are investigating the suspicious death of loner Axel Marks. The plot is well engineered and the clues are fair play and cleverly presented.
Although not as adept as the inimitable Ann Cleeves' Vera books, fans of the latter will find a lot to enjoy with this series. The settings (the Cornish coast and Northumberland respectively) feature prominently in both, as well as a pervasive melancholy and intelligent characterizations and settings. Much of the internal vibe is pensive, and although the denouement and resolution are satisfying and well written, there's an indefinable wistfulness to the whole.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 11 hours, 3 minutes and is capably read by series narrator (books 3-7) Kristin Atherton. She has a well modulated lightly husky voice for the read, and does a great job with a number of regional accents of both sexes and a range of ages. Sound and production quality are high throughout.
Four and a half stars. It continues to develop and go from strength to strength. It would make a good choice for public library acquisition, home reading, and gifting. With seven books extant, and an eighth due out 4th quarter 2026, it would be a good candidate for a long binge or buddy read. Although it can be read as a standalone, there will be spoilers for earlier books if read out of order.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment