Death on the Island

by Eliza Reid, TBD (Narrator)

Trapped on a remote island by a howling storm, nine people sit down to dinner.

One of them is about to die.

A group of international players has gathered in a tiny village off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic dinner. There's Kristján, the mayor reeling from a personal tragedy. Graeme, the ambassador with an agenda to push. Jane, his wife, along for the ride on another one of her husband's many business trips. And several others, from Iceland and from abroad, each with their own reason for being there, their own loyalties and grievances. By the end of the night, one of them will be dead. And it will be up to the ambassador's wife, Jane, to figure out how—and why.

What Jane soon comes to realize is that small communities can be the most dangerous of them all… and no one in their group is safe. With secrets around every corner and violent weather trapping the finite list of suspects together on the island, this locked-room mystery by internationally bestselling author Eliza Reid brings Agatha Christie and Nordic noir together in a brand-new twist.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Suspense, Nordic Noir

Audiobook

First published April 29, 2025

About the author

Eliza Reid is a bestselling writer, public speaker, gender equality advocate, cofounder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat and former first lady of Iceland. She was born and raised in Canada but has lived in Iceland for over twenty years. Eliza’s first book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, was an instant bestseller in Canada and Iceland, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Pick, and translated into numerous languages. Her first novel, an Iceland-set mystery called Death of a Diplomat (Death on the Island in North America.), will be published in spring 2025 and has been optioned for television.

From 2016 to 2024, Eliza served in the unofficial role of First Lady while her husband was President of Iceland, during which time she served as patron of numerous organizations and was named a United Nations Special Ambassador for Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals. A memoir of her time in the role is set for publication in 2026.

Eliza has degrees from the University of Toronto (Trinity College) and Oxford University (St. Antony’s College). She lives in the outskirts of Reykjavík with her husband and four children.

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Death on the Island, we follow an eclectic group of characters who come together in a tiny island community off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic event.

We have the mayor of the town, an Ambassador from Canada and his wife, a local high-profile chef, an artist with ties to the island, and others. They all come together for a special dinner to open up their talks and hopefully create good spirits amongst the group.



It's supposed to be a joyous occasion, and it does seem to start out that way. That is until one of the guests ends up dead of unknown causes, but what everyone quickly assumes to be poison consumption.

Making matters worse, a brutal storm is bearing down on them. It's clear no one is going to be leaving the island. All the better to catch a killer, but in the meantime, doesn't that mean they're trapped with one?



I had a blast reading Death on the Island. I went into it with zero expectations. I hadn't heard of this author, or any buzz for the book, but the title screamed, READ ME!!!

I'm so glad I made the time for it. I was completely engaged from the start. It actually turns out this is the author's debut novel, and I'm so excited for more.



I appreciated how quickly Reid gets us into the action. I was drawn into the story so fast. I liked that we were following political figures, such as ambassadors and mayors. I haven't read one like that in a while, so it was a nice change of pace.

I enjoyed how the author formatted the story as well. You get the reveal of the death, and then you go back in time and track through the events leading up to that death. It was done in a countdown-style that I feel added a level of tension to it that might not have been there otherwise.

Learning about this cast of characters, as well as their relationships to one another and potential motivations for why someone would take out anyone at this dinner party, was very entertaining. There was certainly plenty of drama to oh-and-ah over.



With this being said, I'll admit there's a lot of moving parts and it was a little hard to track in the beginning. For a minute, I started to feel overwhelmed, but I tried to just relax into it, not worry too much about the details, and to just let Reid do her thing.

Ultimately, Reid pulled it off. This had me so invested, I had no longstanding issues tracking the various characters, or their interpersonal dramas.



Overall, I loved the atmospheric-island setting, which was done so well in my humble island-dweller opinion. I also really enjoyed the use of an inclement weather element to help build out that tense atmosphere, as well as the interesting cast of characters.

It was so gripping trying to solve this murder mystery, my head was all over the place. I did Buddy Read it with a friend, and definitely recommend that. It was so fun trying to guess the killer together, and their reasons behind it.



Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me a copy to read and review.

I loved how this kept me guessing, and I'm looking forward to more from Eliza Reid!!!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published May 13, 2025.

2 stars.

This book is marketed as a debut but the author has other books listed in the Goodreads database. A group of “international players” (from the book description….these people are NOT really international players, except for one guy) are also n a tiny village on an island offf the coast of Iceland for your standard meet and greet with an unspoken agenda as Graeme, Canada’s ambassador to Iceland is seeking to make a business deal. Jane, his wife, is along for the ride, as she is so often. There’s Hanna, whose art exhibit they are all ostensibly there to view, Kavita, the deputy ambassador, her husband, Rahal, Kristjan, mayor of the town, Ben, Jane’s friend and a Booker Prize winner and Thor and Linda, owners of a major frozen fish company in Iceland. Soon one of them will be dead and it will be up to Jane to solve the crime because they are trapped on the island due to bad weather (of course.)

I was really rooting for this little mystery. I love books set in Iceland, Greenland, etc. I loved locked room mysteries. The description of the dinner was great. I would have loved more I eland specific details like that. Vestmannaeyjar sounds like a great town. But this was dull. Dull, dull, dull. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true. Disappointing.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A locked room mystery in storm on an isolated island off Iceland, what a perfect setting for a murder mystery. This was a great debut with an eclectic cast of characters. We have a celebrity chef, a prize winning author and an abundance of authors at a dinner in a top restaurant. After a Flaming Viking cocktail, one of them drops dead. It is the second death on the island in 2 months, which is suspicious.

There is so much going on behind the scenes with all of these characters. They all seem to have grudges with each other, reason to want each other dead. It was also nice to learn a it about Iceland along the way. I had a little inkling of the killer, but as always I was wrong!!

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for my copy of this book to read. Out on May 13th.

[Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic locked room scenario involving people trapped on a small Icelandic island by bad weather, this book is described as Agatha Christie meets Nordic Noir. When the lights go out at a restaurant gathering, a diplomat dies, ostensibly poisoned. There are so many people with secrets, and more than one person has a motive to murder. The pacing is slow, but the young policeman finally makes an arrest after a second death. But did he really catch the murderer? Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[jamie griffith · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book introduced EIGHT characters (every single one of them exhaustingly boring btw) in THREE pages and then just threw a bunch of icelandic words on the next 45 to give a history lesson that i’ll never know if it has to do with the murder mystery. gave up on this 50 pages in because i got tired of trying to keep up with each character’s boring ass back story (or lack thereof). this is one of my favorite genres i don’t know how this managed to be so tiring

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little murder mystery. A group of people arrive on an island for a diplomatic dinner. They are hoping to arrange a few deals and everyone has their own secrets and agendas.

I can't lie, to start, this book is a little rough. There are a lot of names, at first, with titles and secrets and relationships. It took me a few chapters to figure out who was who, how they were connected, and who knew what (because not everyone knew everything).

I loved the map in the beginning. I loved the countdown so we knew what murder was coming. The suspense was great and kept me wondering what would happen next. And even though I had quite a few guesses, I definitely didn't see the twists all the way to the end. A fun mystery that kept me guessing. I liked it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good mystery set in Iceland, with Canadian diplomats in the forefront of the character list, by the former First Spouse of Iceland, herself a Canadian-Icelandic writer!

[Kay H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A locked-room Agatha Christie-esque mystery, set on a tiny Icelandic island. While there are many players in this book, I never felt overwhelmed and I could always remember who was who. Multiple POVs have you wondering "Who is the unreliable narrator?". It started strong, but the pacing and momentum stepped down a bit and then held steady to the end. There's no unnecessary drama but there's also no jaw-dropping plot twists. It has you guessing and trying to solve the mystery throughout, but nothing has you gasping. While I'm not entirely sure you'd be able to predict the ending, I did have fun running through the possible scenarios.

A few times, I felt like character choices didn't make sense. Why would the mayor have two people that he met less than 48 hours ago go through his deceased partner's precious belongings? I understand that during the grieving process, going through those yourself is too painful to imagine. But I also think that you'd also value them highly enough not just to let two relative strangers go through them. I got stuck on this, and since those belongings were revisited multiple times, my disbelief was very hard to suspend.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Barb reads......it ALL! · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant debut! Thank you, NetGalley, for the advance.
Mysteries are a favorite genre for me, international mysteries? Even better! I picked it up for the author, former first lady of Iceland and to my delight it was atmospheric and character driven and Christie-esque. More please!

[Maggie Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely predictable until the very, very end and then an unreliable narrator enters the scene.

[Katie Wilkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will preface this with the fact I read this for a book club and this is not my genre of choice.

I was hopeful that reading a book that mentioned Canada would be good but my national pride got the better of me.
It was boring and I didn't care about any of the characters positively or negatively.

[Seras23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Described as a combination of Agatha Christie and Nordic Noir, I was ready to devour this book. I truly wanted to love it. The story started off strong, but it quickly lost steam and slowed to a crawl. Most of the book is written from Jane's perspective, though with an omniscient narrator. A problem that I ran into was that so much of the book is told from Jane's perspective that when it switched to scenes that were not from her perspective, it was jarring and pulled me out of the book for a moment. I eventually got used to it, but it was strangely disruptive. I also could not buy into certain plot points, and I felt myself becoming mildly irritated through most of the book. I thought the end would wrap up nicely, and it was close to doing so, but then there were a few details that were particularly unbelievable and/or frustrating. I was surprised to learn that not only is this the opener to a planned series, but there is also already a television show planned to be based on the series. This is certainly not a bad book, but it's not a great book either. It is firmly in the realm of books that are just okay. I hope that future installments will have tighter writing with more showing than telling, and that some loose ends from this story might be wrapped up in the next installment.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping whodunnit set against the stark, haunting beauty of Iceland. Death on the Island pulled me in with its moody atmosphere and compelling mystery. Eliza Reid does a fantastic job weaving Icelandic history and culture into the narrative—it added such a unique layer to the story and made the setting feel alive. The characters were well-drawn, and the twists kept me guessing. A solid debut that blends suspense with a strong sense of place. Looking forward to what Reid writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of this book!

[Rebeccah Pipersburgh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I was sent this book from the publisher, and so I was excited to get an arc copy to read before it’s released!! This was a pretty good, slow burn thriller. If you’re looking for a fast paced, this one wasn’t as intense as I was thinking it would be. The way the chapters were aligned with timelines before death of a character was kind of weird to me. I appreciated the backstory of the Icelandic island, however some parts got boring. I didn’t connect to the characters really so it made it harder to get through but some of the twists were good!

[Ken Fredette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely good book with many scenarios that change everything from time to time which you don't know. Everything is explained at the end of the book but good reading. Can you guess who it is at the very beginning? It is like an Agatha Christie book. It has many people who are and aren't important, but you don't know why? There are many hints as to who is important. I loved this book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I had this figured this one out. I guessed early on and then was sure at another point. I was sort of right but not completely which I always love. Great for a debut. I found most of the characters rather boring, but the plot was great.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Eliza Reid is the former "first lady" of Iceland --though that term is not generally used in her country -- and has written a nonfiction book about the strides made by women in Iceland towards autonomy and equality. Now she's back with her first novel, a locked room mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. A group of nine international players has gathered in a tiny village off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic dinner. There's Kristján, the mayor reeling from a personal tragedy. Graeme, the ambassador with an agenda to push. Jane, his wife, along for the ride on another one of her husband's many business trips. And several others, from Iceland and from abroad, each with their own reason for being there, their own loyalties and grievances. By the end of the night, one of them will be dead.

The novel's structure is interesting, starting with the dinner described above, then going back in time to explore incidents that preceded it, before again moving forward in time, counting off the hours before another death will occur, though the victim is unnamed. In this way, the author maintained the suspense until the very end, before neatly resolving the issues of guilt and innocence, with surprises even on the last page. Character development is limited in this plot-driven mystery, and for me that was a drawback. Relationships and interactions among the various characters were puzzling at times, with cryptic hints dropped about past events that seemed to have uncertain relevance. Fans of Agatha Christie, however, will likely enjoy it more than I did. The author notes in her acknowledgements at the end of the book that she's been working with Blink49 Productions on a television adaptation of this book, an exciting event for any author and also for readers!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress, publisher, for providing a complimentary eARC in exchange for an objective review. Today (5/13/25) is publication day, so if you're looking for a new mystery, check this one out.

[Rosalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 rating.

This one started out with promise: I loved the setting, especially since I haven't read anything set in Iceland before this book, and the concept drew me in. Ultimately I was disappointed and ended with a meh feeling about this but would maybe consider reading book 2.

One of my biggest disappointments was that the author dropped some bread crumbs leading the reader to believe that there would be some big secrets revealed throughout, but I felt like the breadcrumbs were more dramatic than the actual "reveals". There were numerous plot points that felt so utterly unbelievable to me - one example being the town's mayor agreeing to let two strangers he has only met one time at a dinner party go through his dead husband's office to look for clues because he has not been able to bring himself to do so yet due to grief. I mean really what person lets two strangers go through your beloved husband's belongings?! It felt like the author was reaching veryyy far with some of the details like this one to make her story come together. I was unsatisfied with how some plot points were concluded due to it feeling messy, naive, immature or rushed for many of them.

[Book.ishJulie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death On The Island is a whip smart debut murder-mystery from Eliza Reid!

It took me a bit, but once I had a good enough handle on these characters, their title, relationship to one another, and what they knew - I just sat back and watched the murder(s) unfold!

Although many of the bones are the same, I still hesitate to firmly stamp this mystery with the Nordic noir label. Yes it has an Icelandic setting, melancholic atmosphere, deeply flawed characters, multiple deaths, and represents gender equality (Reid's wheelhouse), it still somehow slightly missed the mark. Maybe I just yearned for even more foreboding and darkness!

I loved how fast the action happened, the countdown that opened almost every chapter, and learning of Iceland's volcanic past. I also adored protagonist Jane Shearer, as she is an easy one to root for!

Reid hints at another mystery installment and I'm excited to see where she next takes these characters!

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, Simon & Schuster and Poisoned Pen Press for the complimentary copy to read and review.

[Daphne S · Rating 1 out of 5]

This sleepy whodunnit is like the longest game of Clue ever played. It’s tedious and not suspenseful in the least. The entire plot is about uncovering the murderer in short chapters jumping form one character to the next. It’s hard to care about any of it by mid point. Had to read to the end to see if it redeemed itself. Nope. What a slog.

[Kallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the setting and plotting of this mystery, though the characters could have been a little more discrete. When you hear island you often think tropical, so having it be Icelandic was excellent. I'd read more by this author in the future!

[Jillann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive for a debut

[Julia Moser · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,3/5

es war insgesamt ein gut geschriebenes Buch, aber nicht ganz so fesselnd, wie ich mir das wünsche. Der*die Täter*in war auch durchaus zu erraten, keine wahnsinnig unerwartete Wendung am Schluss.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let’s call this a 3.5 rating. A solid murder mystery with a fairly complicated plot line. Red herring’s judiciously spread throughout with a believable ending, and it did take me up until the last 40 pages to actually see it. Logically, though, I should have seen it sooner, but kudos to Eliza Reid for hiding it in plain sight.

[Juliana · Rating 2 out of 5]

i wanted to get into this. It was set up perfectly. Yet most of the book was dull and I zoned out more than once. Oh well 🙁

[Mardi Michels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC.
Expected publication May 13, 2025.

"A group of international players has gathered in a tiny village off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic dinner. There's Kristján, the mayor reeling from a personal tragedy. Graeme, the ambassador with an agenda to push. Jane, his wife, along for the ride on another one of her husband's many business trips. And several others, from Iceland and from abroad, each with their own reason for being there, their own loyalties and grievances. By the end of the night, one of them will be dead. And it will be up to the ambassador's wife, Jane, to figure out how—and why.

What Jane soon comes to realize is that small communities can be the most dangerous of them all… and no one in their group is safe. With secrets around every corner and violent weather trapping the finite list of suspects together on the island, this locked-room mystery by internationally bestselling author Eliza Reid brings Agatha Christie and Nordic noir together in a brand-new twist."

I LOVED this book! A locked room scenario? Check! Characters you'll love to hate? Check! Twists you didn't see coming (right to the end!)? Check! Agatha Christie meets Nordic Noir is my new favourite genre!

[Becca _the.bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC!

This is a well researched, locked room mystery. The Icelandic setting of this book is wonderful, and I have to say that Reid does an amazing job paying homage to the language, culture, and folk lore of Iceland. The setting was honestly the best part of this book. With that said, I have to say that I feel like this book dragged. It started off strong with a mysterious death, but quickly loses steam. There are multiple characters, which gets a bit confusing, who all have extensive back stories. These deep backstories are great for character development, but they slowed the pace of the book down significantly. I felt like there was far too much narrative and not enough of the plot line. The second half of the book picked up, but some of the plot line seemed improbable to me and it was hard to get past. I also felt like the writing felt stiff and didn’t flow well. Overall, the premise of the book was good and the setting was so well done, I just don’t think I was the reader for this book. I know there’s a population of readers who will love this out there!

[Kat Burg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a face-paced murder mystery. I really liked the setting (bleak Icelandic island during a fall storm? A perfect setting for a muder mystery). I quite liked the setup - we met all the key players, a murder happens a few chapters in, and then we get a couple of countdowns. The first countdown happens after the first death has occured (going back in time and counting until the death occurs), and then another countdown begins until a myseterious second death (We are not told who it will be). I found that this kept me invested, kept the tension up, and kept me guessing as to who could be next.

I did find the pacing to be a bit jarring - the short chapters kept me reading, but besides that I did find it a bit hard to stay invested in the story. This might have also been because I didn't quite care overmuch for the characters - they felt a little flat and one-dimensional, and I couldn't really connect with their motivations. Things that were framed as bombshell reveals fell a touch flat for me.

The ending got me though! the last 2 chapters had a nice reveal/switcheroo.

[Heathers_readss · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s one thing that’s for certain and it’s that any book that references Agatha Christie’s style, or has an eery setting in the vivid landscapes of Iceland, I’m going to pick up and read it, and in this case this book had both so there’s a win win situation to begin with.

The author definitely nailed the setting and I liked how the characters where written in an interesting style of being profiled to fit their part, everybody had a place and a reason for being and I found that to be an interesting component to the writing style.

For a debut novel the author did a great job of providing the reader with a closed door, high states mystery thriller which was atmospheric and entertaining. There was parts to the plot which did come across as a little too convenient however it didn’t take away from reading enjoyment as a whole and I’m sure this is something the author will flesh out as she continues her writing career.

Thank you to poisoned pen press and Eliza Reid for the EARC!

Publish date / May 13th 2025