This is my favourite type of whodunnit, cozy mystery--a pool of murder suspects gathered together on an isolated island or in an isolated mansion. In this case, the setting was an isolated island, which should have been an idyllic, relaxing vacation spot with luxurious amenities. But, the problem was a cold-blooded murderer was among the guests and it was up to Henrie O to figure out who the culprit was.I flew through this book fairly quickly and would have rated it a little higher, except for Henrie O herself. In spite of the fact that she was an intelligent, strong, no-nonsense woman, which I like in my female characters, she was also quite crusty, bossy, conceited and full of herself. She certainly lacked the sweet charms of Miss Marple or the pleasant, engaging character of Jessica Fletcher.Chase Prescott, despite his good looks, wealth and suave demeanour, possessed a number of very negative traits and was not a pleasant man at all. His treatment of people and insensitivity toward their feelings was reprehensible. The rest of the characters were a little stereotypical as well--the young, unstable wife, the pleasant but rather naive son, the ruthless lawyer, the vain, dramatic actress, etc.The hurricane was a nice touch, adding to the drama and excitement of the story.I must admit, though, that Ms. Hart kept me guessing right to the end as to the identity of the culprit. And, just when I thought the mystery had been solved, she threw a very unpredictable, surprise curve ball at me.This is the first book in the Henrie O series and I did like it--I just didn't think it was amazing. But, I do have the second one on my bookshelf and intend to read it in the near future.
You can read more about Dead Man's Island on my blog:http://eviloverlordthoughts.com/revie...The Henrie O mysteries were first published more than twenty years ago, but I only discovered them recently through different blogs that review a lot of mystery series. This first book in the series leaves me wanting more of Henrie, who has had such an exciting life as a journalist, traveling the world and meeting interesting, powerful people. Now widowed and retired, Henrie has gained some fame as a mystery writer. Her journalism skills and organization serve her well in gathering clues and reviewing information. She has a take-charge attitude that encourages people to tell her things and follow her directions, which is important with the group of people visiting Dead Man's Island, because they are all very self-centered, some skatter-brained, some filled with ennui.Soon after Henrie/s arrival all of the guests learn the reason for her presence and become at times fearful, resentful, or helpful, depending on the situation. The biggest detriment to the investigation is Chase, the potential victim, who gives out information he shouldn’t and doesn’t always follow directions for his own safety. With a deadly storm on its way, and a deadly killer at large, Henrie has little time to discover who wants Chase dead and will do anything to make it happen.
What do You think about Dead Man's Island (1994)?
Don't try to read this if you have a Nook ereader! The OCR they used to convert it to ebook wasn't good & was never proof-read. I was leery of it from the get go when I saw the blurbs for her other books before even getting into the story and an obviously wrong word. Instead of saying "PRAISE FOR AWARD WINNING AUTHOR CAROLYN G. HART" it said "AWARD MIMING AUTHOR." This was just the first of many errors in the conversion and I finally had to give up when on page 37 it said that after death rigor mortis starts with the head and spreads clown the whole body. It's an obvious mis-scan of the word down, but if they had even one person proof-read the ebook before publishing I can't imagine it wouldn't have been caught! I'm sure it's a good book. I like what I had read. But I can't tolerate such sloppy editing especially from a major publisher. Maybe I'll try to read it again someday in the dead tree version, if it doesn't have the same errors.
—Sharon Snyder
This is without a doubt one of the best books, let alone mystery books, that I have ever read. If you only have time to read a few books this year, I beg you to put this one on your list. As a bonus, it introduced me to the wonderful Henri O series, among the best I have ever come across. The way this book hooks you in to a locked room (or, rather, locked island) scenario works very well, and I love the main character, who is far from the typical protagonist you'll find in a mystery series. I wish I could capture the charm and mystique of this book and the whole series. I hated to see it end with seven books, but I think the story was told. I was delighted, charmed, and satisfied with this book in particular and the entire series. I'll read it again soon.
—Eleanor Jones
A cheesy who-done-it, but it was its cheesiness that made it fun. A group of suspects is gathered on a private island by a media mogul, who also invites a retired journalist to figure out who attempted to murder him a few weeks ago. The amateur sleuth Henrie O. is a sharp, likable heroine, deserving of the series the author gave her after this book. The somewhat contrived plot and the stereotypical characters – the dramatic actress, the ruthless lawyer, the playboy son, the ambitious employee, etc – were over the top, but it was all part of the fun. The characters were unrelatable and unlikable which made the book suffer, but Hart made up for it with a great twist that came out of nowhere at the end. An amusing little read. Winner of the Agatha Award, which I think is for cozy, cheesy little mysteries like this one.
—Andrew
