Review
DEATH AT HIGH TIDE by Hannah Dennison
The First Island Sisters Mystery
Evie Meade is coming to grips with the sudden death of her husband. Then her accountant tells her she's pretty much broke and could very well even lose her house. Upon discovering Evie may be the owner of a remote hotel due to an unpaid debt, her sister, Margot, decides they should visit for a weekend. The sisters soon discover the residents of Scilly are unique, to say the least. From the animal communicating vicar to the elderly social media junkie, the stalker, and the inhospitable hosts, Tregarrick Rock isn't the most welcoming place. When Evie stumbles upon a dead body, she soon becomes a suspect. However, almost everyone on the island had a motive. Will Evie be able to prove her innocence or die trying?
Although promoted as a cozy mystery I consider DEATH AT HIGH TIDE to be a traditional mystery, and a very atmospheric one at that. The characters are unique, many of whom are quite mercurial in nature...and quite unpleasant. Tregarrick Island is more threatening as a location than comforting. It's intriguing, unique, and has its own mysterious ambience. I love the hotel's Art Deco design...although the 1970s decor can probably go!
The first Island Sisters mystery is full of secrets, love, and betrayal. It starts off slowly, seeming less like a mystery and more like contemporary fiction. While there was a vibe early on that things weren't quite right, the book was half way over before Evie discovered the body. And while danger lurked in the first part of the book, there wasn't true cause for alarm until almost the end. At which point there was a thrilling rush to stay alive.
Although promoted as a cozy mystery I consider DEATH AT HIGH TIDE to be a traditional mystery, and a very atmospheric one at that. The characters are unique, many of whom are quite mercurial in nature...and quite unpleasant. Tregarrick Island is more threatening as a location than comforting. It's intriguing, unique, and has its own mysterious ambience. I love the hotel's Art Deco design...although the 1970s decor can probably go!
The first Island Sisters mystery is full of secrets, love, and betrayal. It starts off slowly, seeming less like a mystery and more like contemporary fiction. While there was a vibe early on that things weren't quite right, the book was half way over before Evie discovered the body. And while danger lurked in the first part of the book, there wasn't true cause for alarm until almost the end. At which point there was a thrilling rush to stay alive.
DEATH AT HIGH TIDE is an atmospheric mystery that looks at relationships, loyalty, and betrayal. With a compelling setting and unusual characters it offers a wealth of possibilities for future books in the series.
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Death at High Tide: An Island Sisters Mystery by Hannah Dennison
About Death at High Tide
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Minotaur Books (August 18, 2020)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Death at High Tide is the delightful first installment in the Island Sisters series by Hannah Dennison, featuring two sisters who inherit an old hotel in the remote Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall and find it full of intrigue, danger, and romance.
When Evie Mead’s husband, Robert, suddenly drops dead of a heart attack, a mysterious note is found among his possessions. It indicates that Evie may own the rights to an old hotel on Tregarrick Rock, one of the Isles of Scilly.
Still grieving, Evie is inclined to leave the matter to the accountant to sort out. Her sister Margot, however, flown in from her glamorous career in LA, has other plans. Envisioning a luxurious weekend getaway, she goes right ahead and buys two tickets—one way—to Tregarrick.
Once at the hotel—used in its heyday to house detective novelists, and more fixer-upper than spa resort, after all—Evie and Margot attempt to get to the bottom of things. But the foul-tempered hotel owner claims he's never met the late Robert, even after Evie finds framed photos of them—alongside Robert's first wife—in his office. The rest of the island inhabitants, ranging from an ex-con receptionist to a vicar who communicates with cats, aren't any easier to read.
But when a murder occurs at the hotel, and then another soon follows, frustration turns to desperation. There’s no getting off the island at high tide. And Evie and Margot, the only current visitors to Tregarrick, are suspects one and two. It falls to them to unravel secrets spanning generations—and several of their own—if they want to make it back alive.
About Hannah Dennison
Hannah Dennison was born and raised in Hampshire but spent more than two decades living in California. She has been an obituary reporter, antique dealer, private jet flight attendant and Hollywood story analyst. For many years Hannah taught mystery writing workshops at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program in Los Angeles, California.
Hannah writes the Honeychurch Hall Mysteries and the Vicky Hill Mysteries both set in the wilds of the Devonshire countryside where she now lives with her two high-spirited Hungarian Vizslas.
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