This is part of my Summer Reads series where I’ll be sharing book recommendations – a series of “not just cookbooks”.
This week’s Summer Reads pick is from Canadian author (who’s lived in Iceland for over 20 years), Eliza Reid. 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), [was] 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.
I do love a good mystery and I had requested this one from the publisher earlier in the year thinking it would be a great summer read. I was not wrong!
From the publisher:
Agatha Christie meets Nordic noir in this “brilliant debut” (Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author) about diplomats stranded on a windswept Icelandic island with a murderer in their midst.
A remote Icelandic island. A diplomatic dinner party. A murderer in their midst.
When Kavita Banerjee, the deputy ambassador of Canada, dies suddenly at a dinner party attended by the great and the good from Icelandic business and politics, suspicion falls on everyone present, but particularly on the victim’s boss, Graeme Shearer, the Canadian ambassador.
Jane Shearer, Graeme’s long-suffering wife, is accustomed to cleaning up his messes. But now, saving her husband’s career—and her crumbling marriage—requires her to investigate her fellow dinner guests. Uncovering corruption and murder is a dangerous job, but Jane knows better than most what desperate people will do to protect their secrets.
I’d actually recently heard about Reid from a colleague who visited Iceland earlier this year and who recommended Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World to me. I still haven’t read that one because Death on the Island landed on my desk just a few weeks later and once I picked it up, I couldn’t stop reading.
The plot hooks you fast – starting with the “death” of the title and moving backwards looking at the time leading up to it. The setting of the murder is a dinner attended by international diplomats and I personally loved the descriptions of the food there. The storylines jump around a little but are generally easy to follow as are the multiple POVs. You’ll think you have solved “whodunnit” many times through the book as the story progresses but the ending might surprise you!
This was something a little different from the thrillers and mysteries I typically read, in large part because of the Icelandic setting. Having visited Iceland a few years ago, it was fun reading a book set there. The unique setting definitely makes it much more atmospheric and “closed in” (especially with a storm on its way soon after the murder, essentially stranding everyone on a tiny island in the dead of winter).
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 (possibly a new favourite genre!)? Check!
I can’t wait to read more fiction from this author!
__________
Disclosure: I received an advance copy from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. I am not receiving any compensation for reviewing the book. Neither the author nor the publisher reviewed this post prior to publication. All opinions are my own.
Buy Death on the Island on Amazon (this affiliate link should bring you to the Amazon store in, or closest to, your country).
For free worldwide shipping, find Death on the Island on Blackwell’s.
Support your local Indie bookstore and purchase Death on the Island on Bookshop.org.
Please note: This post contains affiliate links. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post also contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s and Bookshop.org. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!
_________
Buy my books! In the French kitchen with kids and French Food for Everyone: le goûter (after school snacks), le dîner (dinner) and le petit déjeuner (breakfast) are out now! Click here for details and how to order!
