This was a new concept for me! locked room mystery is something I haven’t read before. I’m not sure that I loved it but it was interesting enough to keep me reading.

I felt it missed the mark a bit on the thriller aspect however the setting and story telling was pretty good. I liked how the author included facts and actually things regarding the real Tasmanian devils which was a learning experience. What drew me to this one was the cover and the title. Overall it was a pretty decent book!

I enjoyed this book. I would like to thank Oceanview Publishing and the authors Midge Raymond and John Yunker for the opportunity to read it early. I loved that the island, weather, and animals were as much of “characters” as the people on the trek. I liked that the underlying focus was on saving the Tasmanian Devils and removing the stigma around the animal.

I had a little bit of trouble keeping track of the characters early on, and some of the first chapters had very descriptive sentences with lots of phrases punctuated by commas which was distracting but it helped paint a bigger picture.

This was a great suspense story, good pacing and twists, and I loved the multiple points of view.

Devil's Island is a quick read. I enjoyed the setting and it made me do some homework on the plight of the Tasmanian Devils. It was a fun read with a few twists.

I’m a huge fan of atmospheric novels because I love to feel like I’m in the place I’m reading about and this did not disappoint in that aspect! I absolutely loved the premise of this book and it just flowed. I do not think it was the best book I’ve ever read, but I would absolutely recommend to people who want to read an entertaining book that is atmospheric and outdoorsy with some murder! 4.5 rounded to a 5.

I enjoyed the background and scenery as well as learning so much about the Tasmanian Devil, however the mystery was lost on me. I struggled with the character development and the fact that I didn’t care who lived or died as the story didn’t seem to connect me to any of them. Most of the energy seemed to be sent on building the atmosphere and the history of the animals and conservation efforts which is great but not for me.

This is a fantastic read, perfect for those who love wildlife, nature, suspense & mystery! After finding my feet with who's who with the characters, I really became engrossed in the story and was surprised by all the twists and turns in this book! The pace and flow was just right. The setting was ideal, being on an isolated, uninhabited island with limited mod cons and phone signal! The stormy weather also brought in a sinister uneasy feeling to the trip's experience! I love also how this book is loosely based on real-life wildlife conservation concerns. The writers cleverly told the story from 2 group members POVs, adding a 3rd later which added to your intrigue. Highly recommend!

Suspenseful story with plenty of twists. The main characters were well-developed and the plot moves along quickly. Perfect vacation read - doesn't require too much concentration or focus, but it's got enough depth to keep the reader interested.

Side note: The author also includes a lot of information about the plight of the Tasmanian Devil but does so in a completely relevant way.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thank you to netgalley and Oveanview Publishing for this ARC. This book was interesting. I didn’t even know the Tasmanian Devil was a real thing until I read this book. It had a great setting but I found the characters needed a little more. They just didn’t draw me in as much as I would have liked them too. I enjoyed the twists in this book and I kept wanting to turn the pages to see what happens next. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend as a good mystery/locked room type of thriller.

A great "locked room" mystery, plenty of surprises and unexpected twists. Perfect airplane read and you can set it down and pick it back up without losing anything

If you’re interested in a mystery set in Marbury Island (fictional version of Maria Island) in Tasmania, Australia, then this may be the book for you. The island has abundant wildlife including reintroduced endangered species. Kerry has worked for years to rescue, rehabilitate and release species back into the wild. However, the job came with an emotional toil and she accepted a job as a naturalist guide for a tour company.

On her first tour group as a lead guide, she and the other guide, Bryan, have six people on the tour. The two Australian couples are friends. Malcolm and Charlotte have known Ian and Margaret for years. The other two tourists are American friends, Brooke and Jane, reconnecting after five years. Things are not going smoothly for Kerry. A severe storm is headed their way and on the first night one of the guests disappears. This is only the beginning of a harrowing trip.

The story alternates points of view between Kerry and Brooke for most of the book with a couple of chapters from another point of view. The characters were well-defined, but only a few of them are likeable. Additionally, there was a lot of tell versus show when it came to information about the characters. Some of the background information seemed unnecessary to the degree that was provided and this affected the pacing.

I loved the information about the island, its history, and the wildlife that is on it. The author did a great job of enabling this reader to envision the island and its plants and animals. The remoteness and isolation came through vividly. About 70 percent through the novel is a twist that I did not see coming. The novel is broken up into acts and acting is a theme in the story line. Other themes include relationships, mental health, disappearances, endangered species, loyalty, lies, secrets, manipulation of others, and much more.

Overall, this is an entertaining and informative mystery with a couple of surprising twists and turns. The authors’ note at the end gives some important information about Maria Island, its history, and its inhabitants. Book club discussion questions are also included at the end of the novel.

Oceanview Publishing, Midge Raymond, and John Yunker provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for September 3, 2024.

I was very surprised and pleased with this book, It has everything a very good book contains, action, mystery, story, outdoors, nature, suspense , romance too, until the end. Can you get better than this? I think the title is very misleading so maybe that is what gave me a different idea of what was to happen. I highly recommend you try.

This story had an interesting concept with a promising premise; the cover really drew me in. I previously didn’t know anything about Tasmanian devils, so it was interesting to learn a bit more about them. I also liked the theme of theater/acting and the sections of the books being separated into acts. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get invested in this book for several reasons.

My main issue was being told every piece of information rather than being shown through characters’ actions and dialogues. For me, this writing style became monotonous and took away the majority of the mystery. Instead of there being a sense of mystique to what’s happening, everything is just flat out told to the reader. This combined with the lengthy—and largely unnecessary—info dumps about the characters and their pasts (i.e. Brooke's ex, Brooke and Jane's extensive acting histories, etc.) littered throughout kept pulling me out of the story, so there was never a true sense of fear or anxiety for the characters and what they were going through.

Brooke and Kerry were pretty uninteresting characters overall; the only one who had a distinctive personality was Jane. Besides her and maybe Bryan, I kept having to pause and remember which side character was which, something that also made it hard to immerse in the story.

And this is just a small thing I noticed, but I honestly feel like the animosity all of the Australian characters showed towards Americans was a tad overkill. As an American, I'm all for some America-bashing, and it was funny initially, but it just kept happening over and over to the point where I was left wondering... what does this add to the story?

"She only hopes they are not as loud as the Americans on the last trip..."

"She turns around when she hears one of the Americans making a fuss about something..."

"Brooke opens her mouth again, as if to argue the point—Americans always have to be right about everything, don't they?—and Kerry cuts her off...

"'Is American television really this absurd?'"

"Americans live on their phones, and she remembers that one of the first things Jane asked in Triabunna was whether she'd get any cell coverage..."

"'Americans. They always talk twice too fast and listen half too slow.'"

"'You bloody Americans,'" Margaret says at last. "'You really do think the world revolves around you.'"

Like, they're not wrong, and I'm not actually offended or anything—the sheer amount of comments like this was just a bit off-putting. Maybe Americans weren't the authors' target audience?

While the story had potential, I feel the execution would've been better had the writing been more show instead of tell, had the characters been given unique quirks/qualities that made them more distinctive from one another, and had their backstories only been included to provide relevant and interesting information about them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for generously providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wasn't this supposed to be a thriller? Bc it wasn't. While the story flowed and was well written in terms of the setting and scenery, the characters fell flat and the story was frankly boring. I wanted more thrills. Wanted more mystery. Wanted more. Unfortunately I didn't get it.

"Devil's Island," by Midge Raymond, is quite an exciting murder mystery.

The setting of the book is marvelous. I love wildlife. I was unaware of the plight of the Tasmanian Devils until I read the back of this book, but I am grateful for the information and how it entered into the storyline. Though the island and town in the book are fictitious names, they are different names for the real place.

The characters of the story are well-written. You find yourself caring about what happens to each character along the way. You will love some characters while loving to hate others. The ties that bind the main characters of Jane and Brooke are what life is like for many co-dependent people. I love the intricacies of their relationship. They have a tremendous bond, but it is a dangerous one.

Murder mysteries are great. Murder mysteries are better when they start with a missing person and a plot for revenge. There were twists and turns adding up to a better murder mystery. I love the questions that you ask yourself while reading the book. The island was supposed to be a refuge for the Tasmanian Devil, but then you find out what they do by eating the eggs of the geese and have to ask yourself if they did the right thing in placing the devils there. This book makes you think about more than a murder while embroiled in the mystery.

This goes to show you how little people know themselves. So many people want to go off the grid and when these people end up in survival mode, they can't wait to get back to civilization and their social media. This brought much realism to a fictional murder mystery. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves murder mysteries, but also to those who love conservation, Australian history, missing persons stories, revenge plots, and stories about the lines connecting different types of friendships and relationships.

I love learning about the Tasmanian devils and their plight. I also liked the fact that an American author chose to set their novel in Australia and on one of it’s remote island.
The setting, the sites and smells was well written and I felt I was there on the adventure as part of the tour.
The plot offered a lot of promise and I kept reading to find out what happened.
I really didn’t like the characters and at one point, I was hoping they were all going to die.
I also didn’t like the constant memories and back stories to each character. This became annoying and it was more telling than showing.

This was a great book. I loved this story and all of the twists and turns. In addition to it being a good mystery. I also learned a lot about the Tasmanian Devil and other animals from that area of our world. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good mystery to read.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an advance copy for review. I really liked this book, it was full of unexpected twists and good characters. The premise was solid and kept me guessing who was responsible for the calamity that happened while on their hike. I also enjoyed learning about the Tasmanian Devils that live in the island.

Not sure if this is a thriller or a soft horror read. Psychological is another word I'd use. Nor am I sure the main character is anyone I'd like to meet. She seems morally challenged and not about to grow much. This book left me vaguely unsatisfied.

Thank you to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

This was an intriguing multiple POV thriller that was a great beach read for me while I was on vacation. I learned a lot about the Tasmanian Devil, the now extinct Tasmanian tiger and other Australian wildlife; inclusions that I found to be very interesting and added to the Australian flavor of the book. The mystery kept me going and multiple deaths kept the story moving. However, I thought the inclusion of one the of POVs late in the book should have been done earlier to strengthen the story and the ending did not wrap up in the most logical manner. I think more connections needed to be made for it all to work. With that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting, characters and overall story. Would recommend for someone looking for a light travel thriller.

3 and 1 / 2 stars

Jane and Brooke meet up to participate in a tour of Devil's Island off the coast of Tasmania. They are both Americans, Jane is an actress and Brooke is a ‘retired” actress. She married and moved to Seattle, far away from Jane. Jane is loud, brassy and opinionated. Brooke is unsure of herself and somewhat timid. Why are these two such close friends?

I had a hard time getting a grasp on Brooke at first. While she seemed timid, she was sure forward when it came to some situations.

Kerry is the (very) reluctant tour guide for the six people in the group. For several years, she has been obsessed with saving the Tasmanian Devil. Disease has devastated the population and Kerry is taking it very hard. She loves her Tassies. Her partner tour guide Bryan appears to be practically useless. Kerry is feeling stressed out.

In addition to the two Americans, there are four Australians who all know one another. They are a somewhat motley group. A bird watcher and his wife seem pretty self-important. A reality show executive and his wife are odd.

Jane fails to tell Brooke that she knows the reality show mogul. She knows him very well and has a plan.

The murders begin….and a bad storm is on its way.

I’m a sucker for locked room-type mysteries. A small group of people, no way to escape and a killer is in their midst. I really enjoy putting my mind to solving the mystery before the end of the book. This book fulfills my recent addiction to this type of story. I also liked the inclusion of the Tasmanian Devils in the story. I am aware of their endangered status and the disease that threatens to decimate them.

However, some of the characters were not very well developed. The main protagonists seemed inconsistent in their actions according to the information given about their personalities. I can’t imagine how Kerry got a position as a tour guide. She had so many personal problems. I had no idea how Brooke and Jane became friends. Jane needed someone to abuse? The rest of the members of the party were superficial and seemed superfluous to the story itself.

There are more than a few twists in this book. I enjoyed being surprised.

I want to thank NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.