Claire is back- with Basher, Alex and of course her ghost bestie Sophie in the fun thriller. Stuck on an island on the Irish coast for holiday was bad enough- but it turns out the group is actually crashing a friend-reunion that isn’t as friendly as you’d expect. Throw in two rival ghost gangs and it is clear Claire is going to have to figure out what’s going on- including that dead body in the way.

Back when I first read & reviewed the first book in this series - Grave Expectations - I finished off with: “What do we have to do to get a whole cozy-style series of ghostly mysteries to solve? Or even just a series where we see more of the day-to-day medium life?? I just need more, please!” And what a true blessing it was to discover that this will actually be a series & that I’ll get to hang out with this Scooby Gang for more future adventures & mishaps! (And I hope it continues forever, or at least until the one VERY big mystery is solved.)

This is my first arc review that involves a continued series, so this is new territory for me. I will caution you to stop reading here if you haven’t read the first book because there is a chance that I will spoil something from that first book & probably without actually meaning to. Okay…so you’ve read the first book? Let’s go! Book number two, Displeasure Island, has us following the same group - Claire, Sophie, Bashor, & Alex - as they attempt to take some time off to relax. Instead, they find themselves fairly isolated on an Irish island filled with warring pirate ghosts & accidentally crashing a friend reunion at an almost-finished wellness resort. And then…someone dies. Oh also, there may be buried treasure?

We are dropped into a high-stakes mystery where trust is questioned & the only eye-witnesses are the ghosts. The benefit of a continued series is that we already know our main four quite well, so this sequel allows us to experience so much more of their personalities. We also have many new characters, living & dead, & the ghosts are truly some of my favorite characters.

This is a laugh-out-loud page-turner with a twisty mystery, fun & complicated characters, UK references I still don’t understand but still appreciate, some very witty banter, & I am officially committed to this found family & cannot wait to continue reading more about their wacky adventures. This series is truly a unique standout in the world of mysteries. I also would love for more people to read these books so that I can talk about them with someone!

Thank you Vintage Books & NetGalley for providing a digital advanced copy of this book to read & review. All opinions & thoughts expressed are my own.

A two part mystery as Claire tries to solve the current issue of guests mysteriously disappearing as well as the ghosts' three hundred year old treasure hunt. Overall, a solid second book in the series, although it felt like all of the friends didn't like each other as much.

Alice Bell returns in Displeasure Island, a sequel to her debut Grave Expectations. It’s like Scooby Doo, except the ghosts are real…an unlikely group of mystery solvers aided by ghosts.

Our found family finds their way to a remote island for a much needed getaway. There they find a weird friend reunion they’re intruding on, a murder, and pirate ghosts! Of course a storm comes in and strands them all there with no cell reception. It’s my favorite setting/trope.

Displeasure Island is a great addition to the series. The dynamic between Claire and Sophie, hits a rough spot. It’s hard when friend groups change, especially when you’ve been the only one tied to your dead best friend, but suddenly she’s making new ghost friends.

The mysteries are engaging and I want to know who killed Sophie and why she’s bound to Claire. I hope we get more into that in future stories.

What’s your favorite setting for a mystery?

Claire is a stressed out lady. On top of everything else going on in her life, her best friend will not leave her alone....even though she was killed when they were 17. She and her new found family decide to enjoy a vacation to relieve their stress. They find respite on an Irish island at a wellness retreat. However, after a storm blows across the island, relaxation is hard to find. Between an awful staff, the hotel being double-booked, and ghost pirates that keep fighting over lost treasure, Claire is struggling. Will she be able to help the pirates and save her sanity as well?

I have not read the first book, so this as a stand-alone was pretty good. Sophie and Claire were a little unnerving at times, but I think the crew worked together well. It gave me Scooby Doo vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

After the near-fatal events of Grave Expectations, medium Claire Strange finds herself in the unusual position of being an adult with actual friends who want to spend time and do things with her. For the first time since her late teens – when she became haunted by the ghost of her dead best friend Sophie, and subsequently discovered that she could see and communicate with the dead – she has living companions she can rely on. This is, awkwardly enough, a situation the thirty-something has no idea how to deal with:

QUOTE
Making and keeping friends was something of an unknown quantity to Claire. As soon as she said she was a medium, the people who tried to self-select into Claire’s life were quite intense. Many of them were people who claimed to be mediums as well, but the fact that they couldn’t see or hear Sophie when she was sticking the Vs up right in front of their faces meant Claire realized that they were actually liars. The people who tried to self-select out of Claire’s life assumed she was one, too.

But also, she just didn’t make great company.
END QUOTE

Claire’s unresolved trauma has only made her more antisocial and suspicious of others, even though her new best friends, Basher and Alex Forge, are making some headway in helping her improve her life. Their latest idea is to have Claire accompany them on vacation. Alex, for all their bravado, is still a nineteen year-old dealing with the aftermath of their extended family’s crimes, which are about to go to trial. While their dependable if somewhat stodgy uncle Basher has stepped in as parental figure, not even he can be all things to his nibling. Thus Alex wants the relatively more fun Claire to come along with the duo on their short vacation getaway from their family’s pre-trial drama.

Of course, wherever Claire goes, Sophie goes too, as the two are tethered by a bond that feels almost physical. Luckily for Claire, both Alex and Basher believe that Sophie is real, though Alex is far more enthusiastic about it than Basher is.

The plan is for the four of them to have a cheap, off-season weekend at a wellness resort on historic Spike Island, off the coast of Ireland. Legend has it that pirate treasure is buried somewhere in the vicinity. Alex is most enthused about this, even as Claire is less than thrilled given the likelihood of ghosts abounding on a place that used to be a pirate hideout, fort and prison in turn. Ghosts, you see, have a terrible habit of pestering Claire once they realize that she can actually see and speak to them. That’s hardly her idea of a relaxing vacation, but she wants to try to be a good friend to Alex by going along with their plan.

Unfortunately for our protagonists, it’s company of quite another sort that’s most detrimental to their stay. A tightly knit friend group is supposed to have the resort exclusively to themselves, as one of its members, blogger and advocate Tiffany Thomas, does not hesitate to inform them:

QUOTE
[“T]here aren’t supposed to be any other guests this week[.] You lot are going to have to find somewhere else to stay,” she added. Tiffany had the arch, confident voice of someone who had been the most popular girl at school.

“If I could just advocate for us,” said Alex, wiggling their eyebrows, “I will say that we’ve paid and have a confirmation and everything.”

“We shall ask Eidy,” said Basher calmly.

“Yes, let’s,” said Tiffany, and marched ahead, as [her boyfriend] Ritchie tipped his hat at them. But Tiffany was to be disappointed, as Eidy insisted that the boat was taking all of them, and if she didn’t like it, she and her boyfriend could stay where they were. In this he was as immovable as an angry, bearded little bollard[.]
END QUOTE

Already thrown by this hostile interaction, Claire is further discombobulated by the attention of the ghosts of Spike Island, even as her friends seem to be straying away from her for purposes of their own. And then a murderer strikes, and someone ends up lying face down in the cold surf. When the survivors discover that all routes and methods of communication off of the island have been destroyed, things take an even more chilling turn. Will Claire be able to figure out whodunnit and why without losing any of her friends for good?

I genuinely wasn’t prepared for how even less well-adjusted Claire was in this second book of the series, though I’m hoping that the vulnerability she displayed here was her absolute lowest point before she begins growing into a more confident version of herself. Her deductive skills were excellent, however, as she teased through the tangle of tensions and motives to sort out the red herrings from the real clues. It was also nice to see her difficult relationship with Sophie continue to evolve. Claire has clearly never been the most resilient of people, so watching her adapt to change and slowly open up to caring less what strangers think of her is gratifying. I do recommend reading Grave Expectations before diving into this novel, however: while Displeasure Island stands alone, it’s also a richer read if you’ve already enjoyed the first in the series.

This is the second in this series, and while it was good, it's missing something the first book had, not sure how to put that part into worlds, but by no means is this something to skip.

Loved it, but you know how it is, that first encounter with a book series, the first book always feels different, can't recreate that intro to the characters haha.

This was such a fun, escape-y type read, with treasure, pirates and order 😳

Displeasure Island by Alice Bell is another excellent book in this very inventive series. The characters are quirky in all the best ways. Claire is still chaotic. Alex figured out what to do with all the purple penii(?). Basher is still serving Claire tea with a coaster to ignore. Sophie is just the same. Now send the gang on a weekend trip to an Irish spa. The spa is on an island with a castle giving us the classic trope - the closed circle mystery. Mash that up with a group of former high school friends on a tenth reunion weekend with their spouses in tow. Add in some pirates, a murder or two, Sophie stretching the bounds of her independence, and you've got a very fun and puzzling story on your hands! Honestly worth 4.5 stars.

I greatly enjoyed the first book in this series, Grave Expectations. This one didn't hit quite the same way. For whatever reason, maybe the setting or the fact that the friends at the heart of the series seemed to be a little snippy with each other, it took a bit to get into this story. I'm glad I stuck with it, though. By the end, I was enamored with the ghosts inhabiting the island (shout out to Mr. Bones!) and our friends were back on track with each other, so all was well again. The mystery was a head scratcher and the final reveal shocked me. Looking forward to the next in the series! I do hope we get more info on Sophie's murder in upcoming books, but I know that once that's solved there's a good chance the series might end, so I'm willing to wait out the answer to that mystery for a few more books.

A sequel worthy of GRAVE EXPECTATIONS and it was easy to fall back into Claire, Sophie, Alex, and Basher. With consequences coming down for Alex and Basher's family, Basher decides a getaway to an off-season resort on an island off Ireland is perfect for getting Alex away from the hubbub. Naturally, things never go to plan. A dead body pops up and Claire is determined to clear her name after she is accused of being the murderer because she is "weird" and can see ghosts. Tensions are fraught between the friends as Claire and Sophie are constantly bickering and Sophie disappears to moon after a pirate ghost at inconvenient times, Alex keeps telling everyone that Claire is a medium when she doesn't want them too, and Basher is often gone off doing exactly what I thought he was doing the entire book LOL. Claire is the same, swallowing down her emotions until she's constipated instead of talking to her friends, and Sophie is still a perpetual, slightly annoying, seventeen-year-old. I hope there's a third book because I'm interested in the implications of what Sophie did, not just to their tether but to their overall friendship.

A fun new mystery in this series, and I hope not the last. This one has a somewhat teenage "best friends falling out over boys" scenario, but consider that one of the friends is actually a dead teen ghost, the boys include a ghost pirate, and the falling out could lead to attempted murder—admit it, you're interested. Claire Hendricks, terrible at being a healthy adult but excellent at being a medium and recovering from her first experience as an unlikely detective, ends up on a wellness retreat with her exactly 3 friends (extremely out of character for all) when the guests who aren't in her existing squad start dropping like flies. As a non-British person I feel like I had a bit of a leg up on solving this one, but there was another twisty element to the murder mystery that did take me by surprise. Did not make me want to visit gloomy haunted islands!

3.5 stars for me
thanks to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the advanced copy! i very much enjoyed the first book and was thrilled to be offered the chance to read this new chapter in claire and sophie's "investigatoring" adventures; unfortunately, i could not engage as well with the new characters and plot.

I can't tell you how much fun I have reading this series!
Claire our resident glass-half-empty medium is going on vacation with Sophie her perpetual 17-year-old best friend ghost, and her found family Basher and Alex whom we met in the first book.
Once they reach the island, Claire meets a bunch of Pirate ghosts who constantly scrimmage over parts of the island.. (all in good fun, to relieve the boredom of death) that lets the girls know there is a treasure! Although Claire doesn't really care, she wants to be left alone, with no ghost drama...
Sadly for her, she ends up right in the middle of it, between that and the fact that she discovers not one but two bodies well her vacation is really starting to suck..
I love coming back to this series and Claire. While some teenage drama has Sophie dropping a bit in my favorite ghost category, she is 17 and I know she will make her way back to the top, along with my new favorite ghost pirate Mr. Bones.
There are plenty of laughs, along with twists and turns that keep you guessing, and some dangerous moments that had me keeping my fingers crossed that our group was going to make it back to the mainland all in one piece.
I will definitely be reading this one again, and I hope this series goes on for a long time!!
Thank you to Vintage Anchor Books for sending me a physical arc!

Pirate ghosts and murder on a locked island! Fans of Grave Expectations (and I was one) will enjoy this more than new readers if only due to having more familiarity with the unique relationships between Alex, Basher, Claire, and Sophie (but know that Bell does provide concise backstory that will help if you missed that book or if you'd like a nudge). The quartet is meant to be having a vacation at a wellness center on an Irish island but nooo....There's another group that doesn't want them there but there's also pirate ghosts that do. Claire and her ghost Sophie find themselves caught up in the argument between the pirates until there's a murder and then this becomes a murder mystery. It's quire chaotic and perhaps too much is going on but it's also quite clever. Claire and Sophie enter a new stage in their relationship but Basher and Alex take a back seat this time, largely because of the time spent with the pirates. The murder mystery is twisty enough (and there's a surprise at the end) to keep you guessing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm hoping Bell will continue the series because it's fun.

Claire Hendricks can see ghosts, but she can't see herself having a fun vacation. Yet when her new friends/found family, Basher and Alex, insist, Claire and her dead BFF, Sophie, pack themselves off to a remote Irish island. This tempest-tossed isle is indeed full of noises: not only is the hotel where the gang is staying double booked with a posh private party, the island's crumbling old fort is being fought over by rival ghost pirates. In death, as in life, they're vying over a legendary stash of loot, supposedly hidden somewhere on the island or in the surrounding rough seas...

The second in the series, Displeasure Island picks up a few months after the events of Grave Expectations to find Claire, Bash, Sophie, and Alex still friends and about to head off on holiday together. They book a hotel stay on a remote Irish island and when they get there, they find it was a mistake - this was supposed to be a friends-only weekend for a group that has known each other since college. But when one of them turns up dead, Claire comes under suspicion and vows to find the real killer. Add in pirate ghosts and shenanigans and you've got yourself a mystery!

Not quite as strong as the first, Displeasure Island is still a fun read. The relationship between Sophie and Claire continues to develop more depth as Sophie finds a ghost to fancy and starts pushing at the limits of her ties to Claire. However, Claire herself starts to feel tiresome - she is feeling neglected by her friends and doesn't really have the emotional maturity to understand their actions without believing they are betraying her. The mystery is two-fold and intertwined in a way that leads to red herrings and misunderstanding, but keeps a reader engaged. The resolution makes sense, though savvy readers will likely be able to guess the twists before they are revealed. A solid entry into a new series that I hope will continue!

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Displeasure Island early in exchange for a review.

I went into this book thinking “oh scooby doo?”
Kinda by not really.
Then I was lost when a 30 year old lady didn’t know how to use an umbrella… I continued to push through & began to enjoy the very unique & interesting characters.

Thank you Vintage Anchor Books & NetGalley for this ARC!

Ok, a woman in her 30’s who lives in London doesn’t know not to open an umbrella BEFORE going outside? I just can’t get behind Claire as a protagonist in this series. It’s not a charming messy, it’s a lacking-common-sense-and-social-skills messy and I find her genuinely irritating. I love the premise of these books - a woman who can see ghosts (including her ghost BFF) and her random cast of character friends solving mysteries is right up my alley, but there’s something about these first two I can’t stand. I feel like the dialogue is unbelievable and overly quirky and, again, our main girl is a depressing (and depressed) loser. Again, too, I felt there were too many characters. Why did we need SO many pirate ghosts. I thought the wellness retreat guests were interesting and that plot point was enough to suck me in to the mystery. I liked the atmosphere of the island. I know Sophie (ghost BFF) is perpetually 17, so her brattiness makes sense, but it was a little over the top for me and I didn’t love her “romance” with an old island pirate. There’s just something that hasn’t hit with these two books for me. They’re fine. I love Ghosts the series. I love the inclusions with LGBTQIA characters and I liked this closed-circle-mystery, but it just feels confusing and slow. I guess I’d probably still read the next, cause I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to series reads.

Claire and her friends from Grave Expectations are back, and in light of the the resolution of their first adventure decide to take a vacation. There choice? A remote Irish island that plays host to a retreat center built upon the remains of a village that used to house prisons workers. Is it haunted? Of Course! There are pirates forever in battle against some Irish brothers for possession of the island's fort. Does someone die rather quickly, also yes.

Claire is joined (again and forever) by her 17 year old dead best friend the ghost Sophie. Their friends form book 1, young Alex and his Uncle the retired cop, Basher play host for the vacation. However many things go wrong quickly. Turns out a group of college friends are having a reunion and the hotel should not have taken other bookings. Oh and the place is a no cellphone retreat so everyone has to hand over their device for it to be locked up.

It's a fun romp, but follows familiar tropes. A second adventure must challenge in different ways, here the plot centers on romance. Claire falls for a sweet worded doctor and Sophie for the ghost of a pirate. There are misunderstandings, everyone goes off and does their own thing, but eventually there is a murder and Claire corners herself in to solving it. Oh and everyone is stranded on the island thanks to sabotage. Claire's still a barely functioning adult as she was in the first book, but at least she has more friends and has grown up slightly.

Recommended for readers of semi-cozy stories, series with incremental changes, or British murder mysteries.

First and foremost, thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for an honest review.

I think that Displeasure Island was a relatively strong sequel! The (likeable) crew from Grave Expectations had such fun dynamics that I was hoping to see more of them, and while this sequel does keep them separated a fair amount of the time, it works well enough to provide a bit more to each character than we originally got. I think the separation was a bit disappointing, but all I can hope with that is that we get set up for a more group mystery sequel! Beyond this, I thought that Claire's insecurities and anxieties felt relatively realistic, and the changes in her relationship with Sophie made enough sense to where it overwrote some of the tropes that showed up in that dynamic. I did also appreciate the addition of a fun new cast of ghosts to get to know (especially Bones). Outside of character moments, I do think there was a solid mystery that was not entirely unpredictable but worked to keep the tension high. I recommend this book to anyone who was a fan of the first, and I am hoping for more adventures in the future!