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Stars: 4.5/5
What I like about this novel is that Short ramps up the suspense from the very first page. You get the eerie sense that something is wrong, not just with the island but for all of its inhabitants. Even the flora and fauna that the author describe are somehow tethered to this ghastly place. You are on edge from the very first page, there’s no slow build (which I don’t mind either). Moreover who doesn’t love secrets and disappearances?
Another tidbit about this novel is how the narrator and protagonist are so comfortable with being ignorant at first. Yet, that same comfort in not knowing anyone’s story, in keeping her own secrets close to her chest, in not getting close to anyone on the island…they are what cause her the most fear and trepidation. She doesn’t know who to trust or where to go. She’s out on her own, even with the few people around her. And what is worse is that she’s stuck on an island near Lake Erie. (As an Ohioan, I can tell you that’s definitely not somewhere you’d want to be.)
One of my favorite scenes is something that the author called “a round robin” and all the blaring accusations are so interesting to see! This is definitely a book that I would recommend to a lover of suspense and mystery! But most of all, I love how Aurelia really comes into her own toward the end of the novel.
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A twisty page-turner that takes place during the Prohibition era, with movies stars, mobsters, and murder. Trouble Island is a historical fiction/ mystery with a backdrop and characters that are drawn from the author's own historical background. I appreciated the research Short did to make the reader feel like they were dropped into the island whodunnit - where every character who is snowed in after the murder of the island's owner and heiress is a potential suspect. It took me a bit to get entrenched with the story, as there were more than a handful of suspects, all characters with intriguing backstories of their own.. A page turner with a satisfying end. Highly recommend!
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Unlikeable charters on a remote island. This book was good. I liked the plot. It's a real life clue who dun it situation. All inspired by real events and places from the authors family. Full of twist.
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“Trouble Island” by Sharon Short is a historical “closed circle” mystery that takes place during the Prohibition era on a remote island in Lake Erie. The novel is based on Ms. Short’s own family history which makes the premise even more compelling. The story follows a young woman who murders her husband and escapes to this tiny isolated Island to become the maid/confident of the wife of the head of a major crime family. At the same time, the wife is grieving the accidental loss of her young son during an intense gun battle between rival gangs and is looking for retribution.
This is a tale of bootleggers, murderers, victims, federal agents and constant double crosses. The book is complex and it takes a lot of concentration to keep up and figure out what’s happening. For those folks who love a Dickson Carr style mystery this book is for you!
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
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Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review this ARC.
The author has based this book on an event from her family’s history.
I liked the atmospheric setting on an island in Lake Erie off of Ohio. The narrative was descriptive of the isolation that the main character felt. Susan is fleeing from a crime, that leads her to servitude on the island that belongs to her old friend Rosita. Everyone is hiding secrets as the winter storm roles in , trapping the characters on an island, giving this book an Agatha Christie vibe.
The book was a great “locked room” mystery with many plot twists.
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I really enjoyed this book. As the island is about to be cut off from the mainland murder is discovered. Everybody there has a motive and everybody is guilty of something. The story is full of twists, turns, and deceptions. I like historical settings and relatable characters. Short has written a very good first book and I will be keeping an eye out for her next one.
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This book was amazing and I was drawn in from the beginning. The author painted such a great story with the worlds I could clearly see it all! A solid read
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I just couldn't get into this one. I was intrigued by the premise but from the opening pages I struggled with the writing style. I can't exactly put my finger on why, but I couldn't connect with the characters at all and did not feel drawn into the plot. It just wasn't a good fit for me.
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Trouble Island, a book of suspense that takes place during Prohibition, tells the story of Susan Walker and others, how they ended up on Trouble Island and working for Rosita McGee and a murder that Susan Walker finds herself in the middle of and her involvement.
This book was riveting from page one! The characters are well developed and portrayed as real. And given that the story takes place during Prohibition, there's a taste of reality in it. We see a murder take place and Susan trying to solve it in a situation where everyone is fair game, which we find out over time. The story kept me in suspense and has such a great twist that you just can't and don't see coming!
A great book for those who love suspense, plot twists and realistic stories from Prohibition!
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The era of prohibition, bootlegging, lawlessness, during the thirties is depicted on Trouble Island with gutsy clarity. It’s a time in history most of us don’t remember, hard to even imagine how different times were. I knew about the many shipwrecks and the notorious bootlegging between the US and Canadian borders on Lake Erie. This story really brought to life a mix of ordinary people and the atmosphere into perspective. It was a time when women married to escape poor circumstances only to find it could and would get worse. There’s always been class disparity, even amongst criminals. Trouble Island is no exception, there are hierarchies of wealth and power even amid thieves, gangs, wives and the servants. Each time I thought I knew who was lying, a murderer, a traitor, a victim, a survivor or the one who going to make it out alive, I was jolted by another surprise. There are innumerable double-crosses, betrayals, duplicities and so many prevaricators, I could not find anyone to trust. It’s a dark, gritty slice of Americana and I learned new pieces of history. I believe history and mystery readers alike will appreciate the plot. Thanks so much to Minotaur/St. Martin’s Publishing for providing the Advance Reader Copy (via NetGalley) of Trouble Island by Sharon Short. Publication expected 12/03/2024. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.
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I want to thank Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this e-kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review
Aurelia Esclante aka Susan Ward is whisked off to Trouble Island to protect her from arrest and prosecution for a murder she committed, that of her husband. This begins the intrigue to figure out who killed her benefactor’s wife, Rosita McGeee. Taking place in the 1930’s gives you some idea of the times-bootlegging, prohibition, gangsters, murders etc. Trying to keep her true identity secret, she sets out to figure out who the murderer is, since she is the main suspect. There were a great deal of twists and turns since there were a fair number of characters on Trouble Island, that had reason to want to murder Rosita.
Each character had a different tie to Rosita’s husband, a powerful gangster deep in debt. You will have to pay attention to figure things out and follow the narrator (Aurelia) who tries to explain all. You will enjoy the romp through a time your parents or grandparents lived through, that of of the Roaring twenties, depression, and the rise of the FBI.
My only major concerns were that it took about a third of the book to get interesting and there were just too many twists and turns.
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Prohibition era, island on the lake, mobsters and movie stars and murder, oh my! While the idea of this story was a decent one, and the mystery involved was clever, there was just too much to this story that didn’t work for me. All the different characters are tossed together with half-way explanations on why they’re involved. Then there’s a sort of lackluster but okay ending. It was an okay book.
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A riveting "who done it" story that kept me captivated!
Sharon did an excellent job creating a space where you could fully immerse yourself in her Trouble Island. I was attached to each character and loved that they played their own part in the story.
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This is a good book with a few twists. I got this book because I live in Michigan and have been on Lake Erie and know how the storms can really whip up, thankfully I wasn't on it in the winter. I visited islands like Put-In-Bay and thought it would be a read I could really get into. I know they did a lot of running back and forth to the U.S and Canada during prohibition. The book was good but I know a few times I thought well it's almost wrapped up and I would not be close to the ending. My personal feeling is it could have been a little shorter and grabbed my interest more.
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Trouble Island reminded me of Agatha Christie's novel, And Then There Were None, also set on an island with people getting killed one by one. I was intrigued with the timeperiod early 1930's during Prohibition and growing up in northern Ohio I had always heard of bootleggers smuggling alcohol from Canada into the US by boat on the Great Lakes. There is an eclectic cast of characters, gangsters, washed-up Hollywood actors, quirky doctor, and sevants. Everyone has a secrets that they would prefer no one learned. Everyone has a motive for killing the first victim.
Overall, I loved the story line, the setting of the remote island with winter quickly approaching. Everytime I thought I had figured out the killer or killers and their motives the story line took a twist.
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This was an interesting but forgettable book. It was confusing in parts and beautiful in others. All in all, a 3/5. I wish that it had been a little less draggy and convoluted, but it wasn’t terrible.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an eARC copy of Trouble Island by Sharon Short.
I was hooked from the very beginning of this Clue like historical thriller/mystery based off the story of Sharon Short's own family members. Following Aurelia, a maid hired to work on Trouble Island by the owner, Rosita where all is not what it seems to be. When a storm rolls in, trapping Aurelia and a rather interesting group of mobsters, lackeys, and others where secrets are exposed, everybody wants something, and a killer on the loose. I loved that there was so much research done for the Prohibition Era and the weather of Lake Erie (which is notoriously known as the most dangerous Great Lake), not to mention Lake Erie itself feels more like a character than just a place. The twists are not expected and you are constantly guessing of who the killer may be. It's been a while since I've read a really good mystery and you will certainly find it with Trouble Island.
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I’d read the teaser of Trouble Island in the Minotaur Sampler 12, and was delighted to read the entire book shortly thereafter because I just had to know who committed the murder and why! Trouble Island by Sharon Short is a suspenseful whodunit murder mystery with plenty of plot twists to keep the reader guessing until the very end. If you loved playing the board game Clue as a kid, then you’ll love this story set on an isolated Canadian Island on Lake Erie during a bitter Winter storm with an oddly matched group of guests, all with motives of course.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
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A great historical thriller with a twist that will stun you. I want to thank St. Martin's press for letting me review this title! You can tell Sharon did her research because I truly felt like I was living in that 1930's prohibition era. I will be recommending this to my readers!
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Trouble Island is a closed circle mystery set on a remote island in the middle of Lake Erie during the era of Prohibition. Narrator Aurelia and the rest of the cast of characters (gangsters and their lackeys, washed-up Hollywood stars, the reclusive owner of the island and its mansion named Rosita, a questionable doctor, and the help) are all on the aptly-named island facing their own individual troubles. Thrown together in close quarters with conflicting priorities and the looming threat of the lake freezing, tension quickly rises among the group which all comes to a head when Rosita mysteriously disappears. Can they find her before it’s too late?
Overall, I enjoyed this story. I loved the setting of the remote island in Lake Erie, especially with winter quickly approaching and adding an extra layer of gravity to the situation. I also appreciated the cast of rather unlikable characters who made the red herrings all the more convincing. The ending of the story was also satisfying. I did find Aurelia’s narration to be a bit tedious in parts (constantly reiterating the clues and evidence, sharing suspicions of major twists before the major twist is actually revealed, etc.), but as I am usually more of a thriller reader, it may just be because of my unfamiliarity with historical suspense as a genre.