Displeasure Island (Grave Expectations #2)
Alice Bell
In the hilarious follow-up to Grave Expectations, Claire and the gang are back, getting their timbers shivered by a mystery involving feuding ghost pirates, buried treasure, and murder... 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... ...which, inevitably, are whipped up into a terrific storm, stranding everyone—living and dead—on the island. Claire is already fighting off anxious And Then There Were None vibes before one of the other guests turns up murdered. With Basher distracted by a handsome Irish seaman and Sophie stretching the limits of her tether to flirt with a dead pirate with dubious intentions, it's up to Claire to solve the mystery of three-hundred-year-old buried treasure and figure out who's picking off party guests—before the whole gang meets a grim, Agatha Christie-like fate.
Publication Year: 2024
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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.
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