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Mysterious Thriller Books Set on Islands
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re looking to do a little armchair travel to a scary island or want a thriller to read as part of our Book Voyage challenge, we have you covered! These mystery novels are set on islands around the world, from Aruba and Fiji to Ireland and Greece.
16 Best Island Thriller Novels
One Perfect Couple
Book Summary
Lyla’s career is in flux as her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, and her relationship with Nico, an actor, is also floundering. So, when Nico sees an opportunity to audition for a new reality TV show, The Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him.
After a whirlwind process, Lyla and Nico are headed to a tropical paradise in the Indian Ocean to compete against four other couples. However, the first challenge leaves everyone upset. Then, an overnight storm strands the cast away from the production crew. They must band together for survival, but as water runs low, tensions reach new heights.
The Girl in Hawaii
Book Summary
FBI agents Bella and Ava are assigned the case when a missing 17-year-old girl from Florida is found in a Jurassic World-like landscape. Kelly has been physically battered, but doesn’t give up, and was able to escape her captors.
When Ava hears her story, she promises to help unravel the case until every victim is found. Together, Ava and Bella uncover a huge trafficking network that reaches further than they anticipated. In fact, solving the case could put the agent’s career and even their life at stake.
About the Series
This 2024 release is book 11 in the Ava James FBI Mystery Series. The entire series is included with Kindle Unlimited, so if you have a membership, it may be worth starting at the beginning.
Book 21 in the series, The Last Hunt, which was published in 2026, is also set on an island.
Daisy Darker
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
It’s Nana’s 80th birthday, and her party will be in her crumbling gothic family home, which is on a tiny, isolated island. Daisy has been avoiding her family members for years but agrees to attend the gathering to celebrate Nana.
At midnight, Nana is killed, followed by another family member an hour later. They’re all trapped together until the tide comes in, and it’s time to reconcile past secrets with the present danger before it’s too late.
Nod to a Classic
Daisy Darker is said to be a nod to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None.
Safari Murder Party
Book Summary
For the past three years, Fletcher has been working 70 hours a week as the assistant to a demanding magazine CEO. She’s thrilled when she’s finally offered a spot at Cartwright Media’s annual corporate retreat on their luxurious private island. Rumor has it that her billionaire boss’s safari park island is the place to be if you want a promotion.
Fletcher dreams of moving up from assistant to travel magazine photographer, but the competition turns out to be even more cutthroat than she expected. Her boss turns up dead, and his will reveals that whoever survives the week on the island will inherit the company.
Now she’s surrounded not just by wild animals but also by wild coworkers who have swapped coffee and briefcases for machetes and hunting rifles. Lions, and tigers…and marketing executives. Oh my!
She’ll need an ally to stay alive, and she may have found one in her boss’s gorgeous son, Waylon Cartwright. They have a hostile history, but Fletcher is at least 80 percent sure he won’t try to kill her.
Thoughts on This Book
This new novel, which marks the author’s adult debut, is described as a fast-paced mix of satire, thriller, and romance. We were a bit confused when we heard it compared to Final Destination meets a Hallmark movie, but we’re here for it. No time better than summer for a bit of an off-the-wall read set on a private island.
All The Pretty People
Book Summary
When Willow was 17, she was spending her summer as usual – on Hawk Island with family & friends. One night, she blacked out. In the morning, her best friend Melanie had disappeared without a trace.
Many friends abandoned the island shortly after Melanie’s disappearance, but ten years later they are being reunited for the first time for a wedding. Melanie’s brother, Drake, is not happy to see the group again, as he always believed someone knew more about his sister than they shared with police.
During the wedding festivities, someone else suddenly goes missing. Willow believes the events are linked to the past. She and Drake must work together to figure out what happened before it’s too late.
Thoughts on This Book
Some readers are turned off by the long list of possible suspects and characters at the beginning of the book. However, most agree that everything comes together after many twists and turns.
And Then There Were None
Book Summary
Ten people, all with something to hide, are invited to a mansion on a private island. Unfortunately, when they arrive, the host isn’t there. They try to settle in anyways, but then a creepy nursery rhyme hung as art in each room begins to come true…
“Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he’d stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.”
Classic Island Mystery
With over 100 MILLION copies sold, this may be the most popular island mystery. It’s also one of the most beloved.
The Guest List
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Imagine the picture-perfect wedding on a remote Irish island between a rising TV star and an intelligent magazine publisher. Despite the rough waves and spotty cell service, the wedding is sure to be idyllic, with every detail and moment planned in advance.
However, you can’t plan for old traditions and ongoing jealousy. The groomsmen are soon playing drinking games, someone may regret missing out on romance with the bride, and a bridesmaid ruins her dress – on purpose. So, when someone dies, who’s to blame?
Notes About the Setting
We knew we had to add this locked room mystery to the list after one of our readers recommended it by saying that the Irish setting is so atmospheric that it becomes one of the characters in the book, and that the descriptions transported her right back to her recent travel in Ireland.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This page-turning thriller is also a heartfelt story about siblings that will quickly draw you out of your own life and into the lives of the well-written characters.
The main characters in Castaways are two sisters, Lori and Erin, who are traveling together to an island resort in Fiji after Lori separates from her husband. The night before their flight to the resort, the sisters get into an argument, and Erin doesn’t show up when it’s time to board.
Lori gets on the plane anyways, but something feels off beyond her MIA sister. Her gut was right…the plane disappears before reaching its destination. When Erin hears this, she uses her experience as a journalist and tries to figure out what happened to Lori and the other passengers.
Book Summary
Lexi’s getting married – but before the big day, she’s celebrating her bachelorette weekend on a picturesque Greek island. She and her friends are soaking in the sun and ocean views while exploring the whitewashed streets and tavernas.
But things aren’t as postcard-perfect as they appear. Below the surface of the friendships, each of the six women is hiding a secret. Someone is determined to stop Lexi’s wedding, and one of them won’t leave the island alive.
Geography Note
This novel is set on the fictional Greek island of Aegos. While Aegos is not a real location, it is depicted with vivid detail, capturing the essence of the Greek islands set in the Aegean Sea, complete with sun-drenched beaches, whitewashed architecture, and azure waters.
The Last Murder at the End of the World
Book Summary
While most of the world was destroyed by a deadly fog, one island shelters 122 villages and three scientists in an idyllic setting. But when one of the scientists is murdered, it triggers a lowering of the security system that has been keeping them safe. The remaining inhabitants of the island have to solve the murder within 107 hours to restore the security system and stop the encroaching fog.
Unfortunately, the security system has also wiped out everyone’s memory of the night before. It’s possible that the murderer doesn’t even know that they are to blame.
The Book Girls Say…
If you love both locked-room thrillers and dystopian science fiction, this novel from the author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle should be added to your TBR ASAP!
Book Summary
The call of the open road unites skilled pickpocket Summer and con artist Leo. They travel through California in a Land Cruiser and enjoy their freedom from ordinary life. However, they still have bills to pay, and it’s time to make some cash.
Leo begins charming billionaire philanthropist Michael, and her efforts are rewarded with an invitation to Michaels’ exclusive private island. Summer can’t wait to hear about Leo’s night away and to see the pictures that can be sold to the paparazzi. However, Leo never returns from the island.
Summer must now infiltrate the island to locate Summer, but with no way off the island most days, will she ever return?
Murder in Mykonos
Book Summary
When Andreas Kaldis is promoted out of Athens to serve as the chief of police in the tourist haven of Mykonos, he assumes his homicide days are behind him. But he’ll soon learn that despite being known as a playground for the rich and famous, Mykonos also has a lucrative dark side.
When the remains of a young woman are found ritually bound and buried on a pile of human bones inside a remote mountain church, Kaldis will team up with a local homicide chief to find the killer before word gets out and the media attention destroys the island’s reputation.
But then another woman disappears, and the investigation becomes a rescue operation.
About the Series
There are currently 14 books in the Andreas Kaldis police procedural series, with each set throughout mainland Greece or the Greek Isles.
Geography Note
Mykonos Town, also known as Chora, features a maze-like network of narrow, winding alleys that were designed to protect against pirate invasions in the 15th through 18th centuries. The layout made it difficult for intruders to navigate, giving locals a strategic advantage. Today, the charming streets may still confound visitors, but they add to the town’s distinctive character and historic allure.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Esther is nearing her 40th birthday and is looking to take a break from her divorce and motherhood in Britain, so she books a solo trip to a beach resort on the Malaysian island of Pulau Perhentian Kecil.
She and a group of fellow tourists – each with their own secrets – plan a day trip to a deserted island for some snorkeling. When the local fisherman who transported them out to the island doesn’t return to pick them up as promised, their relaxing beach day takes a sinister turn and Esther soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to return from her travels.
The story also includes flashbacks to a teenager trying to escape in another time and place. This storyline won’t seem to fit with the book until it does, so be patient and stick with it!
Thoughts on This Book
Reviewers describe Stranded as gripping and unputdownable.
Book Summary
When Anna and her friends head to Aruba for Spring Break their senior year, the wealthy friend group expects to have a memorable trip. However, when her best friend Elise is murdered, Anna is trapped in Aruba and must fight against vile accusations. No one seems to trust her anymore.
As Anna tries to figure out the killer before she is declared guilty in a circus-like trial, she discovers hard truths about her friendships and young love.
A Disappearance in Fiji
Book Summary
In 1914 colonial Fiji, Indian police sergeant Akal Singh is not happy to be in the tropical paradise. He expected to launch his career at home in India or in Hong Kong, but an embarrassing mistake on the job gets him set to the island.
However, when an indentured Indian woman disappears from a sugarcane plantation, Akal is assigned the case. He’s told that the investigation is essentially only for perception and not to worry about locating the woman. But as Akal learns more and confronts the brutal realities of colonization, he becomes invested in this “more than meets the eye” case.
Other Fiji Titles to Consider
If you’d prefer a contemporary crime mystery set in Fiji, consider Death on Paradise Island, which is the first of five books in the Fiji Islands Mystery Series.
Revenge Cafe
Book Summary
Mandy is excited to leave her life on the US Mainland behind to run the Revenge Cafe on St. Thomas with her best friend, Chance. However, Chance fails to mention that people tend to die at the cafe. As Mandy investigates a murder on their property, she discovers that Chance has been playing outside the legal lines. Even worse, it looks like Mandy might be the next victim.
Mandy really wants to ignore all these new complications in her life and hide in a bottle of rum, but things keep happening. People from her past are trying to creep back into the present, there’s a ghost haunting the dining room, and the sexy police detective is vying for her attention.
Dialect Note
Throughout the book, the author incorporated the Creole English that is native to St. Thomas. In the preface, she explains, “To honor their distinct use of the language, I sought input from Islanders on pronunciation and even spelling to do my best to reflect it in this work.” You can find a glossary of some of these words with their American English equivalents on her website.
Looking For Other Genres of Island Books?
We also have a list of books set on islands that spans a wide range of genres, as well as the following: books set on Greek islands, books set in Hawaii, and books set in the US Territories (which are all islands).
Love Summer Reading? Try This!
Our free self-paced reading challenge will keep you reading engaging books all summer long. To make it easy and fun, we include highly-rated book recommendations for each of the four summer reading prompts.
