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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.
15 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 the 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 agents careers, and even their lives, at stake.
The Book Girls Say…
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.
Daisy Darker
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
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.
The Book Girls Say…
Daisy Darker is said to be a nod to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
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.
The Book Girls Say…
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.”
The Book Girls Say…
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
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?
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 new release 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?
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Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
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!
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers describe Stranded as gripping and unputdownable.
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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.
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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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.
The Book Girls Say…
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.
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Pago Pago Tango
Book Summary
In this four-book series, Detective Apelu Soifua walks the line between US and Polynesian cultures. In the introduction to this new mystery series, Apelu has returned home to American Samoa after working as an officer in San Francisco. On the small island, the cases feel more personal than they did in California.
When a white family’s home is burglarized in the capital of Pago Pago, it’s not the simple case it seems at first. The trail to the truth includes the difference between cultures, dead bodies, hidden codes, and lies.
The Book Girls Say…
Author John Enright was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and lived in San Francisco and Hong Kong before relocating to teach at American Samoa Community College. He spent the next twenty-six years living on the islands of the South Pacific. Reviews praise the author’s ability to capture the essence of life in these Americanized, Polynesian islands.
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