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Victoria Dowd

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BODY ON THE ISLAND a gripping murder mystery packed with twists (Smart Woman's Crime Mystery Book 2) Kindle Edition

by VICTORIA DOWD (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.8 353 ratings

Book 2 of 5: Smart Woman's Crime Mystery

See all formats and editions

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Absolutely loved Body on the Island! Five stars. It was cleverly woven, deliciously dark and had that fabulous Christie setting & humour. Can’t wait to read the next one!” D. E. White, bestselling author of Glass Dolls

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “What a fabulous, fantabulous, mind-blowing, engrossing page-turner!” Rekha’s Reviews

____________________

An uninhabited Scottish island.
Ten stranded strangers.
A murderer on the loose.

Ursula Smart, along with her dysfunctional family, heads to Scotland for a gentle weekend of foraging and camping in the Outer Hebrides.

Their boat capsizes. Washed up on an uninhabited island, the Smart women face starvation, freezing conditions and — worse — no Wi-Fi.

A fun break swiftly turns into a desperate battle for survival. Someone begins killing them off one by one.

Will our gang of Smart women escape or will they be next?

A GRIPPING MURDER MYSTERY PACKED WITH TWISTS AND A TOUCH OF DARK HUMOUR.

Victoria Dowd’s brilliant whodunnit is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, Lucy Foley, L.J. Ross, Matt Haig, Faith Martin, Jeanne M. Dams and Stuart Turton.

____________________

PRAISE FOR VICTORIA DOWD:

“Ursula Smart is on waspish good form in this sequel to The Smart Woman’s Guide To Murder. Victoria Dowd juxtaposes compelling insights into psychological trauma with hilarious reflections on toxic relationships — all nicely wrapped in a satisfying mystery. Highly entertaining!” Margaret Murphy, bestselling author of Before He Kills Again

“I love Victoria Dowd’s style of writing, she is descriptive, funny and shows some acerbic wit. It makes the book enjoyable and a joy to read and the chapters flow by.” Zoe H.

“What a cozy murder mystery this book is. I didn't realise that this is the second book in the series but it does read well as a standalone.” Louise W.

“What is better than a traditional whodunnit? This takes the classic premise of a group of people forced together only to find murder and mystery abounding and adds a strong character base. The relationships and interactions are fascinating and could probably stand alone without the mystery element, which is also a great read. Agatha Christie would be proud to see her legacy here!” Louise G.

“If you like chilling and eerie descriptions with loads of goosebumps, do pick up this book.” Brenda C.

“A witty, clever and darkly delicious take on the country house murder genre. I relished the twists and turns that came at me faster than an Alpine switchback and the characters who are at times all too horribly familiar. Hugely enjoyable.” Amanda Lees, author of Selling Out

“This book was exactly what I needed! A breath of fresh air. A modern day cozy mystery where a group of despicable characters with deadly humor and sarcasm!” Helga H.

“A fun and quirky take on the classic whodunit mystery!” Lyndie D.

“I didn’t know what to expect from this novel but I adored it, and devoured it in a few hours . . . It bounces along and is thoroughly enjoyable, lots of wickedly astute moments from the most unsuspecting of characters. Please can I have more?” Aine T.

“What a fabulous whodunnit, that kept me gripped from the start . . . Spooky setting, creepy cast and twisty turny storylines make this book the perfect read.” Emma M.

ALSO BY VICTORIA DOWD
SMART WOMAN'S MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: THE SMART WOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER
Book 2: BODY ON THE ISLAND
Book 3: THE SUPPER CLUB MURDERS
Book 4: A BOOK OF MURDER

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Victoria Dowd is an award winning short story writer, winning the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction 2019 by Go Gothic. She was the runner up in The New Writer's writer of the year award and has been short listed and highly commended by Writers' Forum magazine. She was also long-listed for The Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition. Victoria has had short stories published in BTS Literary and Arts Annual, Gold Dust magazine, and by Stairwell books in their literary and arts journal Dream Catcher. Her work has also been selected for publication in an anthology entitled A Ghostly Challenge. She speaks at various literary festivals, most recently in Bath, and at various schools and book groups.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08W9F5ZKC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ JOFFE BOOKS crime thrillers and mysteries (February 23, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 23, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1296 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 258 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #686,181 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4,641 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #6,831 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)
- #17,378 in Women Sleuths (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
3.8 353 ratings

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Victoria Dowd

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Victoria’s was short listed for the CWA Dagger in 2023. She is an award winning crime writer, winning The People’s Book Prize 2020/2021 for her debut novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder. It was also named Classic Mystery’s Book of the Year 2020. The Smart woman’s mystery series is a dark, humorous crime series that is a modern take on the classic whodunnit.

She is an award winning short story writer, winning the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction 2019 and has been short listed for many awards. Her short fiction is widely published in literary journals and anthologies.

She is co convenor of the London Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association and recently spoke at the International Agatha Christie Festival, Malice Domestic (the Agathas) in Washington, Crimefest and many other literary festivals.

You can find out more about her on her website https://victoriadowd.com

Victoria is originally from Yorkshire and, after studying at Cambridge, went on to be a criminal law barrister appearing at the Old Bailey for many years.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5

353 global ratings

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Mlinertlpn

Survival is not always easy when you don’t know the killer

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

It is hard to stay alive even when you live through one tragedy and to help yourself by joining a survivalist course with all the family and friends only to find yourself in another tragedy that keeps getting worse with more murders. Ursula must put all together before they are rescued. Am unbelievable story.

Helpful

Julie

A darkly comic mystery

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2021

Victoria Dowd’s Smart Women are back with another gripping mystery that is a modern-day homage to the Agatha Christie classic And Then There Were None: Body on the Island.

Ursula Smart isn’t sure that it was such a good idea to spend the weekend with her dysfunctional family in the Outer Hebrides camping and foraging. Ursula’s family aren’t close at the best of times and spending two whole days in one another’s company with no possibility of escaping isn’t exactly instilling confidence in the Smart clan. But it’s too late to back out now so the Smart women head off to Scotland and hope that the picturesque beauty of the Outer Hebrides will keep them from bickering and snapping at each other. However, when the boat capsizes, it looks like they have bigger fish to fry than petty disagreements and long-held resentments. Will the Smart women make it out of Scotland alive? Or have they just inadvertently found themselves tangled up in a dangerous game of survival where the stakes have never been higher…or more deadly?

Finding themselves stranded on an uninhabited island, the Smart women find themselves dealing with starvation, plummeting temperatures and -worse! – no Wi-Fi to distract them from their hopeless predicament! Just when things couldn’t possibly get any worse for them, a dangerous murderer begins wreaking havoc and starts killing the island’s inhabitants one by one. Who is next? Will the Smart women manage to outwit and outsmart a twisted killer and make it back to civilization? Or is it already far too late?

A darkly comic mystery that will delight fans of Golden Age and modern crime fiction alike, Victoria Dowd’s Body on the Island is a snarky, witty, sinister and captivating thriller that will have readers laughing out loud and trembling under the duvet at the same time. Victoria Dowd perfectly balances humour and comedy with tension and suspense in a brilliantly paced and highly enjoyable thriller that will have readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Smart Woman’s Mystery series!

Helpful

Kindle Reader

Enjoyable but not quite as good as the first one

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

After the events of the first book in the series, Ursula decides that she and her family need to learn some survival skills. What they didn’t realise was that they’d need skills just to survive the course. The boat they’re on capsizes in a storm and they’re washed up on an uninhabited island in the Hebrides with no food and before long the body count starts to rise.

I loved the first book The Smart Women’s Guide to Murder and while this has some of the previous characters, smart dialogue and some laugh out loud moments despite the murders, I didn’t love it as much as the first book.

While some of the book club characters aren’t nice one or two of the new characters were extremely unpleasant and I was happy when the murderer got to them. Ursula’s quirks had begun to annoy by the end of the first book and so I was definitely over her constant feeling ill and fainting in this book. There was just a little too much sniping and Aunt Charlotte misunderstanding absolutely everything.

Body on the Island is a standalone book but the events in the first book are referenced quite a lot and I would suggest reading that book first, especially as you’ll realise who makes it out of the Slaughter House.

While I wasn’t so enthralled with this second book it was enjoyable and the author has a dark sense of humour running through the story.

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

Victoria Dowd is my new favorite crime/mystery writer!! I hope she keeps writing so I can keep reading. Detailed so thoroughly that you believe that you are there. Characters so quirky you can't help but giggle (I think Charlotte is my favorite). Truly a great author - watch out Christie here comes Dowd!!! PS love the references to other authors/characters

Helpful

booklover

Darkly Comic Murder Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2021

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions / Netgalley for the digital copy of this darkly comic murder mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own

After a harrowing experience (Book 1 - THE SMART WOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER), Ursula decides that she, her mother, two aunts and a dog should enroll in a survival course. Supposedly it's a weekend of camping, foraging for food, learning what to carry with you, what tools will help, etc.

Well, it doesn't exactly go the way they were expecting.

They wind up on the wrong boat with an alcohol-impaired skipper. The boat capsizes .. thank goodness they can all swim (sort of). Washed up on an uninhabited island, the women and a few of those who were on the boat with them, face starvation and frostbite.

Than the murders begin .. one by one someone is killing the survivors.

Murder is usually not funny, but I admit I laughed and chuckled through most of this book. The Smart family is one of the funniest I've ever had the pleasure of being introduced to. In turn they are funny, sarcastic, taunting, insulting ... but always with love. The plot is well-written, lots of action, and a page-turning experience you don't want to miss. The conclusion was a bit of a surprise.

Although second in the series, it is easily read as a stand alone, but I highly recommend reading them in order. I look forward to see what's in the future for this Smart family.

Helpful

MECI

Couldn't Get Through It- End of the line for me

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

I just had to stop reading. The comic lines were more like slap-stick (sp?) comedy and too frequent to make them funny. The so called murders... gripping? PLEASE This is not what I expected... More like Murder She Wrote.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Woodbend

Not my cup of tea.

Reviewed in Canada on July 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

This was a depressing book with weird characters who hate each other. Except for Aunt Charlotte, she was a hoot.

Gabrielle

Gets old real fast

Reviewed in Germany on March 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the first book as refreshingly different. But this one took real effort to get through. And then for what? After lots of dark speculation and unnecessary family squabbles there was no big surprise. I won't read the next one