In the 1930s the first family of the island set it aside for the use of “great men” who needed a respite from public service. Since then Nobel prize winners, statesmen, scientists and philanthropists have come to spend a few days in the haven of the island cottages away from electronic communications spending their times walking and reading and resting from the busy world. The island has kept its mission even though it now extends its services to great women as well as men; it remains a place for contemplation and refreshment. Now it is under consideration for a low profile meeting of the Prime Minister and some other European nations and Adam Dagliesh and his team are to inspect it for suitability. Shortly after their arrival there is a murder and then another.

The island’s current guests are a renowned medical researcher, a German diplomat, and Nathan Oliver the novelist with his daughter and his secretary. They are tended by Guy Stavely, the resident physician and his wife; Rupert Maycroft formerly a solicitor and now the island host; Adrian Boyde; the accountant; the cook; the housekeeper; the boatman; Millie the odd little street person rescued from wandering around the mainland town and assorted day workers. Yes, it is very much like the cast of “Clue” and here they are trapped on an island.

Enter Nathan Oliver. He has a double claim on the island for not only is he famous but was born there and therefore has the right to visit whenever he chooses according to the terms of the charitable trust. He makes life miserable for all around him seeking out weaknesses and prying out information people would prefer to keep unknown. He despises his daughter and purposely imposes on her, demanding that she fulfill his every whim. He has contempt for his readers the ones who gave him fame.

But his vampire characteristics are manifest when he deliberately sets out to gain authenticity for his writing. He feigns friendship when his only intent is to leech the thoughts and phrases and mannerisms of others. When he has an alcoholic character in mind he sets out to find an alcoholic, give him spirits and then sits back to watch. So when he is found hanging from the rail of the local lighthouse, the suspects are many.

The characters are well written as usual and James adds a fillip to the classic locked room setting by isolating the residents from the mainland and adding sickness, which increases the isolation as Dagliesh finds himself incapacitated leaving Kate Miskin and Francis Benton-Smith to solve the case.

Combe Island and its historic lighthouse becomes a metaphor for the beacon of comfort we all seek. John Donne’s verse that “no man is an island” is echoed in the realizations her detectives make as they work on the island. Dagliesh understands at last that he needs to tell Emma how he feels about their relationship and ask her to marry him instead of being wrought with doubts. He will no longer play the “what if” game.

I highly recommend this book for its multi-layered quality. There is more here than merely a well-written whodunit. The idea of a place of refuge from the busy world we live in is comforting and that being so isolated also allows one to confront one’s own demons is so true. Oliver’s vampirism is sickening and frightening that his literary success helped to create the monster he eventually became. How horrid to imagine that one’s death could improve the world.

--Jane Davis