Stranded on an island with no way to be rescued. Dark humor even though people are being murdered. A cozy mystery at it's best! You'll love Body on the Island by Victoria Dowd!

this reminded me about Agatha Christine and then there were none, in the best way possible, The characters were great and I think islands are a very creepy place.

This is the second book in the "smart woman's guide to murder" series. Having read the first and loved it I was looking forward to more of the same brilliance of the first and I wasn't disappointed...the plot is agatha christie for the modern day and its expertly plotted with twists and wit along the way. Highly recommended and can't wait for the next one!

Excellent. Victoria Dowd's first novel won a People's Prize for Fiction award recently and she should get another for this book!

The Smart Women (or as the press has christened them 'The Slaughterhouse Five') are back again. It's been a year since their bloody and deadly book club retreat episode and to avoid/tackle any future deadly encounters, Ursula Smart signs up the family to a survival course in the Outer Hebrides to better hone their survival skills. However, the boat they are travelling in with a few other new faces, capsizes due to a storm and they find themselves boat wrecked on a gloomy and abandoned island, but not before Ursula witnessing the murder of one of the passengers who is forcefully drowned by another person while the passengers are trying to survive the choppy waters. But this murder is just the beginning and before any hope to be rescued is fulfilled, more bodies start piling up.

I actually enjoyed this second installment more than the first book since it was more easy to follow... I did struggle a bit with the first book. Also, like in the first book the dark and witty humour is very much present. The Smart Women continue to be snarky/bitchy towards each other and it's a wonder that these ladies require any survival skills at all considering they have so far managed to survive each other's company without drawing blood.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Joffe Books and the author Victoria Dowd for the e-Arc of the book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨💫

I had not read the first of the series, and I think it is a requirement for understanding the dynamics of this motley crowd. We start off with the leading lady trying to convince her mother to go on a survival trip. The proposal did not seem appetizing to me as the reader as well! Ursula wants to bond with her mother, and given the sampling of their relationship I had in the first few pages was enough for me to know that this was a completely wrong idea. Little did they know it was going to go wrong even further. ( we know since the prologue indicates it).
The banter is not light nor cheery. Most of the characters are in each other's bad books, and this means they snipe at each other using intelligently thought out remarks which are not favourable from any angle. It was entertaining in parts, but I got tired of all the ill-will and was straining for a semblance of familial sympathy. There were short instances of this as well, but not as many as I would have liked. The plot brought up my feelings towards the book again. We have a marooned party, and the people seemed to be dying out one by one.
The reasoning for it all seemed a little far-fetched, but as I did not see the twist coming, it worked. The writing was different and well-done and given a chance, I might pick up the next one. The hints definitely made me curious about the first in the series!
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers; the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

This is the second outing for the Smart family, Ursula with her mother, aunt, and a few other familiar faces following the The Smart Woman’s Guide To Murder. The first story was a book club retreat which went wrong, this one is a survival course on a remote Scottish island. Which also goes wrong. Similar to the first book, there is some dark humour and a good puzzle mystery to solve. Quite amusing, fairly light-hearted (despite the body count), quirky characters, good sense of place, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed Body on the Island by Victoria Dowd, it is not your typical cozy mystery for sure but I liked the humor and the strangeness of the characters. The descriptions of the locale made me feel the cold and loneliness which added to the enjoyment of reading this book.

I can't believe I missed this as a pre-release ARC, as I loved the first one in this series, so am very glad I managed to still get my hands on it.

This definitely felt darker than the original, despite that also being a locked room murder. All the themes and symbols are still there, starker than the original if that's possible: storms, discomfort, fear = familial relationships, secrets, personal demons, etc., all put together in a group of disparate people stuck on a remote Hebridean island with a murderer: no phones, no food, no way off, three dead bodies...

The dark humour is there, as is Aunt Charlotte, who is brilliantly obtuse and the more brightly-humourous character of the group. When they finally make it back to the mainland, Pandora & Ursula sit down for a serious and long-overdue conversation about her father, leaving another potential mystery to unravel in the future.

Thanks to stupid o'clock wakeups, I finished this reasonably quickly and will pay closer attention so that I don't miss No 3. This is a terrific series and has beautifully hidden clues throughout.

Well after reading the first one I wasn't looking forward to this one. I don't like the family they are too toxic and seem to hate each other. I don't get the mystery and who did it seems a little desperate in the end. I hated how they treat Spear through out. They were all shady through out the whole book.
Kemp just turning up was shady. the house they found was good though it added to the creepy scary feel.

ARC provided by NetGalley for Honest Review
2.5 Stars
Unfortunately this book did not work for me. In fact it muddled my brain and the choppy writing kept me confused from the start. I don’t think this has to do with me not reading book one either, the book and I just did not get along. The heroine/narrator’s thoughts are all over the place and her and her family rather than going to a survival course needed badly to go to therapy. Honestly I found them all pretty annoying and their constant squabbling only made me dislike them more. The solving of the crime was also the cheesiest part of the book since they literally go down the list and blame everyone until of course they finally come to the last possible choice. 🤦🏽‍♀️ And even then the climax was kind blah. I mean it had nothing to even do with the heroine and her family which makes me think they just have the worst kinds of luck having just survived being in a murder house from book one. Really it was the authors writing style that kept me so disconnected from the book. It was extremely hard to focus when the narrator was constantly changing topics and more. Did have some old school cozy mystery vibes so I’m sure some will enjoy this, sadly I did not.

BODY ON THE ISLAND by Victoria Dowd. Mystery was convoluted and hard to unravel. Too many obnoxious characters and too much caustic dialogue though at times there was a sting of dark humor. Was wishing the murderous dog would live up to his name.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This one felt easier to read than the first, although the mystery was a little more confusing and hard to untangle. I did like the family and their quibbling and spats a little more. I loved the murderous dog more this time, as he seemed to be available to lap up anything that was red!

I found the complete turn around on the stance of the dad surprising. I liked the possible surprise at the end and the hint that there might be something more there. I thought the mom was a little nicer and mellow this go round and I did chuckle a few times. I'll look for book 3, I'm sure, and keep reading this series, just to see where it goes from here!

Body on the island by Victoria Dowd.
Smart woman's mystery book 2.
I really enjoyed this book. I had no clue who the killer was. Although I did have my suspects. But I was completely wrong. I do hope there is more to come as I do like Ursula Bridgett Pandora Charlotte and Mirabelle. The clues were there it just didn't click until the author wanted us to know. 5*.

Look Death In The Eye....
Book two in the Smart Woman’s Mystery series finds Ursula Smart heading, along with dysfunctional family members, to Scotland for another potentially disastrous weekend break. Bouncing from one situation to another, hurdles are numerous, as the group face murder and mayhem and look death in the eye. Agatha Christie this is not but it’s a whole lot of fun and an enjoyable, escapist read.

Victoria Dowd returns with a sequel to The Smart Woman's Guide To Murder, a series with echoes of the golden age of crime. After previous events in the first book, a troubled and traumatised Ursula Smart is not feeling that therapy is sufficient in the survival game, so looks for and finds a survival course in Northern Scotlands that she books herself on, along with her mother, Pandora, and Aunts Mirabelle, Charlotte and Bridget, although they are less keen on the idea. In the Outer Hebrides, the women find themselves facing a series of challenges, on a capsizing boat, on an uninhabited island of magic, starving and freezing. However, matters take a turn for the considerably worse, as murders start occuring and they have to fight an all too real battle for survival. This is a darkly humorous read of twists, turns and secrets, a murder mystery that entertains. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

Synopsis:

Ursula Smart is determined to make some life changes. She signs up herself, her mother, and her aunts Charlotte, Mirabelle and Bridget for a survival course. This is not her family’s idea of a vacation but they humour her. She’s promised a calm weekend of camping in the Outer Hebrides, which quickly descends into a battle for her life. The boat that her and her family are in capsizes, and they wash up on an uninhabited island. Bodies start to pile up as someone is killing them one by one. Will Ursula escape, or will she be next?

My review:

Victoria Dowd has composed a thrilling, classic “whodunit” story reminiscent of Agatha Christie, but with a modern, fun touch. When I first started this novel, I thought that, based on the first chapter, that it would be slow. However, after that first chapter, I was instantly catapulted into the drama and could NOT put it down. I’m usually pretty good at figuring out, well, who did it, when reading a mystery/thriller, but this one threw me for a loop! I wasn’t even close. This book really was a breath of fresh air – exactly what I needed. I will definitely be picking up more of Ms. Dowd’s works.

Thank you to Net Galley, Victoria Dowd, and Joffe Books for the opportunity to review this ARC. This review and all opinions are my own.

‘Body On The Island’ by Victoria Dowd is the second instalment in the Smart Woman’s Mystery Series. Having been introduced to this series from the first book and thoroughly loving it, I was really happy when I discovered this book was out and we were getting a tour too!

Ursula, after what happened in the previous book has decided to be more like a Scout…and be prepared. She books the family onto a Survival training weekend in the North of Scotland and as you can imagine, nothing goes as planned! We have , again Ursula, her mother Pandora (pseudo names remember), her fantasically vague Aunt Charlotte and her mothers best friend, Mirabelle, the one who sticks up for her mother no matter what. The odd ball gang arrive and ,lucky them Bridget is waiting…the gang is all together! The place looks bleak and they don’t know this is going to be a Survival weekend to top all of them and not all will even survive!

This series is a clever one, a light hearted mystery with a touch of dark humour ,which had me chuckling all the way! Victoria has created a set of brilliant characters that are memorable in their own comedic way.


I do hope Victoria is writing more of this series and soon. A story I could well imagine on the stage or TV.

Thank you to Joffe Books and NetGalley for the copy of the book.

If you take the classic who done it premise and add sardonic humor you get this book! If you're in the mood for an excellent mystery and wit to boot you will definitely enjoy this book. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this Arc and exchange for an honest review.