Abbott Kahler's 6 favorite mystery books set on isolated islands
The best-selling author recommends works by William Golding, Agatha Christie, and more
When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.
Abbott Kahler's new book, "Eden Undone," revisits a true story of sex and murder in a 1930s utopian island community. Below, the best-selling author of "The Ghosts of Eden Park" and "Sin in the Second City" recommends six other island novels.
'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding (1954)
Golding's singular debut novel, with its group of prepubescent boys stranded on an uninhabited island, highlights the delicate balance between civilization and savagery. As Ralph, Piggy, and the rest show us, even the most noble will break under sufficient strain. Buy it here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'The Island of Doctor Moreau' by H.G. Wells (1896)
Narrator Edward Prendick, after being shipwrecked, is rescued and taken to a deserted island in the South Pacific. There, Doctor Moreau's ghoulish attempts to create "Beast Folk" — grotesque hybrids of humans and animals — vividly illustrate that, as Wells wrote, "humanity is but animal rough-hewn to a reasonable shape." Buy it here.
'Galápagos' by Kurt Vonnegut (1985)
Do you consider the evolved human brain to be an asset? Think again, urges Vonnegut: That big brain we cherish is the same restless organ that invents nuclear weapons and makes you love people who hurt you. For the unfortunates stranded on Vonnegut's fictional Galápagos island after an apocalypse, losing their "oversized" human brains is the only path to contentment. Buy it here.
'And Then There Were None' by Agatha Christie (1939)
Agatha Christie's 29th book — which is also the best-selling mystery of all time — gathers 10 strangers on remote Soldier Island. Each of these invited guests is accused of an unspeakable crime, and then they are murdered, one by one. Come for the menacing setting and twisted plot; stay for the moral ambiguity and the corrosive effects of guilt. Buy it here.
'The Sicilian Inheritance' by Jo Piazza (2024)
Piazza's gripping mystery follows chef Sara Marsala on a journey to the fictional village of Caltabellessa, Sicily, where Marsala's great-grandmother was possibly murdered a hundred years earlier. Piazza was inspired by the real-life murder of one of her Sicilian ancestors, and her lush and lusty descriptions of the island are the next best thing to being there. Buy it here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
'The Beach' by Alex Garland (1996)
Venturing to a remote Thai island, a young backpacker is shocked to find a seemingly utopian community of likeminded tourists. This astonishingly atmospheric debut novel, published when the author was just 26, is Gen X's Lord of the Flies. Buy it here.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
-
The magician who secretly smashed the Magic Circle's glass ceiling
Under The Radar Sophie Lloyd lurked in the all-male society by posing as a teenage boy for nearly two years, but was expelled after revealing her true identity
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Team of bitter rivals
Opinion Will internal tensions tear apart Trump's unlikely alliance?
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 elegant homes in the Mediterranean style
Feature Featuring an award-winning mansion in Colorado and an Alhambra palace-inspired home in Washington
By The Week Staff Published
-
Juror #2: Clint Eastwood's 'cleverly constructed' courtroom drama is 'rock solid'
The Week Recommends Nicholas Hoult stars in 'morally complex' film about a juror on a high-profile murder case
By The Week UK Published
-
Explore a timeless corner of Spain by bike
The Week Recommends Take a 'dawdling route through the back-country' far from the tourism hotspots
By The Week UK Published
-
Saoirse Ronan: how the actress went viral
In the Spotlight The actress dropped a 'chat-icide bomb' on Graham Norton's BBC show
By The Week UK Published
-
Griddled salmon and vegetables with miso and melted butter recipe
The Week Recommends Hokkaido comfort food classic with a delicious twist
By The Week UK Published
-
Edmund de Waal on this year's Booker Prize shortlist
The Week Recommends The chair of judges details works by Rachel Kushner, Percival Everett and others
By The Week UK Published
-
Shattered: Hanif Kureishi's 'inspirational' memoir of accident that left him paralysed
The Week Recommends 'Exhilarating' book is composed of diary entries dictated to his son Carlo
By The Week UK Published