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.
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.
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.
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
Crossword: October 26, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
6 well-crafted log homesFeature Featuring a floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace in Montana and a Tulikivi stove in New York
-
Film reviews: A House of Dynamite, After the Hunt, and It Was Just an AccidentFeature A nuclear missile bears down on a U.S. city, a sexual misconduct allegation rocks an elite university campus, and a victim of government terror pursues vengeance
-
Book reviews: ‘Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife’ and ‘Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong With Baseball and How to Fix It’Feature Gertrude Stein’s untold story and Jane Leavy’s playbook on how to save baseball
-
Rachel Ruysch: Nature Into ArtFeature Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through Dec. 7
-
Music reviews: Olivia Dean, Madi Diaz, and Hannah FrancesFeature “The Art of Loving,” “Fatal Optimist,” and “Nested in Tangles”
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Ready for the apocalypseFeature As anxiety rises about the state of the world, the ranks of preppers are growing—and changing.