Book Review: Displeasure Island by Alice Bell

After the near-fatal events of Grave Expectations, medium Claire Strange finds herself in the unusual position of being an adult with actual friends who want to spend time and do things with her. For the first time since her late teens—when she became haunted by the ghost of her dead best friend Sophie, and subsequently discovered that she could see and communicate with the dead—she has living companions she can rely on. This is, awkwardly enough, a situation the thirty-something has no idea how to deal with:

Making and keeping friends was something of an unknown quantity to Claire. As soon as she said she was a medium, the people who tried to self-select into Claire’s life were quite intense. Many of them were people who claimed to be mediums as well, but the fact that they couldn’t see or hear Sophie when she was sticking the Vs up right in front of their faces meant Claire realized that they were actually liars. The people who tried to self-select out of Claire’s life assumed she was one, too.

 

But also, she just didn’t make great company.

Claire’s unresolved trauma has only made her more antisocial and suspicious of others, even though her new best friends, Basher and Alex Forge, are making some headway in helping her improve her life. Their latest idea is to have Claire accompany them on vacation. Alex, for all their bravado, is still a nineteen year-old dealing with the aftermath of their extended family’s crimes, which are about to go to trial. While their dependable if somewhat stodgy uncle Basher has stepped in as parental figure, not even he can be all things to his nibling. Thus Alex wants the relatively more fun Claire to come along with the duo on their short vacation getaway from their family’s pre-trial drama. 

Of course, wherever Claire goes, Sophie goes too, as the two are tethered by a bond that feels almost physical. Luckily for Claire, both Alex and Basher believe that Sophie is real, though Alex is far more enthusiastic about it than Basher is.

The plan is for the four of them to have a cheap, off-season weekend at a wellness resort on historic Spike Island, off the coast of Ireland. Legend has it that pirate treasure is buried somewhere in the vicinity. Alex is most enthused about this, even as Claire is less than thrilled given the likelihood of ghosts abounding on a place that used to be a pirate hideout, fort and prison in turn. Ghosts, you see, have a terrible habit of pestering Claire once they realize that she can actually see and speak to them. That’s hardly her idea of a relaxing vacation, but she wants to try to be a good friend to Alex by going along with their plan.

Unfortunately for our protagonists, it’s company of quite another sort that’s most detrimental to their stay. A tightly knit friend group is supposed to have the resort exclusively to themselves, as one of its members, blogger and advocate Tiffany Thomas, does not hesitate to inform them:

[“T]here aren’t supposed to be any other guests this week[.] You lot are going to have to find somewhere else to stay,” she added. Tiffany had the arch, confident voice of someone who had been the most popular girl at school.

 

“If I could just advocate for us,” said Alex, wiggling their eyebrows, “I will say that we’ve paid and have a confirmation and everything.”

 

“We shall ask Eidy,” said Basher calmly.

 

“Yes, let’s,” said Tiffany, and marched ahead, as [her boyfriend] Ritchie tipped his hat at them. But Tiffany was to be disappointed, as Eidy insisted that the boat was taking all of them, and if she didn’t like it, she and her boyfriend could stay where they were. In this he was as immovable as an angry, bearded little bollard[.]

Already thrown by this hostile interaction, Claire is further discombobulated by the attention of the ghosts of Spike Island, even as her friends seem to be straying away from her for purposes of their own. And then a murderer strikes, and someone ends up lying face down in the cold surf. When the survivors discover that all routes and methods of communication off of the island have been destroyed, things take an even more chilling turn. Will Claire be able to figure out whodunnit and why without losing any of her friends for good?

I genuinely wasn’t prepared for how even less well-adjusted Claire was in this second book of the series, though I’m hoping that the vulnerability she displayed here was her absolute lowest point before she begins growing into a more confident version of herself. Her deductive skills were excellent, however, as she teased through the tangle of tensions and motives to sort out the red herrings from the real clues. It was also nice to see her difficult relationship with Sophie continue to evolve. Claire has clearly never been the most resilient of people, so watching her adapt to change and slowly open up to caring less what strangers think of her is gratifying. I do recommend reading Grave Expectations before diving into this novel, however: while Displeasure Island stands alone, it’s also a richer read if you’ve already enjoyed the first in the series.