Book Review: Trouble Island by Sharon Short

The woman known as Aurelia Escalante came to Trouble Island – in the middle of Lake Erie and on one of the busiest smuggling routes between Canada and the United States of America during these boom days of Prohibition – looking for a refuge. Scared and in hiding, Aurelia found herself healing while on the remote island, at least at first:

After a summer season of swimming and hiking and breathing in the deep, loamy scents of the island’s woods, I came to long for what Rosita had promised before sending me here: that my island stay would only be a stopover before a new life, a new identity.

 

But by then, I realized Rosita had no intention of helping me leave. I was to stay on Trouble Island, serving her, being her island confidante, indefinitely. I began to plan my own escape: slowly pilfer from guests a watch here, money there, a few pieces of jewelry. I had Henry show me how to use the boats, planning to eventually steal one of them and dash to the north coast of Ohio.

 

But then, Oliver died, and everything changed…

Aurelia is understandably bewildered by her demotion from being glamorous, wealthy Rosita McGee’s friend to becoming merely her servant. She attributes it to how hard Rosita has taken Oliver’s death, refusing even to speak of it with her. All Aurelia knows is that Oliver died on the mainland and Rosita has been in seclusion on Trouble Island ever since, demanding that Aurelia and the other full-time staff there cater to her every whim. 

Fortunately, this isn’t very taxing work. Being no stranger to honest labor herself, Aurelia quickly builds up a camaraderie with the other employees, even before she realizes that the rest of them are just as trapped there as she is. They all seem to live in a strange limbo, beholden to Rosita and to her gangster husband Eddie to keep them safe on the island, away from the rest of the world’s prying eyes.

When Eddie makes an unannounced winter visit with guests in tow, all the staff are thrown into a tizzy. They’d been getting ready to shut the island down to its bare necessities in order to survive being iced in over the upcoming months. Eddie, however, is adamant on breaking into the stores to lavishly host the newcomers, who include Rosita’s brittle cousin Claire, a dashing Hollywood actor and two rival mobsters. But Eddie isn’t there just to throw a party: he wants Rosita to finally snap out of her grief, and either come back to the mainland with him or sign over Trouble Island.

Rosita has no interest in doing any of this despite Eddie’s overbearing mix of threats and cajoling. Unfortunately for her, all of the guests seem intent on getting her to change her mind. So when Aurelia stumbles across Rosita’s corpse lashed to one of the Trouble Island piers, there’s no shortage of suspects who might have wanted to do her in. Eddie is at the top of the list but everyone else seems to have a motive, too. Complicating things for Aurelia is the fact that she herself appears to be the most likely suspect.

As she seeks to elude Eddie’s rough justice, Aurelia will have to figure out who on the island she can trust as she tries to identify and expose Rosita’s killer. Perhaps just as importantly, will she be able to escape Trouble Island herself once she’s proven that she had nothing to do with the other woman’s murder?

This historical mystery is based on real events from the author’s family past, lending as much verisimilitude to the narrative as passages such as this one, where Aurelia delves deeper into the lives of the married couple who serve as Trouble Island’s cook and housekeeper:

Maxine’s ancestors and Henry’s too would have been slaves. Maxine was saying that her grandmother came north to escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

 

Maxine pointed at the design inside the square. “This is a bear paw. It meant follow the bear tracks north toward Canada. Stay away from the main road.”

 

“There was… a code?” I asked with wonderment. “In the quilt that she saw?”

 

Maxine nodded. “In many quilts. A symbol for log cottage meant you could find safe, hidden shelter. Flying geese meant follow the northerly direction of the geese in spring.”

 

I traced my fingers along the fine stitching. “What a treasure,” I said, honored that they’d chosen it to warm me earlier that day.

I was particularly taken with these convincing historical fillips and enjoyed, too, reading of Aurelia’s appreciation for the wildlife of Trouble Island, native or otherwise. The ending was particularly enthralling, as Aurelia’s grit and ingenuity help her go toe-to-toe with any number of opponents who would just as soon see her dead. A paean to grief and survival, this isolated manor house mystery will be a surefire hit with anyone who enjoys a meaty Prohibition-era crime novel featuring a resilient heroine up against overwhelming odds.

Check Out Sharon Short’s Guest Post About Closed Circle Mysteries