Delia Dickens whose ancestors first settled Dickens Island heads home after living in Manhattan for 12 years. She know if she is going to build a relationship with her 15 year old son she needs to start. Her father owns the general store on the island, he asks her to come home to help bring the store up to date, yet fights her at every turn, Meanwhile, Delia's mother has moved into her Manhattan apartment for a break of indeterminate length leaving Delia to cope with the Dickens Island family. Shortly after arriving back on the island Delia encounters marital strife between her aunt and uncle, challenges mothering her son, a stray dog adopting her and a murder. As she attempts to wend her way through all this, a familiar figure reappears to assist, her deceased grandmother. Captain Kidd's journals, along with a treasure map provide a catalyst for more adventures before Delia's challenges mostly resolve.
I thought this was a great start to a new series. First books are always a bit of a challenge for me because there is usually so much time creating the setting and introducing the characters the plot suffers a bit. I did not find that to be true in this book. For the most part it felt very organic. My only discomfort would be with the relationship between Delia and her son, Connor. The initial interactions and their relationship later in the book felt true, but when the breakthrough came, it felt abrupt and forced to me.
I look forward to reading further books in this series. A return to Dickens Island would definitely be in my future reading plans.
Thanks to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Death on Dickens Island is the first installment of "The Books on the Beach" cozy mystery series. This is the first of Allison Brook's works that I've read.

The author does a fine job of taking the reader on a journey to the fictional Dickens Island, located in the Long Island, NY area. Settings are nicely described and characters are reasonably well developed. As with any "first" in a series, there are many people to meet, and it takes a bit of time to sort out all of the relationships. However, the plot does begin to come together for the reader at about 25% of the book. The mystery has a connection to Captain Kidd, and the historical aspect of the novel is fun to consider.

The family dynamics among the characters are complicated at best. That adds a bit of a challenge for the reader (at least it did for me), since I spent some time wondering why these relationships seemed so disposable. The novel might have flowed a bit better if there weren't interpersonal difficulties with nearly every person in the story.

Without wanting to create spoilers, there was an intriguing segue into the paranormal. At first, I was skeptical of how this would fit with the direction of the story, but as events unfolded, it did fit and in fact added an interesting angle to the mystery. However, there is a relationship twist that is revealed through the paranormal experience. In my opinion, that did not add anything of substance to the story and seemed far out of place.

Generally, Allison Brooks' writing is good, creating a readable little cozy mystery that some may particularly enjoy - especially those interested in Captain Kidd or the Long Island Sound area. For me, it was just so-so, but I may actually give the series another try when book #2 is released.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the advance reader copy #netgalleyarc #DeathonDickensIsland

NetGalley offered me an ARC of Allison Brook’s new series. It was well written with a decent story line and the added feature of a ghostly grandmother and a hidden library. As with any first book of a series, a fair amount of time was spent on character development, so the pace was a little slow. My biggest issue is that I really do not like the main character very much. The author had made her whiny and fairly annoying. But, this is just my take on the book and the opinion is mine alone.

Delia Dickens, whose anncestors founded the Dickens Island, has returned home to the house that her grandmother willed her, after several years living in Boston and Manhattan. She returns to her 15 year old son who has been raised by her parents since he was three. Delia seeks to help her dad in the village general store and faces some resistance from him when attempting to update the merchandise. That resistance to change is a male family trait as both her dad and uncle like to leave things as they always have been. I loved that this old house has a secret niche from which treasures from the past are found or raises more situations for Delia. This cozy mystery involves the entire community with town hall meetings as they struggle to determine the owner of two properties which could determine the future of Dickens Island. Oh, yes, she gets involved in solving two murders. This book and new series will delight fans of Nancy Atherton. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book; this is my honest opinion.

Would you believe me if I told you that I read and finished this book in one day?

Well, you're gonna have to, because this was truly an entertaining and amazing book. Death on Dicken's Island is a fun and adventurous novel, combining humor, mystery, and romance all in one -- and succeeding perfectly!

The author truly has a sense for writing, making the book easy to follow and fast-paced. This book was quite honestly hard to put down. If I had to summarize my review, it would turn out as the following:

A truly amazing book, combining different aspects and genres perfectly and making it entertaining and easy to follow. This book was hard to put down, and deserves to be read by the book community!

This is my first book by this author and I was happy to start with her new series. There is a paranormal element, which I wasn't sure of, but that is not a deal breaker for me as I enjoy paranormal cozies. There is a good mystery and intrigue, but the book is a bit slow to get started. I also liked that when the main character returns to her home town after being away for so many years it was not the same place as she left. Sometimes, in a cozy mystery, the town never changes but yet there are murders. In this story the main character realizes that home might not be how she remembered it.

Delia has moved back to the small island where she was raised. She is happy to be back but dealing with a teenage son, a father who dislikes change and a old boyfriend is stressful. Maybe a murder to solve will be a good thing.

Death on Dickens Island is the debut book in this cozy mystery series. Delia Dickens returns home to the island where she grew up and it's not the peaceful haven she remembers. A young woman is murdered, and when her aunt and uncle are implicated, Delia does her best to find the real killer. There is mystery, a little intrigue, romance, and a cute dog. The pacing of this book was a bit slow for my liking. I did like the characters, the family dynamics, and the unexpected paranormal visits from her grandmother. Overall, a nice cozy. I look forward to reading the next one in this new series.

Delia's sleuthing techniques and style left a lot to be desired; she wasn’t a convincing amateur sleuth. This story lacked the excitement I had expected, it was mildly entertaining with mild intrigue.

#DeathonDickensIsland #NetGalley is the first in a new series by a favorite author.
This book knocks it out of the park for me, an avid cozy mystery reader.
Delia returns to Dickens Island, and she is desperate to heal her relationship with her son.
Working at the family general store keeps her busy, but when a murder takes place, putting her aunt and uncle on the top of the suspect list, Delia knows she needs to ask questions.
There is so much to love about this book, I am so happy to have read it, and I'm hoping there will be more to come.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.
I will be recommending #DeathonDickensIsland to other cozy mystery readers.