ISLAND OF LAST RESORTS

A private eye is separated from colleagues she may have to rescue as they are forced to solve the murder of a millionaire’s wife.

As the newest PI in Nate Price’s little company, Kate Weller doesn’t feel that she can turn down the boss when he invites her on a company retreat with the other employees and their partners. Nate insists that Kate’s boyfriend, Eric Manfredi, join the gang as well, though Eric’s reluctant to leave the Manfredi family restaurant, Bella Trattoria, in the hands of the other chefs in his large, close family. But Kate, who’s been through periods of serious ambivalence about her connection with Eric (Sweet Taste of Revenge, 2018, etc.), puts her foot down until he agrees. When the couple finally respond to the invitation, they find that Nate, his wife, Isabelle, and the two other invited couples have already left to enjoy the privacy Nate has secured as guests on reclusive millionaire Julian Frazier’s private paradise, Elysian Island. The guests’ initial dinner with Frazier reveals that what they thought would be a vacation will be more like a week working at a private prison: Frazier wants Price’s team to solve the murder of his late wife, and he’s prepared to use force to get answers. Ellis’ conceit follows the team on a “Ten Little Indians”–style quest while Kate and Eric frantically try to get to the island, just knowing that something must be wrong. And they’re absolutely right: The thoroughly dislikable Frazier is eliminating suspects while the members of the Price team have lowered their expectations from vacationing to surviving.

Perhaps the last of a series more notable for its plot-driven narratives than for providing more nuanced character development.