Kensington
Published April 29, 2025
Reviewed by Meredith Frazier
A Death on Corfu is award-winning romance writer Emily Sullivan’s first foray into mysteries, and, as you might expect, that means her mystery will include at least a dash of romantic intrigue.
Four years after the death of her husband, Minnie Harper is raising her children on the island of Corfu and leading a fairly quiet life, socializing a bit with the other English ex-pats on the island, taking the donkey cart into town from time to time, and fostering friendships with a few locals. Then, in the spring of 1898, mystery writer Stephen Dorian moves in next door, escaping from the wild rumors of his scandalous divorce in London so that he can finish his latest novel. He hires Minnie to transform his scribbled notebooks into a typed manuscript, and Minnie’s life suddenly changes on a number of levels. When Minnie discovers the body of a young maid who has been murdered, the action ramps up even further, especially when the police seem uninterested in investigating. Stephen and Minnie join forces to find the killer, putting their own lives in danger and—here’s where the potential love story comes in—navigating what could be a budding romance, if they’ll both just stop resisting the inevitable.
Minnie and Stephen are by far the most developed characters, and Sullivan does a nice job of working their backstories into the novel to give them added depth. This also leads to an additional bit of mystery since questions arise that are left unanswered. The murder mystery itself is wrought well enough to keep the reader—and the two amateur detectives—guessing, with red herring distractions aplenty. The reader may begin to guess who the murderer is before the reveal, but the twists and turns of the plot leave lots of room for compelling uncertainty along the way.
The historical aspects of this historical mystery aren’t particularly dwelt on, but they do show up from time to time in clothing, makeup, and hairstyling references, as well as prevailing attitudes toward women, education, divorce, and reputation. The setting, too, takes a backseat to the plot and characters, but it is shown well enough for the reader to get a good sense of place.
While this is definitely a mystery, it’s the pairing of Minnie and Stephen’s will they/won’t they relationship with the solving of the murder that makes this a fun read, because it’s in that relationship that we see the characters most clearly. There are no deep ponderings or philosophical questions here, but the characters are worth spending time with, the plot is interesting, and the ending leaves enough unresolved to ensure a follow-up novel in a series that should be a delight to follow.