Julie Klassen: The Bridge to Belle Island

After a humiliating mistake, lawyer Benjamin Booker resolves to never again trust a beautiful woman. When an old friend is killed, the senior partner isn't satisfied with Bow Street's efforts and asks Benjamin to investigate. Eager to leave London for a while, Benjamin agrees. Evidence takes him to a remote island on the Thames, a world unto itself, shrouded in mist and mystery. Soon he finds himself falling for the main suspect--a woman who claims not to have left the island in ten years. But should he trust her?

On Belle Island, Isabelle feels safe and leads a productive life, but fear keeps her trapped there. When Mr. Booker arrives with news of her trustee's murder in London, Isabelle is stunned. She has not left the island, yet she has a recurring dream about the man's death. Or is it a memory? She had been furious with him, but she never intended . . . this.

When a second person dies and evidence shockingly points to her, Isabelle doesn't know who to trust: the attractive lawyer or the admirer and friends who assemble on the island, each with grudges against the victim. Can she even trust her own mind? While they search for the truth, secrets come to light and danger comes calling.

CW: Parental death, sibling death, abuse, drugging/kidnap, murder by poison, vertigo, agoraphobia

Julie Klassen writes many Christian themed Regency romance with gothic elements, however The Bridge to Belle Island is really more of a Regency mystery with romance.  This is also less gothic and more straightforward cozy whodunnit.

There are a lot of characters, which kept me guessing about who the murderer is, but that also takes time to set the stage so it was a slow starting read.

Klassen is excellent at research and really getting the tone of the era right and is successful with these elements in The Bridge to Belle Island.  As typical with cozy mysteries, this is not a glittering ballroom kind of book but more a provincial, quiet life read.  The characters are by in large untitled, and the hero is a middle class lawyer who is sent to investigate the death of one his law firm’s partner.

Even though this scores low on the flame scale for the lack of explicit violence or intimacy (this one is kisses only), there is a fair amount of mature subject matter for which I have added a content warning.  The vertigo and agoraphobia are the most graphically described, but death and violence do play a part in this story so it’s important to be aware.

Christian themes and prayer are an integral part of the story, as with all of Klassen’s books.

I enjoyed this read, although I was surprised there were not more of the gothic elements I have come to expect in Klassen’s work.  The romance was strong, the character arcs good, and the mystery kept me guessing through most of the book.

Overall, it was entertaining and I recommend it for readers looking for a cozy mystery who are okay with mature subject matter and Christian themes.