Kindle Price: $3.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Isobel Blackthorn
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Ghost Of Villa Winter: A Riveting Murder Mystery (Canary Islands Mysteries Book 4) Kindle Edition

by Isobel Blackthorn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 48 ratings
See all formats and editions

English psychic Clarissa Wilkinson is holidaying in the Canary Islands. Hoping to have an adventure, she boards a tour bus bound for Villa Winter, a secret Nazi base on the idyllic island of Fuerteventura.

Instead, she discovers a body in a chest and finds herself teamed up with hapless crime writer Richard Parry. What unfolds is an edge of seat mystery brimming with intrigue, as they try to unravel the clues together, and find the killer.

Setting rich with a colorful cast of characters, The Ghost of Villa Winter is a delightfully gripping read with plenty of twists and turns that will appeal to all good mystery lovers.

Previous page
  1. Book 4 of 5
    Canary Islands Mysteries
  2. Print length
    269 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    December 20, 2020
  6. File size
    1746 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Next 2 for you in this series See full series
Total Price: $7.98
By clicking on the above button, you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08R3KDZ9R
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gumshoe - A Next Chapter Imprint; 1st edition (December 20, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 20, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1746 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 48 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Isobel Blackthorn

Isobel Blackthorn

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Isobel Blackthorn is a prolific novelist of unique and engaging fiction. She writes across a range of genres, including gripping mysteries and dark psychological thrillers.

The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey received an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Reader's Favorite book awards. A Prison in the Sun was shortlisted in the LGBTQ category of the 2021 International Book Awards and the 2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards. Her short story 'Nothing to Declare' was shortlisted for the Ada Cambridge Prose Prize 2019. Her dark thriller A Legacy of Old Gran Parks won a Raven Award in 2019. The Cabin Sessions was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award 2018 and the Ditmar Awards 2018.

Isobel holds a PhD in Western Esotericism from the University of Western Sydney for her ground-breaking study of the texts of Theosophist Alice A. Bailey. Her engagement with Alice Bailey’s life and works has culminated in the biographical novel The Unlikely Occultist and the full biography Alice A. Bailey: Life and Legacy.

Isobel carries a lifelong passion for the Canary Islands, Spain, her former home. Six of her novels are set on the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. These standalone mystery novels are setting rich and fall into the broad genre of travel fiction.

Isobel has led a rich and interesting life and her stories are as diverse as her experiences, the highs and lows, and the dramas. A life-long campaigner for social justice, Isobel has written, protested and leant her weight to a range of issues including asylum seekers and family violence. A Londoner originally, Isobel currently lives in the Canary Islands, Spain.

https://twitter.com/IBlackthorn

https://www.facebook.com/Lovesick.Isobel.Blackthorn/

www.isobelblackthorn.com

https://twitter.com/IBlackthorn

https://www.facebook.com/Lovesick.Isobel.Blackthorn/

www.isobelblackthorn.com

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
48 global ratings
Great Mystery
4 Stars
Great Mystery
My Thoughts:I enjoyed this book as it had a really unique setting, a solid mystery, a main character I grew fond of, and a twisty ending.Clarissa reminded me of a 21st century Jessica Fletcher- older in age but has some pep in her step.The mystery itself with the suspects being basically the fellow tourists is a closed circle mystery and I enjoyed that.The descriptions of the characters and the setting {both the town and the villa} are very detailed. I felt like that was also a positive aspect of the book.I personally would have loved to have a map of Villa Winter with the rooms, bunkers, tower, etc. as well as a map of the town at the beginning of the book.This is Book 4 of the series but I read it as a standalone. There are lots of references back to Trevor throughout the book, but the beginning of the book explains who he is and what’s going on with him.Thank you to @blackthorntours for the chance to read and share this book!
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Mystical and Magnetic read
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2022
What a magnificent story in The Ghost Of Villa Winter by Isobel Blackthorn. This is book four in the Canary Island series, and again we catch up with psychic Clarissa. We're on Canary Island in the small inland town of Fuerteventura, which from reading previous books, we know has a legendary, and supernatural background. Villa Winter is in Fuerteventura, and it used to be a Nazi base. Intrigued, Clarissa is determined to visit and explore. Armed with her friend, crime writer Richard, they discover something that makes them more curious, rather than run the other way. It's a mysterious and superbly ghostly story, with a killer on the loose, and the more they investigate, the more secrets are uncovered and tried to be covered up. I am a definite fan of this author! This story felt very realistic to me, and I love a good suspense, mixed with ghosts and spirits, and the supernatural. It’s one of those embraceable stories. It’s definitely un-put-downable! A reader can get lost in the story. This author not only tells the story but shows it with words as well. The Ghost Of Villa Winter is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews and I read this book and give my honest and unbiased review.
Helpful
 Report
Carol P.
4.0 out of 5 stars Great suspense good mystery
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2021
Clarissa Wilkinson is on the island of Fuerteventura to visit her niece and to see an inmate whose cause she is championing. Determined to enjoy her last few days on the island, she decides take a tour of Villa Winter. The villa had a very sorted past, having been owned by a Nazi during the war and rumored to have been used for military purposes and possibly for anti-Semitic activities as well. An incident occurs with one of Clarissa’s fellow tour participants resulting in Clarissa and one other tour participants being stranded at the villa. Not only did they happen upon a corpse while stranded at the villa, they also were witnesses to its destruction in an oven during the night. Now they must find their way back to civilization to alert the authorities and hope the killer is not aware of their presence during his late night visit to dispose of the body.

This book is the fourth in a series. I have not read the previous two books and did find the story very difficult to follow at first. However, once the theme to this book kicked in, I did not have any trouble following it. I would not classify this book as a stand alone novel and would recommend that the books in the series be read in order for the reader to fully comprehend the backstory.

The mystery component to this book is good, but I found the suspense to be even better. The scenes in the villa and later at the village were very good.

I love that the lead character is an older female. I found her to be very funny.

I would recommend this book to the adult reader who enjoys reading mystery and suspense. Because of the use of profanity in the story, I would not recommend it for the younger reader.
Helpful
 Report
Gore and Tea
2.0 out of 5 stars Cozy murder-mystery, but the ghosts are practically non-existent. Disappointing.
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2021
Little does the reader know when they pick up a copy of The Ghost of Villa Winter by Isobel Blackthorn that a cult is lurking about inside the pages.

We begin our journey with Clarissa ,our main character, boarding a tour bus where she lets her personality shine through, which turns out to be extremely judgmental of anyone who isn't like her, or doesn't fit into the categories she places them in. For example, the driver of the tour bus is automatically labeled by Clarissa as a bad man because he has an uneven face and a French accent, and much of the same is said about the other seven passengers, as well. When she finally manages to stop judging the passengers, readers find out that Clarissa is somewhat of a psychic: "Ghosts spoke a language of their own and if a member of the spirit world inhabited the abandoned abode, she was sure to pick up on it. She was never wrong in these matters. Only three of the thirty or more premises she'd investigated on so-called ghost tours had contained a legitimate ghost. She prided herself on her mediumistic prowess. She was apt to pick up on preternatural inhabitants of places said not to be haunted. Sometimes she thought she could singlehandedly re-write history based on information she had gleaned, but that was being arrogant. She followed her dreams and her visions and her intuition, that was all. A natural psychic and a cynic to boot. "

It turns out that Clarissa is on the tour to see if she can encounter any spirits that may be at the infamous Villa Winter; a place that is believed to have been a secret Nazi base, as well as a place for human experiments - - - the tower was also believed to have been used as a lighthouse for German U-boats - - - which, in reality, Villa Winter is an actual place that exists on the Canary Islands in Spain.

The Ghost of Villa Winter is the fourth book in Blackthorn's Canary Islands Mysteries series, but it can be easily read as an introduction to it because you don't need any background information to understand what is going on. The novel takes on the usual tropes of a murder-mystery plot (a body is found, people are stranded and trying to figure out who among them is the murderer). Agatha Christie is one of the best authors of the murder-mystery genre who loved using her knowledge of poisons in her stories - - - Blackthorn treats the tropes with the right amount of respect which makes The Ghost of Villa Winter a pretty good story.

My major complaint for the Ghost of Villa Winter are the characters, which I found every single one quite unlikable, and even by the end, I couldn't bring myself to care at all for Clarissa. The way that she judged everyone so harshly, and her viewpoint that if no one acted the way she wanted them to, she would believe something was wrong with them that needed to be addressed in a rude manner: "He was the most anxious man she had come across in a long time. Anxious, unsure of himself and preoccupied. Far too self-conscious. The way he'd aligned his plate at lunch. That was obsessive-compulsive. And he certainly couldn't handle Fred Spice. She was sure he could be charming with pretty young ladies, patronizing even, but around her he was awkward. It was clear, too, that he was broken. It wouldn't be easy being an author knowing as you aged that all of your success was behind you and your future held nothing but diminishment. Writing was one of those activities you could pursue until you dropped and many successful authors did just that. As irritating as he could be, she felt sorry for him. "

The other characters are all seen from Clarissa's viewpoint, so they come off quite annoying, but at one point it seemed like Blackthorn was trying to redeem Clarissa's negative qualities by making her an advocate for a possibly wrongly convicted man. This story line didn't come off as redemption for me, but rather to fuel Clarissa's need to be important and in the right. Blackthorn failed to make any of the characters grow above pettiness. If a reader doesn't have a character to root for, the story becomes unenjoyable - - - which is the main reason I gave the book such a low rating; the murder-mystery was interesting, but the characters were not.

The murder, a woman who may have been part of a cult, is found inside a nailed-up crate with a tattoo of a number on her body being one of the only clues that puts Clarissa into sleuth-mode. After believing that one of the tourists is the killer, she decides to keep the discovery of the murder between her and Richard - - - a crime author who came to Villa Winter in hopes of a book inspiration. The two slowly begin to investigate their fellow tourists to figure out who had the mind and motive to kill the young woman, but this doesn't seem to be as easy as it is in Richard's books. I did have a problem though with the ending which ends up being very reminiscent of a majority of short stories: the ending came abruptly and the pieces fell into a place that was unbelievable.

I had never read any of Blackthorn's books before, so I didn't have much of an expectation reading the Ghost of Villa Winter. Unfortunately, I came away from this one pretty dissatisfied because all of the interesting points in the story (such as the cult) are rarely shown/explored further. Also, the fact that 'ghost' is in the title, I was pretty let down with only a couple of scenes where a ghost actually shows up, one such short-lived scene: "She [Clarissa] was about to carry on when a figure appeared in one of the uppermost tower windows. Appeared, and then was gone. At least, what she thought to be a figure. Could have been a ghost. " The scenes are so short that I believe 'ghost' shouldn't be in the title because it's misleading.

With quite a few amateur writing mistakes, and unlikable characters, I don't think I will read anymore of the books in this series. I loved the idea of a cult murder and a haunting in a possible Nazi base, but too much of the focus in the story was on Clarissa's judgmental outlook on everything that it ended up not being the story it could have been. I can only recommend this book to people who want a quick murder-mystery (what most call the genre 'cozy mystery'), but for paranormal lovers, the ghosts practically disappeared within a few pages.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Aineenmarie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great plot
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2021
I Really enjoyed the plot of the story.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Helpful
 Report
CeyLo
3.0 out of 5 stars A cozy mystery in the Canary Islands
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2021
The Ghost of Villa Winter has everything- a modern day Miss Marple ..Murder ... mystery... ghosts... history ...not to mention a mini tour through the Canary Islands.

This book starts off a bit slow but picked up during the second half.
I did enjoyed how the author captured Clarissa’s experience on the tour to visit Villa Winter - strange characters on the tour, on the bus.. off the bus .. the cranky tour guide etc ! I felt like I was on the tour with her ! Canary Islands is definitely on the bucket list and I do want to visit Villa Winter now! Such a fascinating history .

Although fourth in the series, you can read this as a stand alone, although I would have preferred to have a bit more of the backstory .

I received a copy of this book with a request for an honest review.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Action stations Miss Marple
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
I have read all of this series so far and the books never fail to grip me and, amaze me every time just how different each book is, albeit they are a chain of events; so intriguing and always so well written.
The Ghost of Winter Villa has so much. An isolated, former aristocratic villa and former Nazi U Boat base in Fuerteventura, is a tourist attraction. Clarissa Wilkinson is visiting the Island, on a mission, to free an innocent man jailed for murder (see previous book), and to see her niece who has settled on the island. She has a little time and decides to take a bus trip to visit the Villa of ill repute.
What follows is worthy of any Agatha Christie novel. A Bus load of disparate characters, all well drawn, all believable, all with a story to tell, and all with the desire to keep their secret, and that includes Clarissa. I have to restrain from too much illumination as the plot is cleverly alluring and wrapped up in wonderfully sweeping descriptions of this part of the barren and isolated part of the island. A mysterious village, empty of residents except for a small restaurant. A dodgy villa with a ghost, and now, a body. Another murder soon follows.
The narrative is so enjoyable with so many twists and turns, heart stopping moments, chilling suspense and those moments where I would runaway but Clarissa doesn’t – it all adds up to a thrilling read.
No plot spoilers, just this – read this book – it is so compelling. 5 Stars.
Report
Love_Books
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant mystery
Reviewed in Australia on January 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
Ms Blackthorn has done it again, The Ghost of Villa Winter is one of those books where you think “I’ll just finish this chapter,” and end up reading into the wee hours.
I briefly met the heroine Clarissa in Clarissa’s Warning; in The Ghost of Villa Winter she is completely in charge and the main attraction. She is strong-willed - stubborn might be a better description - a wonderful observer of human nature, a generous soul, and yet often displays her impatience and displeasure at her hapless companion, Richard Parry (who also appears in previous books).
Clarissa’s stubbornness and sometimes unwillingness to compromise puts her and Richard in a life-threatening situation, where she still pushes the boundaries and later has reason to regret some of her decisions.
Ms Blackthorn has a unique way of showing the reader a character’s personality traits, appearance and idiosyncrasies without overwhelming with unnecessary and tedious detail. She also applies this talent when placing the reader in a locale. This book is the fourth in a series of mysteries set in the Canary Islands, and I wanted to hang tightly onto the Kindle when the tour bus rattled down hills along narrow, windy roads, but to take in a deep, relaxing breath when admiring a sunset over the ocean. My nose itched when the calima (dust storm) rolled through the town and surrounds, and I empathised with Richard when he struggled to breathe through it.
I’m not a fan of retelling the blurb or giving away the plot, so I won’t share any of the terrific story-line in detail. Suffice to say that this is as engaging and spell binding as any mystery you will find on any bookshelf.
Highly recommended.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report