Dog Island is an enthralling mystery novel with a tangibly oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere lingering throughout. It has the quality of a film or play about it and would translate well to those mediums, which makes sense when you find out Claudel is also a director. It can be a bit inscurtible to begin with but once you get into the guts of the plot and the clever confluence of several seemingly-disparate threads it hooks you to the end. Not exactly a breezy holiday read but a strange and original twist on the genre.