An audio book.
A new, exclusive complex, "Island Home", is opening on an island off southern England, the 11th of a chain created by short-tempered Ned. A mile long causeway, only visible at low tide, connects it to the shore. At the start of the book, a car is on the causeway at night, and the tide is rising. There's a timeline that leads up to the opening event, and another that starts months after the event.
His PA (has been for years) is Nicki. His brother is Adam (who's always been the little brother and wants to leave). Annie is the organiser. Jess is a new worker.
Some of the locals are grumpy. Ned bought the Causeway Inn on the shoreline for club use only.
Lyra, a celeb's daughter, saw things on the night. Ned told a few guests one by one about the huge price rise, saying that each would soon receive a package. One guest, Jackson Crane, subsequently trashed his room. Jess drugs his drink intending to kill him because he killed her parents in a car-crash that she witnessed. She takes his memory stick (which was in his package). She thinks Georgia his wife was with him in the car and was going to punish her too. But it was another woman.
There's a war bunker nearby. Ned has equipment there so he can access all the cameras in all the complexes. He's been blackmailing guests for years. Adam suspected it but felt that it served the celebs right. Then he realised that Nat had recordings of his infidelities. When Nicki realises that Nat's going to sack her, she contacts 2 of the recently blackmailed celebs, telling them how they could safely murder Nat. They bungle. Adam is killed. Nicki kills Ned because he knew she was 15 when film director Ron got her pregnant. Unknown to Nicki, Ron adopted the baby - Kurt is on the island.
Annie takes over the running of the company. Jess realizes she was the woman in the car with Jackson. At a presentation, a tribute to Ron, Kurt gives a speech saying what a womaniser his father was.
We get mini-bios of celebs, hear about their self-important predilictions. Hardly satire.
A neat plot, once it gets going. This is another novel where "Tears were welling in his eyes" appears. To me the phrase jars as much as "his knee was hurting half way up his leg" might. It also has "she thought to herself".
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