At the official reception for the outgoing island governor Caroline Bamber, she's fatally poisoned by a glass of champagne handed to her from a full table by police commissioner Patterson, other guests apparently had no access. They include her devoted private secretary Ellery Wallace, succeeding deputy governor Andy Hamilton and assistant Lucy Preville as well as Francois Tromeur, council president of a neighboring French island, whom she blackmailed in the bizarre recent conflict over an uninhabited rock, which holds a fortune in rough gemstones. Caroline carried an anonymous warning note.
—KGF Vissers