3 out of 4 stars
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Imagine you are the wife of a recently retired policeman. You have waited years to go on vacation with your husband, and now that he is retired it is finally going to happen. You are going on an amazing world cruise. What could be better? Now imagine someone gets killed on the cruise and your husband volunteers to help catch the killer. So much for the perfect vacation.
This is exactly what happens to two retired cops in Cruise Ship Murders by Clark Selby. Sonny and Gene get drawn into a complicated murder mystery when a female passenger is killed. Another surprise is revealed when they meet the female captain who turns out to be a childhood friend of Sonny’s unbeknownst to his wife, Jane. She and Susan, Gene’s wife seem to take everything in stride and continue enjoying the cruise as their husbands go back to work investigating. The clues keep pointing to a passenger named Lucky especially when another woman is killed and he was the last person seen with both of the victims. Is he guilty or hiding crucial information the policemen need to catch the killer?
I enjoyed the overall plot of the book. It kept me interested, wondering who would be the next victim and what clues would be revealed. The murder scenes were described in enough detail to give a glimpse into the killer’s mind, but not too gruesome for the typical mystery reader.
I would have liked to see more detail given about the countries visited. Only on the Taj Mahal stop did I really feel connected to the culture and sites being described. The rest of the tours taken needed more imagery to let the reader experience the world cruise with the characters. On the other hand, the author sometimes put too much detail into describing mundane events like getting ready for dinner.
My biggest problem with the book was the lack of character development. Except for the names, Sonny and Gene could be interchangeable as could their wives. They had a few personality quirks and of course Sonny’s wife was briefly jealous of the captain, but for the most part, they blended together. As someone who loves deep characters, this was disappointing.
I only found two editing errors in the book, but the author did have a habit of starting new paragraphs when the same character was still speaking. I found this distracting and confusing at times. Overall, the book was just ok. I didn’t dislike it, but it did not wow me. Since it is closer to good than to fair, I am rating it 3 out of 4 stars. There is some sexual content that would not be appropriate for younger readers, but anyone looking for a light read with mystery and travel will enjoy this book.
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Cruise Ship Murders
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