Publication Date:
March 13, 2023
Genre:
Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery
Length:
300 pages
Series:
Lady Eleanor Swift Mysteries
Book description courtesy of Goodreads
When Lady Swift embarks upon her first luxury cruise she imagines a gilded ballroom, afternoons on deck taking tea and all the delectable food she can eat. But she can’t seem to escape from murder.
Lady Eleanor Swift is all set to spend her birthday with her beau,dashing Detective Hugh Seldon,until he calls to cancel on her again at the last minute. What’s a girl to do? Pack up her staff and her faithful old bulldog, Gladstone, and head off on a cruise to New York, that’s what!
On the stunningly opulent ocean liner Celestiana, Eleanor tries to forget her worries and make the most of her trip. That is, until she sees a man being shot and falling overboard. On closer inspection of the scene, Eleanor literally stumbles over the likely murder weapon. And the nick in the barrel is unmistakeable: this gun belongs to Detective Seldon.
With some discreet digging, Clifford discovers Detective Seldon is aboard the ship on an undercover mission. Eleanor doesn’t want to make waves but she’s sure that something fishy is going on and he’s being framed. To get Seldon off the hook, Eleanor casts her net wide and searches for the real murderer among a sea of suspects including European nobility, Italian opera stars, and American nouveau riche. But does the victim’s expensive gold ring point to a lavish lifestyle or is it a red herring?
When another passenger is found dead in his first-class cabin, a poisoned whisky glass clutched in his hand, Eleanor realizes they are really in hot water. Will the killer be Eleanor’s catch of the day, or will she spend her birthday at the bottom of the sea?
My Thoughts
I wasn't really looking forward to this one because I didn't care much for the location. The whole cruise ship thing cozy mystery style is one I've read recently in other series books but I am working my way through these faithfully and they build on each other. I'm glad I didn't skip it as it turned out to be as good as the others always are!
The mystery involved Lady Eleanor trying to find a killer while also clearing her boyfriend,Hugh,of the murder. She also has to contend with the shadow of Hugh's late wife, which always causes insecurities to resurface. I enjoyed the cast of characters on board the ship from the serious Professor to the opera singer to the mother/daughter duo. We also get glimpses into the lives of the people below deck and those of Eleanor's staff who are staying in second class. The descriptions of the ship are wonderful with a sort of science type theme and it's clear we are being shown a comparison to the magnificence of the real Titanic.
A second murder later in the story adds to the intrigue and as Hugh is also extremely prone to seasickness, Eleanor is forced to work on her own for much of the time. Of course Clifford, her cherished butler is there to lean on but even he can't do much. Eleanor takes notes, interviews everyone including the staff on the liner, and leaves no one out for suspicion. The ending wasn't terribly surprising or shocking but it was clever and there were plenty of red herrings to keep me guessing throughout.
Another great one from Verity Bright, I highly recommend this series if you want a fun, cozy, historical mystery series set in the early 20th Century to follow along with. It's definitely one of the better written ones with fun recurring characters, witty dialogue, and great descriptions of the times. This author always adds little historical tidbits that enhance the story and I love that!
