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Mysteries at Sea: S’more Murders and Title Wave

22 Nov

I picked out two mystery books set during cruises to enjoy during my own recent vacation. Whether you are reading them at sea or on dry land you’ll enjoy these clever fast paced cozy reads. Although both are middle books in their respective series they can both be enjoyed as stand alone mysteries, though you will be likely tempted to dive in and read more of them.

S’more Murders
by Maya Corrigan
Looking for a yummy cooking related cozy mystery? S’more Muders is a bittersweet treat! Val Deniston manages a cafe at a local fitness club and occasionally does some catering, but when she hears about a re-creation of the last meal on the Titanic aboard a yacht in the Chesapeake Bay she is at first hesitant to attempt something so lavish. But with her Grandfather, the author of the local paper’s Codger Cooks Column, help she manages to pull off some divine dishes, unfortunately not all goes well at the party and a murder mystery game results in an actual murder at sea. This is the fifth novel in the Five-Ingredient Mystery Series. The novel includes several quick recipes at the end including easy version of some of the Titanic dishes as well as some sweet and savory s’more recipes that sound delish!

Title Wave
by Lorna Barrett
Title Wave is the tenth in the Booktown Mystery series (the latest and 17th book in the series A Questionable Character came out in July). I enjoyed listening to the book as an audiobook read by Karen White. Tricia Miles’s bookstore Haven’t Got a Clue and other local businesses are in a slow period of the year, so she figures this is the perfect time to take a relaxing cruise with her sister, Angelica, along with other members of their town. A bus ride to the dock allows the author to do a quick whos who for those new to the series or needing a refresher. The Author Cruise they book to Bermuda seems like it should be relaxing with a posh suite, elegant afternoon teas and tropical cocktails until another passenger, a particularly prickly author, is murdered. I enjoyed the sisterly dynamic between Tricia and Angelica and having been on several cruises myself with friends and family, I felt this one captured the feel of them perfectly.

Want to learn some interesting cruise facts such as how ships stay a float and nautical origins of everyday terms; check out Cruising: A View Through the Porthole by Lee H. Van Dam.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Women World Travelers: Call You When I Land & The Catch Me if You Can

1 Nov

Call You When I Land
by Nikki Vargas
Available next Tuesday is Nikki Vargas’s Call You When I Land, an interesting travel memoir which should delight fans of Eat, Pray, Love. Nikki Vargas, an immigrant from Columbia, is in her late 20’s and although to her friends and family she looks like she has achieved the dream, a successful advertising career and sweet French fiancé, but she feels trapped by both and desires to have the freedom to travel and see the world. Set across the globe including Panama, Columbia, Argentina, France, Indonesia and New York the book captures not only her physical journey, but also her life journey in finding a second chance at love and finding a way to merge her work life with her desire to see the world, first getting comped hotels and flights with a small travel blog that then inspires her to think bigger and create the first major feminist female centered travel publication. The memoir is cleverly broken into three sections Turbulence, Changing Pitch, and Landing that reflect her experience. This should resonate with other millennials who may struggle with finding a way to balance their dreams and the realities of life.

The Catch Me if You Can
by Jessica Nabongo
Nikki may have seen a lot of countries that I’m envious of but Jessica Nabongo has literally seen the entire world having been to all 195 countries. In 2019, she became the first black women to have gone to all the UN recognized countries. The Catch Me if You Can covers her top 100 memorable visits including places like Japan, South Africa, Tonga, Peru and North Korea. She captures not only some of the hot sightseeing spots, and delicious native cuisines, but also the people and cultures she encounters on her journey. I enjoyed the audiobook, which she reads herself and feels like a good friend giving you the highlights of their vacation or work trips. The one thing I found was that because she is trying to cover so many places sometimes she only has a short time at destinations and I was left wanting to hear more about them. I learned a lot of interesting details about the world such more pyramids are not found in Egypt, but in Sudan. Nabongo has an especially interesting perspective about African countries being an Ugandan-American.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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