Cooks Overboard

Culinary expert Angie Amalfi has persuaded her boyfriend, San Francisco homicide cop Paavo Smith, to join her on a cruise to Acapulco – but only by booking passage on a freighter rather than on a cruise ship. Working freighters like the Valhalla carry a maximum of a dozen passengers. Before the end of the first day, Angie notices that everyone on the ship is acting strangely. Including Paavo, who doesn't seem like himself at all. Angie has somehow become mixed up in international intrigue. Is Mexico the final destination for Angie and Paavo?

This turned out to be a funny adventure and perfect escape reading for a holiday weekend. The action and adventure make it more like Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax series than like a typical cozy show more mystery series. This is the first book I've read in this series so I don't know if this is characteristic of the series as a whole. I didn't have to make a mental effort to notice and remember clues. I just relaxed and enjoyed the armchair adventure. show less

In this cross between a cozy mystery and a spy thriller, Angie Amalfi and her boyfriend, who is a police detective, take a cruise on a freighter. from their home in San Francisco with an intended destination of Acapulco. From the moment they set foot on the ship, things don't seem right when a cook attempts to throw himself overboard. Soon she meets other passengers and crew members who are a bit strange. Then to top things off, her boyfriend is not acting like his normal self. She feels someone has been searching their room, but she cannot imagine what she would have that anyone would want. This one was slow to start, but when the action picked up, it held my attention in spite of a tragedy in my church family that was distracting me.