Sailing to Capri

I thought it started well and it was enjoyable however it did fall of dramatically in my estimation at the end with a a freak mini-tornado separating the heroine from the villain clutching her to him. Whilst one might forgive or more sensibly ignore other slightly ghostly winds mentioned in the narrative this denoument was farcical and destroyed the novel for any tenuous believability. The characters were fairly unbelievable and the name dropping of brands tedious. I can only wonder at the quality of editors employed in the rom-com departments of the publishers. The more I reflect on it the more I think 3 starts generous.

Liked the book mainly because of the locations the story was set in, but the plot was very predictable. Would call this a romance mystery, which is not my typical reading, but it was still a nice light read. Nothing to rave about.

Setting, and tone, have a rich-and-famous feel. Tone also feels like Chick Lit. If you like "rich-and-famous", I would recommend Adler.

When Sir Robert "Bob" Waldo Hardwick dies in a car accident, his personal assistant and close friend Daisy Kean discovers Bob expected trouble. He had hired private investigator Harry Montana to help Daisy discover his murderer. Bob had six suspects. Harry and Daisy are to take the suspects on a glitzy pleasure cruise around the Mediterranean. Harry says he will protect Daisy from the bad guys of the world if she will keep him company and stop him feeling lonely. As the trip progresses, some of the secret history of each of the six suspects with Bob is revealed. The remain secrets must be revealed for show more each to receive their "second chance" from Bob's will. Bob also intentionally got Daisy and Harry together so they could rediscover living.

Carrington MacDuffie does an excellent job at both female and male voices. She also makes accents, from Yorkshire to German, come a live with both genders. show less

A interesting premise - billionaire dies and requests the six most likely suspects join his "gal Friday" on a cruise so she can try and deduce who kills him. Yet the mystery was droll, the killer predictable and the plot boring. The author seemed to know the mystery was weak, so threw in a romance between the sappy, "woe is me" heroine and the stereotypical "I'm a loner" man's man detective. But even this was was rather a snooze-fest, so the author decided to throw in an overabundance of adjectives to distract the reader from all this. Many times the adjectives didn't relate to the noun. "Exquisite gingersnaps"? Exquisite? Really? All in all, a confuddled read.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked her previous book, A House in Amalfi, but this was different but no less enjoyable. The characters were fun. What was especially interesting was the way she brought the characters together towards the end, to expose their vulnerabilities and show that, despite outwardly appearances, people hide alot underneath. And that everyone deserves a second chance.

I gave this four stars because it kept my attention enough for me to keep trying to sneak away to read it. As other reviewers have said, it's a light read. It is definitely *not* a mystery - I wouldn't put it in that category as that was so relegated to the background that it barely counts. But I did like the lead characters and I liked their interactions. The problem is that it wasn't really a romance either, so if you're looking for that, this might not be enough. On the other hand, like I said, if you're looking for a book that isn't overly taxing or emotionally draining -- which is how I like my fiction -- I would definitely recommend.

A mystery/romance presented in an Agatha Christie format--assemble to crowd of suspects in one place and reveal the murderer. Also, a story of second chances.