Review of "Loose Lips: A Ghostwriter Mystery" by Kemper Donovan

In this 2nd book in the 'Ghostwriter' mystery series, there's murder and mayhem aboard a cruise ship. The book works fine as a standalone.



*****

Ghostwriter Belle Currer's first mystery book, based on murders she helped solve, was a big success.



As a result, Belle is invited to teach a mystery writing course on the 'Get Lit' cruise aboard the Merman Rivera, a ship scheduled to navigate the North Atlantic for a week while 275 women - who paid $5,000 each - eat, drink, relax, and take classes in one of the following writing disciplines: personal essays; poetry, young adult fiction, romance, or mystery writing.



The 'Get Lit' voyage is the brainchild of entrepreneur Payton Garrett, a successful author/podcaster.....



.....whom Belle has known since they got their MFA's together at an 'embarrassingly third-tier program in the backwoods of southern Illinois.'



Belle, Payton, and their friend Flora Fortescue attended graduate school together, and were pals until recently, when Flora accused Payton of plagiarizing her work. For years, Flora had been working on a book about Lord Byron's scandalous love affair with his half-sister Augusta Leigh.



Then Payton published a novel about Byron and Leigh AFTER reading parts of Flora's work-in-progress. This led to lawsuits and an ugly battle all over social media. Flora claims Payton stole her work and sabotaged her writing career, and Flora wants a public admission of guilt, an apology, and compensation. Of course Payton denies she did anything wrong, and the conflict rages on.

As the story opens, Belle boards the Merman Rivera and meets some of the passengers and crew members.



Everyone on the ship is female except for three men: Payton's assistant Jackson;



the chef Pierre Gasçoigne;



and Payton's ex-husband Gideon Pereira, a journalist who's writing an article about the cruise.



Belle observes, 'Even the ship's captain is a woman, which is quite a feat. Did you know that only three percent of all sea captains are women? THREE PERCENT!....But I suppose some progress has been made. Women used to be banned ALTOGETHER from maritime vessels. We were deemed BAD LUCK on the open seas.'



In any case, the cruise gets underway, and the first evening's festivities are going well until the unthinkable happens: 'A woman appears on the edge of the crowd. A woman who has no business being there. A woman who has managed, somehow, to Trojan-horse her way aboard. The woman is Flora Fortescue - who's dressed to the nines!'



As you can imagine, much drama ensues. Worse yet, at dinner the next day, some of the guests, including Payton, get sick from (what appears to be) food poisoning. This is followed by not one; not two, but THREE suspicious deaths.



Since there are no police on the boat, Belle and the ship's doctor, Joan Chen, investigate. Dr. Chen takes the lead, and Belle bemoans her second string position, lamenting she'd rather be Hercule Poirot than Captain Hastings.





After a good deal of drama, all the passengers are assembled and the culprit is exposed....just like Hercule Poirot would do.

I waffled a good bit about 'whodunnit' and I didn't get it right. 😊

Despite the homicides, this cozy mystery has a light feel, with Belle making jokes and sardonic comments throughout. My major criticism of the book is the large number of characters (passengers, crew members, writing teachers, etc), who tend to blend together a bit.



The novel is an entertaining locked room mystery, recommended to fans of the genre.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Eva Kaminksy, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Kemper Donovan, and RBmedia for a copy of the book.

 Rating: 3 stars