Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II (Book) - 2/16/2024 8:50:12 AM
When the rich and famous are scrutinized, you will often find many characters who just don't match the lives of the average citizen... A murder mystery might just turn into a soap opera! One of the things I realized early was that the author chose a tell-not-show type of storytelling. That method quickly smacks me into an alertness... An inexperienced writer, I wondered? I found it slow and prodding. And, I knew the killer while it was happening...
Still, I continued on reading from the beginning. As characters began to be introduced, we find Sylvia who may be considered one of the main characters. It is she who, for an anniversary coming up, chose to host an onboard party on the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship. I've been on several cruises, so when we actually get onboard, I was interested... But first, we meet the individuals who will be invited. We meet her husband, of course and two children plus a number of business associates and friends.
During that dialogue about who was to be invited, we begin to learn about Sylvia's husband... Sylvia already had known that her husband was a philanderer, as the rich elite say... and, yes, she had decided to stay with him. The way Sylvia was portrayed though, I felt that she did indeed love her husband and was not just staying with him for his money...
But did she have to have it thrown in her face? For before, they even got on board, Brian had confirmed a tryst with the wife of one of couples who would be accompanying them! And, Sylvia had heard them!
But worse, when they were on board, the woman with whom Brian had been engaged before her, had come on board to "surprise" them! Indeed Brian owns Sinclair Records and Denise had been one of his first singers nearly 25 years ago, so why had she chosen to disrupt their 25th Silver Anniversary? Believe me, it will get worse before Brian is murdered...
Fortunately for the Captain of the Ship...and readers... there was a Private Investigator on board. I had to decide just who he was like from our past PI television shows... So, you can picture Cannon, moving from interview to interview as each of those of the Sinclair Party were questioned...
And so we delve into the lives of all those who surrounded Brian Sinclair... and guess what the PI found? Every single one who was traveling as guests, including his wife and family had a motive... I didn't know whether to switch to Columbo, even though he's a cop but the PI, because I could see Columbo turning around suddenly, asking still a more personal question... Richard Manning, whose name you'll hear repeated over and over and over as each individual meets the intrepid individual who invaded their privacy with everything he had learned, confronting each without regard to personal comfort or defiance... and, frankly, seemingly turns out to be the main character in all of this mess...
Of course, I had determined the whodunit right at the beginning, but not the why...which was then discovered and verified by the killer. And, one key problem with the book is that a major crime had been brought out during all those interviews. This was totally dropped even though the involved characters were continuing to wondered... So was I.
Still, I had kept reading and while not totally involved as I normally am with a mystery, there was enough of that "reality show" mix where you think you could care less about each character, but they are sometimes so funny, dense, or totally outlandish that you just need to know... So, after all that, I realized that there is no way I ever want to be among the rich and famous and their lifestyles... But sometimes they are funny to watch, even when you are astounded with what these people might get into... See more on my blog:
https://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2024/02/murder-aboard-queen-elizabeth-ii.html
Discovering the Christmas Spirit (Book) - 11/27/2021 8:36:08 AM
5 Stars!
First let me say, I was gifted a copy of this book by friend who wanted to cheer me up. Stepping into the world of Christmas Carol Village, I found myself immediately smiling. From the cute, adorable, and clever names of the little stores like Yule Love It Linens, located in Poinsettia Plaza, and the hotel—Holly & Ivy, my spirit felt lighter...calmer. Following the story of each of the five visitors stranded in the beautiful and humble little town, you unfold the best parts of human nature. From the towns unending hospitality to the self awareness each one of the five come to realize, these are lessons served with a side of hot chocolate, compassion and understanding. I definitely recommend this book for a holiday read that reminds us of the simple holiday gift—one another.
Discreetly Yours (Book) - 7/13/2019 5:46:16 PM
"Discreetly Yours", by Stephen Murray is an absolute page turner. It has been a long time since I picked up a book that was so good that I couldn’t put it down until I read the entire story. Wonderful, colorful, characters were so real that I could see them vividly as I read this amazing, fast paced thriller set in Las Vegas. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and enjoys a great storyline!
Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II (Book) - 4/28/2018 11:16:57 AM
This is a cleverly written mystery. I expected the murder at the beginning of the story which surprised me when it didn't happen until the middle. The characters are well written, from the start you are suspecting everyone. Truly enjoyable.
The Chapel of Eternal Love: Wedding Stories from Las Vegas (Book) - 3/8/2018 9:52:45 AM
A Great Read about America at the Altar
The last chapter of Stephen Murray’s wonderful book The Chapel of Eternal Love: Wedding Stories from Las Vegas is entitled “A Day in the Life of a Wedding Chapel.” And what a day! Through the various nuptials in this collection, Murray offers no less than a fascinating cross-section of American culture. He achieves this ambitious vision through subtle, incredibly compact storytelling.
Along with an easy humor, Murray demonstrates a poignant empathy for his characters. Whether he captures the psychology of Linh, the Vietnamese immigrant in search of her father who decades ago had been an American soldier in Saigon, or the gentle counsel of chapel director Rosemary, Murray evokes individual perspectives with deftness and economy. The breadth of vision here is impressive from Harley-riding loners to septuagenarian second-timers to an Iraq-war veteran’s correspondence with an anti-war attorney to the young lovers confronted with an unexpected pregnancy to the glamorous model and the photographer to the kindly counselor and the prostitute (not to mention a crazy Elvis-impersonator wedding – hey, the book is set in Vegas). Given such diversity, Murray can juxtapose the hilarious interreligious romance of the Jewish Becky and the Italian Giovanni up against the heartbreaking tale of betrayal suffered by Rosa, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala.
From story to story, The Chapel of Eternal Love is constantly engaging and revealing. Grasping loneliness with nuance, Murray presents a book that is Exhibit A about how much a single personal connection can make huge difference. On one level, the book is about identity, maintaining the one that originally defines an individual, but then discovering through another what allows that identity to flourish.
Indeed, The Chapel of Eternal Love gets a reader thinking, but, as importantly, it provides so many pleasures that one can’t help but get as swept up in the romance of the book as much as the motivations that propel Murray’s characters to the altar.
Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II (Book) - 12/11/2017 8:14:36 PM
Stephen Murray’s Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II was an exciting murder mystery. There were twists and turns during the whole thing. While the beginning of the story was a little slow, I am glad that I kept reading. I was pulled in and wanted to know, first who was murdered followed by who did it and why.
Moving past the very beginning, this murder mystery has it all. The main couple, the Sinclair’s. I loved to get to know them, but was not impressed with the Mr. Sinclair and his choices of cheating. When Mrs. Sinclair decides she wants to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary aboard the QEII.
Now, to add to the twists and turns, Mrs. Sinclair wants to invite their friends, some of who are business associates with Mr. Sinclair, as well as their son, his flimsy girlfriend and their estranged daughter and her husband. You can’t have drama without a fun group of people!
Between everyone who is invited, and those who are not, we get to build the suspense before the actual murder happens. We get clues, but not all of them are helpful. Some of these clues are just there to confuse us.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the guessing game of who would be murder, how and why. When it happened, I was surprised, but the murder, this was a shock I did not see coming. If you are in to murder mystery, this is a book you will want to read!
Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II (Book) - 12/3/2017 4:51:21 PM
A Fun and Clever Mystery
Murder aboard the Queen Elizabeth II by Stephen Murray is a stylish and entertaining who-done-it with well-developed characters who imbue the mystery with greater resonance. The murder doesn’t occur until halfway through the novel, enough time for Murray to establish the dynamics among competing characters and their motivations.
Even before the actual murder, many sly hints and clues are dangled with an assortment of tawdry relationships and a bagful of secrets that emerge from Alicia, Todd, Laura, Denise, and just about every member of the party. The planner of the anniversary cruise, Sylvia, serves as the heart of the novel; her aversion to confrontation helps advance the numerous plot threads. By the time the victim is dead, the reader has so many suspects established in his mind, that he is more than ready for the investigation that follows.
And that investigation, led by retired private eye Richard Manning with the ship’s captain serving as a congenial sidekick, continues to unearth further sniping and suspicious behavior from the suspects. Manning’s probing questions and intuitive leaps in interrogation heighten the suspense, and Murray’s shifts in perspective back to the suspects allow for the possibilities for who might be involved in the murder to continually expand.
Murder aboard the Queen Elizabeth II offers so many nice twists – almost every character seems to be working an angle – that the revelation of the murderer is particularly satisfying. Murray has delivered to the reader a very pleasurable and diverting novel.
Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II (Book) - 10/28/2017 11:44:33 AM
A murder on a liner is interesting. Would be interesting from the beginning to end. Murder mysteries are not new but Stephen Murray has given an entirely new flavour to this book. Readers sure do enjoy it.
Kotra Siva R Krishna,
Writer
Murder Aboard the Queen Elizabeth II (Book) - 9/23/2017 10:29:51 AM
This books of Stephen Murray's is a wonderful murder mystery that is wholesome and entertaining for a rainy afternoon of mystery solving.
Stephen's books are thought-provoking, and who-dun-it is anyone's guess right up until the end.
I wonder if he's writing a sequel to this book as it would be interesting to see how the lives of friends and family meld back into daily living. Where do you go, and how do you manage life after being involved in a murder on the QE II?
