In this Silver Sisters Mystery it's trouble at sea when Goldie and Godiva's eighty year old mother and uncle are invied on a relaxing cruise. Magic turns to mayhem for these former vaudeville magicians when a star magician is murdered on board.
It’s trouble at sea when eighty-year old Flossie and Sterling Silver, former Vaudeville magicians, are invited on a relaxing cruise. Goldie’s husband, Captain Red Pepper, has arranged for her mother and uncle to sail on his ship, the Aurora Borealis, and mingle with magicians during the Magic on the High Seas cruise. Goldie thinks it’s a great idea and her twin sister, Godiva, sees it as a chance to keep the old folks out of trouble while she spends time with her new boyfriend, Dexter Diamond. Magic turns to mayhem when one of the star magicians is murdered on board and Uncle Sterling becomes a suspect. The FBI gets involved and soon the whole Silver family is caught up in the search for an international jewel thief. How will the feisty octogenarians get out of hot water this time? When can Goldie Silver return to her quiet antique shop in Juneau? Will advice columnist, Godiva Olivia DuBois, find true love this time around?
Excerpt
~CHAPTER 1~
Eighty-one year old Flossie Silver poked the front page of Magic Moments Monthly with her bony finger and held it up for her daughter Godiva and brother-in-law Sterling to see.
“Just look at this!”
The headline, “Sheik’s Assistant Sizzles in Macabre Mishap,” jumped off the page. Right next to the horrific story was a photograph of a smiling magician accompanied by a beautiful Asian girl wearing a skimpy harem costume.
Sterling Silver put down his fork and leaned across the kitchen table to reach for the newspaper. “Let me see that.”
The elderly man adjusted his reading glasses and studied the image of Sheik Ali Kazaam, elegantly dressed in cape and turban. He shook his head and handed the paper back to Flossie. She passed it over to her daughter, then turned back to Sterling.
“Oy vey, did you read the part about how his poor assistant, Pearl Woo, was accidentally electrocuted during a rehearsal? It happened at the Chateau Magique in Vancouver. Didn’t we do our act there one time?”
Sterling nodded solemnly and speared a slice of bright green avocado.
The two retired vaudeville magicians ate breakfast in Godiva Olivia DuBois’ large airy kitchen every day at nine o’clock. It had become a morning ritual. Many years before, after Godiva’s millionaire husband dropped dead in Las Vegas, her uncle Sterling moved into the gardener’s cottage on her Beverly Hills estate. Not long after that, her mother Flossie sold the pink stucco bungalow where Godiva and her twin sister Goldie grew up, and moved into the little guest house behind the mansion.
Godiva’s recent career as a syndicated advice columnist kept her very busy, so she enjoyed spending a little time with her mother and uncle on mornings when she woke up early enough. But that morning the discussion about a beautiful young woman dying during a magic act was anything but enjoyable.
She looked up from the last bite of her omelet and stared at the newspaper.
“What did you say, Mom? Electrocuted? How could that happen during a magic act?”
“Well, it says Sheik Ali Kazaam uses lots of electrical gadgets in his act. Oh, my poor Harry wouldn’t have liked that!” The old woman’s eyes got a little misty when she mentioned her late husband, one of the three great Harrys of the bygone era of magic.
Sterling grabbed the tabloid newspaper out of his niece’s hand and scanned the story again. “Humph! It’s just a bunch of flimflam these days. Young upstarts adulterating good magic with electric gizmos and geegaws. Terrible things like this wouldn’t happen if they stuck to good old fashioned sabers and smoke cookies.”
“Anybody wants more huevos rancheros?” Godiva’s cook Martina slipped between them and poured fresh coffee in all the cups. “Maybe you, Senor Sterling? You work up good appetite when you grumble like bear.”
Sterling smiled at the chubby Mexican woman and shook his head. “No thanks, sweetheart, three helpings was enough for me.”
“Dios mio! She is very pretty, no?” Martina looked over Sterling’s shoulder at the newspaper picture and made the sign of the cross over her white apron.
“Yes, she was very pretty. I’ve got to hand it to the Sheik, though. What a great costume. I love the turban.”
“Your uncle,” Flossie said. “A poor girl dies and all he notices is the schmaltzy turban her boss is wearing.”
Godiva pushed her chair away, got up and brushed the crumbs off her mauve St. Laurent pantsuit. “Well, Mom—Unk, I’m sorry to rush off, but it’s time to write another Ask G.O.D. column. I’ve got a deadline to meet and Angel is waiting for me to sort through a new basket of letters from the lovelorn. My public is calling.”
She wiggled her fingers in a gesture of goodbye and hurried out of the kitchen, through the marble foyer, and down the hall to the office in her mahogany paneled library.
Professional Reviews Missing Jewels
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2020
Verified Purchase
Love, love this series. The sisters and their friends and family are such a hoot and there’s never a dull moment. I could read stories by them all day.
A Character Driven Cozy Mystery
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2018
This book falls into the category of Cozy Mystery, which both my partner and I really enjoy reading.
I received an eBook version of this book in return for a review.
I won't go into the details of the plot - the amazon.com description does this admirably - but I would like to say that I enjoyed it a lot. This is the second Silver Sisters Mystery I have read and the quality is excellent.
The characters are all well-defined and, in this case, even the villains are likeable enough with enough good points that you find yourself thinking "they'd be interesting at a dinner party".
It is though, the Silver Sisters and their extended family that you read these books for, as the mystery comes second. When their mother Flossie and their uncle Sterling - both ex-magicians - are invited on a sea cruise for magicians you know they are going to be right in the thick of it, and they are.
Like Two Undercover Agents
Martha A. Cheves
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2016
Verified PurchaseLike two undercover agents, the duo began to inch around the corner keeping Waldo behind them. Just before the full turn, Flossie signaled Sterling to stop. He looked at her with a quizzical expression and raised his eyebrows as if to say "What's going on?" She pushed him back so they were both out of sight, then whispered. "It was him - the angry man. He was backing out of Jade's cabin like a thief, looking to both sides to see if anyone was watching. He's up to no good, Sterling. I can feel it in my bones."
The 'oldsters' Flossie and Sterling Silver have been treated with a cruise by Flossie's son-in-law who just happens to be the ship's captain. The cruise will, in part, be made up of old and new magicians which fits them perfectly since they too are magicians - on the old side. Sterling has his eye on a turban that is being worn by one of the performers, and believe it or not, ends up with it, in a shady way. What follows is far from what he nor Flossie ever expected.
Goldie and Godiva are twins. Goldie is married to Red Pepper, the cruise captain. She owns Silver Spoon Antique Shoppe in Juneau. Godiva married a VERY wealthy man who was a real obnoxious person. Fortunately for her he passed away leaving her VERY wealthy. She has an advice column called Godiva's Ask G.O.D. Both women are like night and day. One homey and one who enjoys her money and the men that can come with it. But put these two together, add Flossie and Sterling and you have pure excitement with humor added in, especially when a little murder is thrown into the pot, and money, and jewels, and magic, and humor, must I go on.
I've read all of this series and can't get enough. This is a series that I hope lives and continues as long as I'm able to read. The authors are creative and the names they give their characters are the best!
Reviews for "Diamonds in the Dumpster -A Silver Sisters Mystery"
What a Fun Story! I've been on several cruises, but never ones that resulted in my finding a dead body! And that's not even the whole story... He had been murdered! Ok, we knew that somewhere along the way there was going to be at least one murder, else it wouldn't be a mystery where amateur detectives actually solve the case! But... Most of the time, one of the detectives would not have verbally accosted the victim... Oy vey, what a mess!
So, let's begin at the beginning. Two retired magician act members--Sterling Silver and his sister-in-law, Flossie Silver, who was his assistant--but is also the proud mother of a set of twins--Godiva and Goldie--and Waldo the Wonder Dog. They now all of are living in small bungalows on the estate of Godiva who is a rich widow who arranges for the "oldsters" to go on a cruise. Goldie only comes for a visit from her primary home in Alaska, to help in this time of Distress, yes, with a capital D!
Red Pepper, Goldie's husband, is Captain of a cruise ship, the Aurora Borealis... and after much discussion among the family, Red agreed to host Sterling and Flossie on a cruise when it would be hosting magicians from all over! And, with a little bit of truth-twisting, Waldo was to become Sterling's service dog because he was prone to "fits" and Waldo could tell when one was coming on and help...
Thing was, when Sterling actually had the "fit" for which he would be later jailed, Waldo did little, to help Sterling, because he was later very busy finding the body of Sheik Ali Kazaam... who was twisted between several deck chairs and discovered on an evening stroll during which Flossie pointed out that Sterling really shouldn't have made such a fuss after performance. The key point for Sterling was that the Sheik used electronic gizmos and the Sheik's former assistant had been electrocuted during their last rehearsal... Now, she had been replaced by another beautiful woman who could also be accidentally hurt because the Sheik had chosen these dangerous tools rather than learn the old, but safer vaudeville magic...
Even though Sterling was very upset, he, nonetheless, was personally attracted to the turban that the Sheik wore! And, when they found the Sheik and Flossie had gone for help, Sterling had picked up the turban between the deck chairs and stuffed it down deep into Flossie's large bag in which she always carried possible needs, including water, a sweater...and more... That would prove to be the worst mistake that Sterling had ever made, or at least...the latest!
Of course, the investigation begins onboard; however, everybody there, including Red's family members were not only allowed to leave, but he had arranged for them to leave as part of the first group and would be met by Red's Wife, Flossie's daughter...
Actually, once they had left the ship is when the major work on the murder mystery begins... And it becomes quite complex, even if readers can begin to identify the villains. While the plot may be simple and fun, the complexity is found in the characters and how they play their roles... Flossie is certain, when she finds out that Sterling had stolen the turban, that it would lead to bad luck and began to read the cards to find out exactly what could happen. While the two daughters got together, comparing their clothes and personalities that were so different even as twins and then settled down to work.
Godiva was a newspaper columnist, called Ask G.O.D. for Advice and they had so many submissions, they picked the very "worst" to print...See More on this fun series at Book Readers Heaven today.
An Internet stripper finds fortune, love and murder in New York City after an encounter with a rare first edition book, which opens doors to many possibilities.
So, let's begin at the beginning. Two retired magician act members--Sterling Silver and his sister-in-law, Flossie Silver, who was his assistant--but is also the proud mother of a set of twins--Godiva and Goldie--and Waldo the Wonder Dog. They now all of are living in small bungalows on the estate of Godiva who is a rich widow who arranges for the "oldsters" to go on a cruise. Goldie only comes for a visit from her primary home in Alaska, to help in this time of Distress, yes, with a capital D!
Red Pepper, Goldie's husband, is Captain of a cruise ship, the Aurora Borealis... and after much discussion among the family, Red agreed to host Sterling and Flossie on a cruise when it would be hosting magicians from all over! And, with a little bit of truth-twisting, Waldo was to become Sterling's service dog because he was prone to "fits" and Waldo could tell when one was coming on and help...
Thing was, when Sterling actually had the "fit" for which he would be later jailed, Waldo did little, to help Sterling, because he was later very busy finding the body of Sheik Ali Kazaam... who was twisted between several deck chairs and discovered on an evening stroll during which Flossie pointed out that Sterling really shouldn't have made such a fuss after performance. The key point for Sterling was that the Sheik used electronic gizmos and the Sheik's former assistant had been electrocuted during their last rehearsal... Now, she had been replaced by another beautiful woman who could also be accidentally hurt because the Sheik had chosen these dangerous tools rather than learn the old, but safer vaudeville magic...
Even though Sterling was very upset, he, nonetheless, was personally attracted to the turban that the Sheik wore! And, when they found the Sheik and Flossie had gone for help, Sterling had picked up the turban between the deck chairs and stuffed it down deep into Flossie's large bag in which she always carried possible needs, including water, a sweater...and more... That would prove to be the worst mistake that Sterling had ever made, or at least...the latest!
Of course, the investigation begins onboard; however, everybody there, including Red's family members were not only allowed to leave, but he had arranged for them to leave as part of the first group and would be met by Red's Wife, Flossie's daughter...
Actually, once they had left the ship is when the major work on the murder mystery begins... And it becomes quite complex, even if readers can begin to identify the villains. While the plot may be simple and fun, the complexity is found in the characters and how they play their roles... Flossie is certain, when she finds out that Sterling had stolen the turban, that it would lead to bad luck and began to read the cards to find out exactly what could happen. While the two daughters got together, comparing their clothes and personalities that were so different even as twins and then settled down to work.
Godiva was a newspaper columnist, called Ask G.O.D. for Advice and they had so many submissions, they picked the very "worst" to print...See More on this fun series at Book Readers Heaven today.
https://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2024/01/diamonds-in-dumpster-silver-sisters.html