Death on the Diversion

Finished October 8

Death on the Diversion by Patricia McLinn

I was introduced to the main character in this series, Sheila Mackey, in the novella Before the Murders. Here Sheila is on a cruise, something that she has done plenty of times before, but this is her first time without her aunt Kit. They've also taken a relative along with them, and this trip Sheila is travelling with a distant cousin, Petronella, who is recently divorced from her abusive husband because he found a new woman. She has obvious confidence problems and is also protective of Sheila. 

Sheila meets a member of a group travelling together as she gets a manicure at the start of her voyage. Odette is friendly and has travelled on with her group before, but there are interesting dynamics between what used to be three couples. Spouses are now in relationships with other of the group's partners, with Odette the odd woman out and seemingly not bothered. Another woman in the group, Leah, is the one who seems often in a bad mood, and is unpleasant to fellow travellers and staff alike. 

There is also another repeat group aboard, a group of women who are loud, with flashy clothing, cosmetic enhancements and and entitled attitudes. 

As Sheila, with long distance advice from her aunt Kit, endeavours to figure out the mystery, she gathers information from crew members, members of both travel groups, her own companion, and her helpful dinner table companions. 

I enjoyed this mystery, and the way that Sheila became more confident of her own observation and problem-solving skills. There is humour here as well. An entertaining read. 

A Crafty Christmas

Finished September 19

A Crafty Christmas by Mollie Cox Bryan

This is the fourth novel in a series set around a group of scrapbooking friends in small-town Cumberland Creek, Virginia. In this novel, one of them, Sheila, has won a scrapbooking themed trip for herself and two friends on a cruise of the Caribbean. The trip takes place in mid-December and the novel begins with Sheila tripping over a body as she does her customer morning run on deck. She soon discovers it was a woman she'd been friendly with and who had been talking about hiring Sheila as a designer for her scrapbooking company. 

Sheila's friends Vera and Paige are on the cruise with her, and Vera had brought along her new boyfriend Eric, while Paige brought her pastry-chef son Randy. Randy has had some experience crafting before and is intrigued by a variety of elements of cruise ship life. Eric is a lawyer and relative newcomer to the group that they haven't entirely warmed up to yet. 

When the authorities discover that the victim was poisoned and become aware that Sheila had met with her recently, Sheila becomes a potential suspect in the case. When Sheila is on the scene of a second dead body as it is discovered, this becomes more of a threat. Thus the group begins to gather information to find the real killer before more deaths happen. Part of this is working with the friends and family back home, such as Vera's mother Beatrice and the crafting group member Annie. 

When odd occurrences begin happening back home in Virginia, the group begins to wonder if they are connected. 

This is a cozy mystery with lots of references to crafting and the specifics of the Christmas season. It also includes lots of references to delicious food from the gourmet offerings on the ship to the Christmas backing in both locations. 

The is a short section at the end with crafting terminology and Christmas scrapbooking ideas. 

I enjoyed the group problem-solving and the side stories around various of the characters. 

Do Not Become Alarmed

Finished April 4
Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy, read by the author.

This book has a lot going on, and more depth than I first thought. Liv and Nora are cousins who have always been close. Liv, a director, introduced Nora, a teacher, to her husband when she had a party that included some of the people involved in one of her films, Raymond is an actor who's had a decent amount of success, allowing Nora to stay at home with their young children, Marcus, eleven and June, six. He's also black, so the kids are mixed race.
Nora had a difficult relationship with her mother, who has died recently, and Liv suggested that the two families, including Liv's husband Ben, and childredn Penny, eleven and Sebastian, eight. take a cruise for the holiday season instead. The cruise leaves from the California coast and goes down the coast of Mexico and Central America.
On board they meet an Argentinian couple that they become friendly with. The couple has two teenage children, sixteen and fourteen.
Mostly they all stay on board the ship and enjoy the amenities, with the adults in particular enjoying the ability to check the kids into the Kids' Club and do their own thing. But as they reach a country that Liv regards as relatively safe, (unnamed, but evidently Costa Rica) they look at doing one of the shore excursions. Liv suggests zip-lining at a location that also has animals, but then the Argentinian man invites the guys for golf with a guy he knows that lives there. So the three women and the kids go on the excursion, an accident causes them to be diverted, the woman and the guide become distracted, and the kids disappear.
The story is told from multiple points of view, including both adults and children. So while the reader knows what is happening with the kids, the parents do not, and always seem to be a step behind what is going on.
There is also a side story of a young Colombian girl Noemi, who is being taken by her uncle from her home with her grandmother to her parents who are in New York illegally.
This is a story of many things, from white privilege to organized crime to migrants. Some of the characters are definitely unlikable, such as Penny, while others have more complex personalities. I liked Marcus quite a bit. I enjoyed the read and the ideas here.

An Odyssey

Finished April 16
An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn

This memoir encompasses a few months in Mendelsohn's life, with forays into his life at earlier times, and reflections on this time later. Shortly before the spring semester when Daniel was going to be teaching an undergraduate seminar on The Odyssey, his father, eighty-one at the time, asked to sit in on the course. Daniel is a writer and a classics scholar. His father, had worked first for Grumman, an aerospace corporation, and then as a computer science professor, but he took pride in the fact that he had studied Latin as a young man.
His father travelled in from his home on Long Island weekly that spring to participate in the course, and shortly after, when Daniel was discussing the experience with one of his mentors, she suggested a cruise that was being offered that summer that traced the route of Odysseus' journey. When Daniel mentioned it to his father, his dad was enthusiastic, and so they went.
This book traces both the disussion of the book in the seminar and the corresponding personal conversations he had with his father, and the time on the cruise that corresponded to that part of the story. It also describes the author's feelings and experience around his father's illness and death soon after this trip.
This is a very personal memoir of a father-son relationship that had its difficulties, but also moments of great intimacy. My reading of the Odyssey occured more than thirty years ago, but this brought my enjoyment of that story back to me.

Displacement

Finished March 20
Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley

This graphic memoir was recommended by one of my coworkers, and I quite enjoyed it. The narrator, Lucy, tells of a trip she took as escort and caregiver for her grandparents on a Caribbean cruise. Her grandparents, in their 90s and living in a senior-living complex has signed up for the tour, causing some frantic discussion among family members. Her grandmother was exhibiting signs of dementia and her grandfather has some mobility issues and incontinence issues. Lucy, age 27, volunteers to go with her grandparents if her father and his siblings pay for her way.
She sets out the story day by day, telling of her thoughts and worries each day, as well as the activities they all go through and the things she has to manage for her grandparents. There are good things that happen, and bad things that happen. She has to manage their medications, their laundry, and anticipate their needs.
Her grandfather's eyesight means that he, a previously voracious reader, has stopped reading, and her grandmother can't concentrate to read, so she is kept busy trying to find things to do together. Her grandmother gets restless quickly, but her grandfather can't walk very fast due to asthma, so it is a challenge.
Interspersed with this travel story are excerpts from a memoir her grandfather wrote about his time in World War II. She tries to connect with them around memories of earlier times, but even her grandfather's memories aren't great, and this makes it harder.
The drawings are great, and the story an interesting one about families, aging, and patience.

Not Being on a Boat

Finished November 25
Not Being on a Boat by Esme Claire Keith
An odd novel, set on a luxury cruise ship, this book takes us to a world dark and violent. Rutledge has bought a suite under the Lifetime-Lifestyles package. His suite includes a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, with a balcony. Money doesn't seem to be an issue for him and he is a hefty tipper. He doesn't give much away about his past, and is looking to explore the stopovers, make contacts, and generally enjoy himself. He makes himself known to his steward Raoul and lets him know he expects high-end service. He gets to know some of his fellow passengers, but only in a very superficial way. After a few excursions to shore, he decides to spend some time aboard at one stop and this changes everything. The ship must leave port suddenly and some of the passengers and crew are stranded. Violence in the region seems to escalate and further port stops are cancelled for the time being. Things on the ship seem to be going downhill fast and Rutledge must make choices and call on his contacts to ensure things go well for him.
This is a dark novel, with an interesting scenario, but I can't say that I really enjoyed it.