Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder

October 8, 2012
In the first chapter of Befeler’s lively fourth mystery featuring octogenarian Paul Jacobson (after 2011’s Senior Moments Are Murder), crotchety Paul, who suffers from short-time memory loss, has an unpleasant run-in with the police after discovering a corpse in a public park in Seattle, Wash., where he and his devoted new wife, 70-ish Marion, are about to embark on an Alaskan cruise. His problems only worsen aboard ship. A bizarre murder, several acrimonious altercations that result in violence, and a passenger’s baffling disappearance all lead directly to Paul. Hounded relentlessly by the ship’s security director, Paul phones his 12-year-old granddaughter, Jennifer, in Boulder, Colo., for help in getting to the mayhem’s source. Jennifer, with her quick mind and technical know-how, soon puts him on the right path. While some of the shtick is at Three Stooges level, the story’s endearing zaniness keeps boredom at bay.