Under the Cover of Murder

February 1, 2021
A deluxe Massachusetts seaside wedding leads to murder. Bookstore owner Addie Greybourne is thrilled that her best friend, Serena Chandler, is marrying Zach Ludlow. But Addie's excitement pales beside that of Zach's stepmother, Veronica. Her Ladyship, as her staff calls her, was once married to a member of the nobility. Now she's giving Zach's dad, Oliver, a run for his money--lots of his money--as she strives to make her stepson's nuptials as lavish as possible. Serena had hoped to keep the hoopla quotient down by getting married in her little hometown of Greybourne Harbor, but Veronica has her foxed on that one, too. She commissions her six-story yacht, the Lady V, to dock in the harbor, offering multiple ballrooms and staffed by her personal chef, Jean Pierre Gagneux, to provide nonstop food and liquor to the wedding guests. A weekend of French cuisine and shipboard accommodations doesn't sound bad to Addie. When Lacey Davenport turns up, however, Addie's mood sours. Lacey once dated Serena's brother, Marc, Addie's ex-fiance, and although both women have moved on, their rivalry hasn't. When Lacey turns up dead, Addie faces an endless cruise since the police lock down the Lady V and refuse to let any of the guests leave. Now Addie's determined to crack the case, not only to help Marc, who's the police chief, but to get back to shore again. Shipboard shenanigans with a bit of sleuthing on the side.

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February 19, 2021
Addie Greyborne has her hands full as maid of honor for her best friend when she is asked by Chief Marc Chandler to identify a body. Later, during the wedding festivities aboard a luxury yacht, an uninvited guest who has a history with others on board turns up dead, and the police will not allow anyone to leave the yacht while they investigate. Are the two murders connected? Addie, a bookstore owner, notices that some of the books in the host's rare-book collection are forgeries, and, believing the forgeries to be a motive for murder, she and her friends begin their own investigation. However, others aboard have secrets they may have killed to protect, increasing the suspect list. A well-delineated cast of characters and plenty of information about rare books enhance the story, but it strains credulity that Addie manages to eavesdrop on multiple sensitive conversations without being noticed. The final confrontation with the killer also seems forced.

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