Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148451 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-14
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of the lighthearted fourth yuletide mystery from the bestselling mother-daughter Clarks (after 2004's The Christmas Thief), Randolph Weed, "self-styled commodore," launches his newly refurbished boat, the Royal Mermaid, from Miami with a "Santa Cruise" to raise money for charity and reward 400 "Do-Gooders of the Year." Meanwhile, Weed's greedy nephew, Eric Manchester, has made a secret $2 million deal with escaped felons Bull's-Eye Tony Pinto and Barron Highbridge to keep them hidden aboard the Royal Mermaid until it reaches Fishbowl Island, where they can make trouble out of federal jurisdiction. Fortunately, there are plenty of Do-Gooders to foil the bad guys, notably the mystery mavens of the Oklahoma Readers and Writers group and sleuthing philanthropist Alvirah Meehan. Full of mystery-lite cheer but lacking in style and substance, this collaboration is never quite buoyant enough to really deck the halls for fans of the Clarks' superior solo efforts. (Nov.)
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From Booklist
If you want substance in your crime fiction, look elsewhere; if you want intrigue that keeps you guessing, keep looking; but if you want a frothy, holiday-themed whodunit starring the affable PI Regan Reilly, her D.A. husband, and mystery-writing mother--all aboard a luxury liner's three-day maiden cruise--then this is your ticket. The Clarks, mother and daughter, stick to formula, but they deliver predictable entertainment for the easily entertained. Expect their latest effort to please the target audience. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Santa Cruise
Do you like bungles and bumps? Then you will like this book. It tickled my funny bone many times.

Santa Cruise
This was a fun, light read! The story went quickly and was very entertaining.

One of the worst "mysteries" I've ever read!
Because I've enjoyed previous Higgins Clarks' Alvirah and Willy mysteries and was about embark on a cruise in Hawaii, I thought this book would be perfect! Was I wrong!! It has a paper thin plot, if any, and even the usual cast of characters is weakly drawn. It's almost as if it were given as a class assignment - "Write a novel in the Mary Higgins Clark/Carol Higgins Clark STYLE." It was awful! One redeeming feature - the authors did their homework about cruises - all the details were there - passenger photos with the captain, food, etc., it clicked in that way. But the plot was downright silly! Can you imagine Alvirah being able to swim all the way around a 400-passenger ship and then catch a box in her hand? PLEASE do not buy this book, especially at full price as I did, thinking it would be just right for my cruise experience. I wanted to throw it overboard!