Bon Voyage to Murder

A Fiona Quinn Mystery, Book 8

By: C.S. McDonald

Narrated by: Maren Swenson Waxenberg

Hooray! Fiona has finally convinced her boyfriend detective Nathan Landry to go on a romantic Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately, their fun on the high seas is interrupted by murder. It isn’t long before they discover a boatload of suspects, who have motives deeper than the ocean for wanting the victim out of their lives.

©2019 Cindy McDonald (P)2020 Cindy McDonald

Delightful cozy mystery

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK 

I was honored to read book one in A Fiona Quinn Mystery series and I couldn’t wait to snuggle up in another cozy mystery where I know Fiona would be on her deceive hunt. That girl can smell trouble anywhere. Well, this time Fiona and Nathan’s cruise is a cruise gone bad from the start. In the very beginning there is what is thought to be an attempted murder and we know Fiona can’t let this one go, fun cruise or not. So here goes her  sleuthing skills, and she and Nathan put their heads together and start checking out what is happening and before they know it, the cruise gone bad it done with! I love this sweet cozy mystery just as much as the first Fiona Mystery I read. Though it’s a series you can certainly read these as a stand alone, but I would like to eventually read them in order because I think it would be more fun. 

This time I listen to this one, and the narration by Maren Swenson Waxenberg was such a wonderful pleasant experience. I’m not a huge fan of audio books, they are slowly growing on me, and I am finding out that it is the person doing the narration that makes the audio book. I could listen to Waxenberg for hours at a time and not get tired. I do have another Fiona Cozy Mystery review coming up in a couple of weeks so I hope you will check it out. If you love yourself a good cozy mystery, only now we can’t say by the fire unless we go outside in the heat, this is an amazing choice for you. This Fiona Quinn Mystery gets Five Stars from me. 

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Set sail for fun and danger

School teacher Fiona Quinn and her hesitant beau Detective Nathan Landry, are setting off on a cruise!
Fiona is excited about taking her favorite man on a Caribbean escape, accompanied by good friends. Straight laced, rule following Librarian Julia surprises all by how willing she is to go with the flow away from work.
Nathan is not hesitant about his love for Fiona, but his fear of seasickness (and maybe a few wardrobe choices) has him definitely feeling adrift about this dream vacation.

Before they are even on the boat (er, it's a SHIP! and it's a SHE) there are hints that all may not be smooth sailing. The Captain is a remarkable young woman who has the respect and experience to handle most situations. Will she be prepared for potential sabotage or even murder?

From decades old grudges and rivalries, seniors choosing on-board living over assisted care facilities, and the inevitable romance of the seas...potential for turbulence swells.

However, back home...

If you are familiar with this series you already know about the living circumstances at Fiona's house.
Instead of asking her mother to babysit her darling dog, Harriette, Fiona's brother, Chad, should be of a responsible age. This turns out perhaps not to be as true as desired. It does make for some humorous misadventures. Harriette also gets a mini vacation.

I always enjoy my visits with Fiona and the quirky people who fill her world.
Even when shadows cross her path there is the opportunity for a silver lining.
The characters are well developed, even the ones you distrust or want to dislike.
The narration of the audiobook version was outstanding. A delight to listen.

Cozy mystery with no surprises

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Fiona and her boyfriend, Nathan, and another couple go on a cruise hoping for a nice, relaxing vacation. Unfortunately, one of the acts on board is a fading country singer who someone wants to kill! After a couple of accidents (or were they?), she disappears and is presumed lost at sea.

The murder mystery on the cruise was straight forward with no surprises. I had to feel bad for Nathan because he was so seasick after losing his patch and diving into the ocean to save Cassidy during one of the attempts on her life. As someone who suffers motion sickness, I could empathize.

When Fiona went on the cruise, she left her beloved dog, Harriet, behind, and her brother, Chad, was to take care of her. I enjoyed this part of the book the most because the same night that Fiona left, Chad lost Harriet. He looked for her the entire time that Fiona was gone, and their parents even flew in from out of town when he was desperate on what to do. Hilariously, the neighbors took Harriet in when they came across her and no one answered the door at Fiona’s house. The neighbor even said hi to Chad one day, but he didn’t have Harriet with him!

The narrator’s voice took a little getting used to. It’s not as soothing as some of the audiobook voices I’ve heard, but once I got used to it, I was fine. Her timing and inflection were very good.

If you like a cozy murder mystery with no surprises, you should like this book. For me, the Chad and Harriet story was the best part.

Cozy Cruising

3.5 stars

Pittsburgh teacher Fiona Quinn got her man, Nathan Landry, long ago and the pair have gone on a cruise with friends Julia and Rob Bell. Isn’t it handy to have a real detective nearby when a woman disappears, possibly overboard? Nathan’s presence gives Fiona entry to the investigation and Captain Baptiste is grateful for their help. Country singer Cassidy Kinsman was an aging, crabby drunk and there is no shortage of potential suspects but, as the sleuthing progresses, why would anyone want to attack a shy, skittish maid? Did she see or hear something she shouldn’t have?

The secondary storyline regarding Fiona’s brother, Chad, doesn’t add anything to the resolution of the mystery and I couldn’t help thinking she would never have left him to house-and-pet sit. These two are siblings so she would have known how out of touch with reality he is. Chad’s RPG buddies are pretty funny, though, and all these guys are like the modern day version of the Three Stooges so they’re worth a smile.

I haven’t quite made up my mind about Ms. Waxenberg’s narrative skills—there’s something a bit grating about Fiona’s voice in particular—but I’ll have another chance to evaluate when I listen to a second book next week. I do think Ms. Waxenberg handles the pacing nicely and does a variety of voices well.

All in all, Bon Voyage to Murder is a fun cozy, taking me back to my own cruising days, and I enjoyed the trip :-)

Show Biz Isn't Any Easier on the Water!

Fiona convinced her detective boyfriend to set his dislike of ships aside and take a cruise with her, but it'll be anything but relaxing! (There will be murder, in case you couldn't tell.) Meanwhile, Fiona's brother will be wishing he was the murder victim, as he's been left to babysit the house (granny's ghost and all) and Fiona's dog... who takes an impromptu vacation of her own with the neighbours.

I discovered CS McDonal's work and the Fiona Quinn series through an earlier iRead tour, and I loved what I found, so I jumped at the chance to review her latest book and TWO more Fiona audiobooks. I was not disappointed! Bon Voyage to Murder is exactly what I look for in a cozy mystery: fun characters, great witty banter, loads of humour, and a pleasantly predictable plot. Who's gonna die? It's obvious from page 10. Who dunnit? Your guess will be close in the first couple of chapters. Does it matter that you know where it's going? Absolutely not! The journey's a lot of fun anyway, if not precisely because you know where it's going because the characters and side plots are great and you don't want it to end.

If you love cozy mysteries, you'll love the Fiona Quinn series. Jump in at book one or pretty much anywhere along the line (though you might understand the ghost Granny better if you read the first book first) and you're sure to have a blast!

I was granted complimentary audiobook access to Bon Voyage to Murder as part of my participation in a blog tour for the author's latest novel, Maxed Out, via iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

A fun, clean cozy mystery

Bon Voyage to Murder is the second book I’ve read by this author (or in this case I listened to the audiobook.) I really enjoy her storytelling sense and the wonderful visuals she presents.

This story introduces me to Fiona Quinn, her detective boyfriend, Nathan Landry, Dusty (a retired country music star) and a boat load of other interesting secondary characters. As I mentioned earlier, the images placed in my mind of the cruise setting and fun, quirky characters were vivid, and the inflections the narrator used for the various voices really made the story come to life.

What starts out as a romantic cruise vacation, suddenly takes a different turn. Before they know it, they find themselves in the middle of a murder case. The plot builds nicely with a mixture of suspense and fun, delivering a satisfying end to this cozy mystery.

This book is outside my usual reading genres, but it’s been fun delving into something different. There are so many surprises and peculiarities to this story, giving it much more depth than I expected.

Dɪsᴄʟᴏsᴜʀᴇ: I ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʀʏ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴏᴏᴋ. Mʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴡᴀs ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴғʟᴜᴇɴᴄᴇᴅ.

Great

Bon Voyage to Murder: A Fiona Quinn Mystery #8 was a great listen. I really liked the romantic aspect of Fiona and her boyfriend detective Nathan Landry going on a romantic Caribbean cruise. The romance when combined with murder made this my ideal type of book as the mix of romance and mystery tends to make for quite an enjoyable read. I really loved the Caribbean cruise setting as I have actually been on one so I was able to mix the setting quite well. The sound quality and narration of the audio book was quite well done!!

Plenty of action & story to keep you entertained

BON VOYAGE TO MURDER is the first Fiona Quinn mystery I have read, but it’s just one of a dozen or so in the series. There are clearly some established relationships and statuses (for example, a ghost in Fiona’s house), but the author writes it all in so that the book can stand alone. The personalities of the characters pop from the page (or when reading with your ears, from the speakers), and author C.S. McDonald gives enough information early so we know the personality types, too.

For those listening to the audio, I recommend having pen and paper handy because readers are thrown a ton of characters very quickly. It’s a lot to keep up with, especially for readers new to the series, like me. There were two characters, Julia the librarian and her husband, Rob, that really didn’t need to be in the story at all, so my guess is that perhaps they are regulars in the other books. (And the librarian in me might have had my hackles raised a few times with the librarian stereotyping, especially given it was coming from a kindergarten teacher, who would know what that’s like.) But what the cascade of characters does do is allows readers to understand that both Fiona and her detective boyfriend Nathan are keen observers. So we know there won’t be a lot that gets past them.

Where McDonald shines (just like in her Owl’s Nest Mysteries), is in her descriptions of people, warts and all. BON VOYAGE TO MURDER is full of characters who are quirky and crusty, fun and feisty, stiff and loosey-goosey. It’s very easy to visualize them all and feel like a fly on the wall to all of the goings-on. The setting on the cruise ship was perfect because the pacing of the story paralleled the journey, and as the cruise was coming to an end, the resolution was tying up, too -- just like an episode from the Love Boat, but with less love and more violence!

Speaking of love, my guess is that in the prior eight or so books, there’s been plenty of romance and sparks between Fiona and Nathan. In BON VOYAGE TO MURDER, we see a little hint of Nathan’s playful side, and we hear Fiona’s adoration of Nathan in her thoughts, but there’s not much to show their attraction to each other, and this made one aspect of the plot a bit tedious for me because it lacked build-up. (To be fair, it will likely be thrilling for series fans who know this couple well.)

Running in the background of the main murder mystery is a subplot, set back on land, and it includes a separate plethora of characters including Fiona’s brother, an eclectic/eccentric group of her brother’s friends, Fiona’s ghostly grandmother, all-too-living parents, all-too-missing dog, a mystic, and general shenanigans that provide some chaos and lots of comic relief from the seriousness of murderous intentions on the sea. There are a few things that happened that didn’t make sense, but it’s enough fun that readers won’t dwell on it.

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Maren Swenson Waxenberg does a great job of differentiating between the character voices, and her pacing was perfect, which allowed me to listen at regular speed – a rarity. It was in the voicing of the secondary characters that Waxenberg’s performance really complemented McDonald’s text and brought those characters to life. But I couldn’t ever get used to the voice of Fiona. She seemed annoying, and I don’t think that’s an accurate depiction of the character. I think I need to read earlier books with my eyes so I can get a good grip on Fiona’s personality.

In BON VOYAGE TO MURDER, there is plenty of action and story to keep any cozy mystery reader interested and entertained. Based on jumping in late in a well-established series, my recommendation (that I’m going to take by checking out MURDER ON POINTE, book one of the Fiona Quinn Mysteries) is to start at the beginning and read with your eyes if you want to absorb the finer mystery details and really get to know the characters. Or, if you just like to listen to a fun story, then go with the audio. Win-win!

Cruises can be a detriment to R&R

Bon Voyage to Murder
A Fiona Quinn Mystery #8
By C.S. McDonald
Narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg

The cruise that Fiona Quinn envisioned sharing with her boyfriend Nathan Landry doesn't go quite how she imagined. First off, before boarding the ship they make the acquaintance of an old country-western singer, who calls the Athena home. And from there the cruise goes down for Fiona and Nathan, at least as far as rest and relaxation go.

When an attempted murder is suspected, Nathan and Fiona put their sleuthing skills to work. With no witnesses, all they have are speculations and accusations. Soon the weeklong cruise has escalated into a murder investigation. But can they find what they need to point them in the right direction?

Meanwhile, Fiona's brother Chad has his own problems while house-sitting for Fiona. First off he isn't familiar with grandma's lingering effect on the family home. And then there is Fiona's dog, Harriet, let's just say that Chad is not the best pet sitter for a little Maltese. And then when Chad calls on his friends to help - well let's just say the visual I got was most interesting.

Bon Voyage to Murder just might make you reconsider taking a cruise. Though this is a murder mystery it is a cozy mystery. There are no depictions of murder so if you want to avoid anything graphic this book will provide you with just such a mystery.

The narration by Maren Swenson Waxenberg is well presented. Each character has a unique voice so one can easily follow shifts in character voice. The pacing is good and at under 7 hours a perfect length for a week of commuting. I think Maren perfectly presents this book.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

*This book is a clean read though Fiona and her boyfriend are sharing a cabin. There are a few kisses but nothing more takes place between the two.

Very enjoyable

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I loved the narrator. Fiona Quinn is a wonderful character and I love her boyfriend, Nathan Landry. It is fun to learn about Fiona, Nathan and the mother of Fiona. I love many of the scenes that take place in the school where Fiona teaches. I received a copy of this audiobook from ireadbooktour for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.