This is a review of the Kindle version.
Henry Grave has had an interesting life, having been a POW, ran for Congress in 1972, authored a book in archeology and an International dancing champion in Tango. Now 84 years old, he works for the Association of Cruising Vessel Operators in Washington D.C. and investigates crimes on ships.
Henry Grave has had an interesting life, having been a POW, ran for Congress in 1972, authored a book in archeology and an International dancing champion in Tango. Now 84 years old, he works for the Association of Cruising Vessel Operators in Washington D.C. and investigates crimes on ships.
The ship under question
in one Contessa Voyager, an ultramodern cruise ship. Robert Samson, a retired FBI
profiler is a regular on the lecture circuit. Samson was about to reveal the
identity of the perpetrator of an unsolved murder at Cape Cod, when he was
murdered.
Contessa has 1532 passengers
on-board and 640 crewmembers. Henry has a long list of suspects:
- Hugh
Arlen, Chief Security Officer
- Captain
Egil Erlander, Ship Captain
- Helen
Ettinger, 70 years old passenger who takes a keen interest in Henry Grave
- Duarte,
a Venezuelan General evading deportment
- Elliott
Powell and Doug Baxter, Veterinarians and their wives - Donna and Opal
respectively
- Ron
Gibson, Cruise director
- Inga
Hess, Entertainer
- Shelley
Tobin, actress and her husband /lead writer, Jack
- Vasily
Orlov, cosmonaut
- Hector,
a young security officer
 |
| William Doonan, the author |
William Doonan has crafted a nice debut
for Henry Grave. The mystery element is OK. What impressed me the most was
Doonan’s writing style.
Click on the link to buy the book:
Click on the link to buy the book:
Here are the things I liked best about
the book:
- Nice description of life on a
cruise ship voyage
- Good humor all around, with some
particularly funny exchanges
- Grave’s philosophical reflections
on life, food etc.
- Good description of cruise ship
amenities, eager-to-help crewmembers with name tags & how they get
tipped for their services etc.
For all the good points mentioned
above, I felt there were a few missteps. There are a couple of racial
stereotypes (physical description of Asians and the weak English spoken by a
particular Russian character) that stuck out like a sore thumb in what was
otherwise a very enjoyable read.
Recommended to fans of the mystery
genre.
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Great review! I love William's main character, Henry Grave.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteNice review, Buddy2Blogger. It is obvious you spent some time analyzing many facets of this good book. We know Mr. Doonan to be an excellent writer. Please review his subsequent titles, "Mediterranean Grave," "Grave Indulgence," and "American Caliphate". You'll be impressed!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marta.
DeleteI concur. William Doonan is a highly entertaining writer. Compassionate, too. Good review of a good book.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGood review. I appreciate your honesty in the review, although I am a huge William Doonan fan.
ReplyDeleteThanks for appreciating the objective nature of my review :)
DeleteThanks for the support, guys! I'm really grateful to buddy2blogger for this review. I'll definitely be checking this site regularly!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Bill :)
DeleteI wasn't able to tell certainly -- is this a non-fiction book or is it fiction? It sounds interesting.\
ReplyDeleteLove, C.
C, this is a work of fiction with Henry Grave as the main protagonist/detective. You might enjoy it, if murder mysteries with a great sense of humor are your cup of tea.
DeleteGreat review. I love William's character's name, Henry Grave. Perfect.
DeleteThanks Eileen.
DeleteIt's a novel, Foxessa, book one of what is to date a trilogy, though book four is already underway. If you get a chance to read, let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eileen. I think coming up with the name was the hardest part!
William knows how highly I rate him. Humour is the hardest thing to write and he does it so well.
ReplyDeleteBill nailed the humor part of the book.
Deletelooking forward to getting this one.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you liked the book.
DeleteJust started it, and will report back.
ReplyDeleteLoved the book. Had a great time reading it.
ReplyDeleteKept trying to figure out which great older actor I would have play Grave.
To bad Jack Lemmon has already moved on.( maybe Clint Eastwood in a couple of years, Ed Asner a few years ago )
I to read the kindle addition, and have got the next one already.
Fun book and I look forward to the next one.
Happy to know that you enjoyed the book, John!
DeleteJack Lemmon would have been great as Henry Grave...