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33rd out of 90 books
—
32 voters
Santa Cruise (Regan Reilly Mystery #12)
America's Queen of Suspense -- Mary Higgins Clark -- joins forces with her daughter Carol -- bestselling author of the Regan Reilly mysteries -- in this fast-paced novel set on a special holiday cruise that sets sail from Miami the day after Christmas. Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth; her husband, Willy; recently hitched private detective Regan Rei...more
Hardcover, 261 pages
Published
November 14th 2006
by Scribner Book Company
(first published 2006)
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In this enjoyable novel the authors take the reader aboard the first voyage of a refurbished old vessel; the occasion is a post-Christmas cruise that is supposed to honor a group of good-doers and offer an opportunity for the ship’s owner to drop his mother’s ashes into the sea. Two stowaways, ten Santas, two little girls strongly determined to help people who don’t want any help and the appearance of a ghost create excitement and commotion aboard the Royal Mermaid. A well-known criminal, hiding...more
Just in time for Christmas, Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter, Carol, bring this season's readers on a cruise aboard the ill-fated "Royal Mermaid." The passengers have been hand picked by its owner, Commodore Randolph Weed. In his mind, he is repaying each one of them for their generosity and service to others throughout the past year.
Weed's kind gesture is not entirely altruistic. There is a motive to his madness. ( He's trying to drum up publicity for future excursions. In other words,, he i...more
Weed's kind gesture is not entirely altruistic. There is a motive to his madness. ( He's trying to drum up publicity for future excursions. In other words,, he i...more
My sister recommended Santa Cruise to me when I complained to her about having nothing else to read. She and my mom are avid fans of Mary Higgins Clark's written works so I tried this one out. Immediately, I was engrossed in the tale. The storyline was well-written; the setting fit the story; the characters in the book were all realistically portrayed and featured as intelligent and sophisticated (and especially nosy) no-nonsense people. Distinguishing the bad guys from the good guys was very ea...more
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Mary Higgins Clark moves away from some of the more suspenseful shockers such as "Where are the Children" to coauthor with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark this lovely enjoyable tale of a Christmas time voyage. Its a classic Murphy's law - what can go wrong will go wrong!
The story about the post-Christmas voyage starts with the self-styled Commodore rambling about his plans and his goals for his just completed refurbished yacht. He plans to run a cruise line, and is using this post-Christmas cr...more
The story about the post-Christmas voyage starts with the self-styled Commodore rambling about his plans and his goals for his just completed refurbished yacht. He plans to run a cruise line, and is using this post-Christmas cr...more
Alvirah and Willy Meehan, lottery winners, are guests upon the newly refurbished "Santa Cruise". It is the maiden voyage of Commodore Randolph Weed's cruise ship. As a marketing ploy dreamt up by cruise director, Dudley, this voyage is a free trip given to honor those people whose charitable contributions made life a little better for others. It curiously included ten 'Santas' who year after year heard the wishes of children everywhere. When a series of odd and law-breaking occurances happen abr...more
The maiden voyage of the Royal Mermaid was supposed to be a promotional tour honoring those who had did good deeds or contributed to charity, including ten Santa Clauses.Dubbed the Santa Cruise, misfortune happened from the very start.Two felons on the run stowaway, another con-man gets hired as a waiter and a gang of crooks plan to pull a caper during the voyage.
Alvirah Meehan, her husband, Regan Reilly, her husband Jack, and Regan's parents are some of the guests.These sleuths start being susp...more
Alvirah Meehan, her husband, Regan Reilly, her husband Jack, and Regan's parents are some of the guests.These sleuths start being susp...more
This the fourth book written by the mother-daughter pair, combining characters from their books.
This time, Alvirah and Willy, lottery-winners-turned-amateur-sleuths, win a cruise on the Royal Mermaid's maiden cruise. The invite as their guests Jack and Regan Reilly and her parents Nora and Luke along. The cruise, supposed to be a public relations event, quickly turns into a mystery cruise after guests report seeing ghosts, Santa suits are missing, and other strange events happen.
The book is a fu...more
This time, Alvirah and Willy, lottery-winners-turned-amateur-sleuths, win a cruise on the Royal Mermaid's maiden cruise. The invite as their guests Jack and Regan Reilly and her parents Nora and Luke along. The cruise, supposed to be a public relations event, quickly turns into a mystery cruise after guests report seeing ghosts, Santa suits are missing, and other strange events happen.
The book is a fu...more
This is an average Carol Higgins Clark book. I picked it up at the drugstore in desperation for something new to read. It is okay for quick, light reading, but Carol is not nearly as good a writer as her mother, Mary Higgins Clark. A small select group is chosen to be on the maiden voyage of a new cruise ship. They have been chosen for their efforts in "making the world a better place." Of course, mayhem develops as two Santa suits disappear, a storm develops, and an attempt is made on a passeng...more
Ok the question is does this count as one of those guilty pleasures. To me Mary Higgins Clark is one of those authors who publishes books at an astronomical rate and who always seems to be found in the halls of second hand book shops, charity shops and car boot sales yet no one seems to read her books and when ever you refer to them no one seems to acknowledge them. BUT here i am picking this book up at random and loving it - maybe its the total change in genre, the easy reading style or the sim...more
I enjoyed reading this book. It was quick and easy to read. There were a lot of characters to keep straight, and the narrative switched point of view often. Still, I felt it was easy to follow. For a relatively short book, there was a lot packed into it. 2 separate mysteries, lots of bad guys and some pretty intricate plots, and it all gets wrapped up by the end.
I liked the Santa theme, even though it wasn't really necessary to the story. It was just a fun little touch. The two obnoxious little...more
I liked the Santa theme, even though it wasn't really necessary to the story. It was just a fun little touch. The two obnoxious little...more
As far as mystery books go, it had an interesting twist, especially since they were out at sea while this was all going on. Certain mystery books thrill you though, and make you want to re-read them to see what clues were written and you just skipped over. Unfortunately, that was not the case with "Santa Cruise". It is intersting the first time, but after you know what the solution to the mystery is, you don't really want to read it again. Therefore, if you would like a good mystery, I suggest g...more
I chose to listen to this book because mysteries keep my interest and it was Christmas themed. It was pretty much what I expected, a bit predictable and silly, it follows a group of amateur sleuths who end up on a Santa-themed cruise ship full of escaped criminals, shady characters and ghost sightings. Based on the cover, I figured it would be poorly written, but it was better than I thought. The characters were nothing special, but the story was okay. It was pretty perfect for a mindless car ri...more
In this installment of the Higgins Clark family's annual Christmas novel, a cruise is booked which celebrates people who have done significant things for charities, all for free! Of course, this is the Santa Cruise, which sets out the day after Christmas on a trip to the Caribbean for three days. Alvirah Meehan, an amateur sleuth and lottery winner, and her husband, Willy, win tickets to the cruise and are invited to bring along two other couples. They extend their invitation to their friends th...more
I actually listened to this book on a road trip to visit my daughter. It entertained me with the monotony of driving, but I don't think I would have enjoyed reading it.
This holiday mystery takes place aboard a cruise ship full of do-gooders. The passengers are all guests on a complimentary voyage, who are given vacations in thanks for their goodwill work over the past year. Among the group are two stowaway criminals being hidden by the Captain's son. He expects a big pay off after helping these...more
This holiday mystery takes place aboard a cruise ship full of do-gooders. The passengers are all guests on a complimentary voyage, who are given vacations in thanks for their goodwill work over the past year. Among the group are two stowaway criminals being hidden by the Captain's son. He expects a big pay off after helping these...more
Santa Cruise was not the worst book I read this year, but it comes close. I picked it up at the library for a good trashy mystery read--and it certainly was trashy. Predictable plot, two-dimensional characters, and flat prose--all I have to say is, meh! I guess that whatever Mary Higgins Clark writes, gets published. Oh--and her lucky daughter gets published too. I wish I had that kind of carte blanche. The good thing about this book is that it was a quick read, so it didn't waste too much of my...more
America's Queen of Suspense -- Mary Higgins Clark -- joins forces with her daughter Carol -- bestselling author of the Regan Reilly mysteries -- in this fast-paced novel set on a special holiday cruise that sets sail from Miami the day after Christmas. Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth; her husband, Willy; recently hitched private detective Regan Reilly and her groom, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad; and Regan's parents, Nora and Luke, are guests on the "Royal Merm...more
A mildly entertaining, predictable mystery set at sea aboard the Royal Mermaid, not surprisingly also known as the "Santa Cruise". Commodore Weed and his sidekick/cruise director, Dudley, offer to take the previous year's most notorious "do-gooders" on a free post-Christmas cruise as a prize for donating money or time to good causes, not to mention, a little free publicity for his new cruise line that he is hoping to launch in the new year. Unfortunately, his wayward nephew, Eric, uses this oppo...more
Another cute, fun, cheesy, fast holiday book from the mother-and-daughter team. This one at least had a little danger to it, but it was pretty transparent in a lot of places, unlike their books they write separately, which do have plot twists and surprises and the bad people are usually mixed in with the good and not so obvious. The one thing that really bothered me about this book was the ending. It was SO unbelievably far-fetched. I could spoil it, but I won't. LOL All-in-all, it's a fun read...more
Mary Higgins Clark is my 'go-to' author when I need a read to distract me, not necessarily to make me think. A friend has noted, she does not write good literature, but she spins a good yarn. This book is about a 'do-gooders' cruise given by a cruise ship owner trying to drum of business for his fledgling cruise ship. From the get-go things go wrong. His nephew (an 'officer' on the ship) is stowing away two dangerous fugitives, a member of the waitstaff jumps overboard to avoid being arrested, s...more
The story is interesting, but oh... Does it take not ONE but TWO writers to write THIS badly ? (-.-) ...
I'm having fun with it anyway, cuz it takes place during X-Mas & it's one of my X-Mas readings...
By the way : It's written by mother and daughter : Mary AND Carol Higgins Clark.
Good story but doubtful writing, with dialogues that you go "Sure...", and you simply decide to forget it cuz you wanna know how the mystery is gonna be solved...
I'm having fun with it anyway, cuz it takes place during X-Mas & it's one of my X-Mas readings...
By the way : It's written by mother and daughter : Mary AND Carol Higgins Clark.
Good story but doubtful writing, with dialogues that you go "Sure...", and you simply decide to forget it cuz you wanna know how the mystery is gonna be solved...
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Things keep going wrong on the maiden trip of this cruise ship. Full with people who did a lot of good during the year or gave a lot of money to charity are on the bus. But some of the passengers aren't who they seem to be. As there is every time something new that gets dicovered, there is a lot to wonder about. It isn't a high level mystery story but still fun to read, to wonder about everything and enjoy it in the end.
This book is an "easy read", one that works well interspersed with other "heavier" books I might be reading (listening to)--works well as a light relief book. Enjoyed very much the tongue in cheek humor, and no heavy-duty blood-guts murders, but enough intrigue to make it interesting, esp. all the various hilarious situations including criminals, and members of the cruise ship find themselves embroiled.
Ehhhh, so so...I have really enjoyed all of her previous Christmas themed books but this one reallllllly bored me to death and it was quite the struggle just to finish it. I dont know, it was just really drawn out and did not keep me guessing and intrigued like all her others. It just seemed like she spent 220 pages conjuring up this big story and kept going and going and then spent 1 page to end it up, just not worth my time. On to the next
Alvirah Meehan wins an auction item that gets her rooms on a special "Santa Cruise" that is a publicity stunt to highlight a newly refurbished cruise liner. She invites the Reilly family, Regan, Jack, and her family. As usual, mayhem (and a lot of entertwining stories) ensue.
If you love the Higgins Clark stories, you'll highly enjoy this book.
If you love the Higgins Clark stories, you'll highly enjoy this book.
Oh my, this was not what I expected from the two authors. It was a fast read. The setting is a small cruise ship on it's first trip. Everyone gets the trip for free because of their donations to charity or good work in their community. 'Bad guys' show up. Things go wrong on the ship. Female leads in the book are a bit unbelievable. All the little plots going on are quickly ended.
I thought this would be a fun, light read for Christmas, but I couldn't get into it. I didn't get past Chapter 3; I stopped reading when a "bad guy" named "Bull's-Eye" was introduced. I think I'm outgrowing these books. I'm finding them to be formulaic, predictable, and boring. I still like Mary Higgins Clark but I think her books are better when she writes on her own.
This was my first Mary Higgins Clark read, and I was surprised at the humor this entailed along with the mystery. I thought for a brief moment I knew who it was, and then thought it was someone else. Also go with your gut, because my first guess was right. This is a cute story and such an easy read.
I've read two or three of the Reagan Riley Christmas mysteries now. They're simple, clean, and don't require a lot of deep thinking. We listened to this one in the car on a trip, and it was perfect for that. None of us thought it was the best book ever, but none of us disliked it, either.
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Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark Conheeney, best known as Mary Higgins Clark, (b December 24, 1927 in the Bronx, New York) is an American author of suspense novels. Each of her twenty-four suspense novels has been a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remain in print as of 2007, with her debut suspense novel, Where Are The Children, in its sevent...more
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