Night Watch: An Em Ridge Mystery

Em Ridge Mysteries #2

by Linda Hall

Desolate Maine shores... Murder... And peace slipping away on the outgoing tide... For yacht delivery captain Em Ridge, having the Coast Guard in her face after a billionaire's daughter goes missing is not the best way to start the boat delivery of a lifetime. Will Em's career go overboard? Will the investigating detective help her or hurt her? Any why does the best boat delivery captain on the east coast pull at her heart strings? The oft foggy coast of Maine holds secrets it does not want to give up. And a lot of bodies can be hidden in The Pine Tree State's largest city. "Linda Hall is one of my favorite mystery-suspense writers. Night Watch is full of twists and turns. It grabbed my attention in the beginning and kept it all the way through the book. I especially loved her main character and can't wait to read the next book in her series." Patricia Rushford, author of Sins of the Mother

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

I write mystery novels and short stories. So far I have 20 in print - with more coming. My newest mystery series begins with Night Watch and introduces my new series character, boat captain Em Ridge.

Other series include the Corporal Roger Sheppard mysteries, The Teri Blake-Addison PI thrillers and the Fog Point mysteries, as well as a number of romantic suspense novels and short stories.

For information about sales, new releases, contests, plus a 'free' short story, I'd love for you to sign up for my newsletter: writerhall.com/newsletter

I grew up near the coast in New Jersey, and it was there that my love of the ocean was nurtured. I married a Canadian and have lived in Canada ever since - well, actually, I have lived in three countries: the U.S., Canada and for a short stint - Taiwan.

I hope you enjoy my books.

Reviews

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

***slightly spoilerish***
Honestly, this was almost a five star read for me. The writing is marvellous. The setting is sublime. The character's love of the ocean is palpable and the mystery, while not hard to figure out, was engaging.

There were only a few things that kept it from being five star worthy for me and most hinge on simplicity, by which I mean simple plot devices. For example, the whole premise of the mystery is that a girl is murdered on a boat, while out to sea. There were only five people on that boat, including the dead girl. Despite this minuscule pool of suspects, Em is never included as one. Instead she's permitted unprecedented access to case information and even asked to assist the detective. What? Why?

Here's another one, Em needs information about her husband's death in order to put things together, then, without being asked or any communication between them a medical examiner decides to start looking at the 18 month old closed case again and sending her information. What? Why would he do that? It's too simple a solution to a plot necessity.

The big one, though, the one that literally made me set the book aside and play with my social media for an hour, because I didn't want to have to read any more of it, was Em's blind spot regarding a certain character's trustworthiness. She meets up with him for the first time in 10 years, having crewed with him only once before (so they have no relationship, not even a nod as you pass friendship) and because he's nice to her, she starts having 'growing feelings' for him within a day.

But everything about him is suspicious and Em sees that, but she still trusts him in the face of OBVIOUS clues to his ill-intent and tells him everything, even going so far as to pass items to him that people are killing over. And there is no feasible reason she should, none. Nothing in this particular part of the story is believable. Every-time she ran to him and confided everything to him, I asked why and wanted to give up on her. In the end I just had to accept the story needed her to trust him to progress, but that's not a good enough reason.

There were also a few times things stretched a bit thin. For example, at one point Em finds a clue saying, "The key is somewhere only Em will know." But when you find out where it is, Em doesn't know of it and she only learns of it by coincidence. Hmmm

The book also has a cliché, 'Now that I have you at my mercy, let me tell you everything, answer all your questions and then conveniently botch killing you.' ending that doesn't feel all together natural. Plus, she doesn't so much solve the mystery as stumble into the answer.

Despite these complaints (and some thin characterisation), the book is very good. I enjoyed the fact that Em (with the exception of her interactions with one man) is smart and self-assured. I loved the setting. I liked the non-development of a non-relationship that slipped in at the end, but you can still sense is 'something.' They felt very broken by real in the last few pages.

All-in-all, I had a few complaints, but am calling this a general success. I'll be keeping my eyes on Mrs. Hall's work for sure.

[New Apple Literary Services · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was first given this e-book, I let it sit for a few days, not at all interested in getting started. Then, I began reading and realized the story takes place on a boat. At sea. I do not do boats. I do not do the sea. I stopped reading as quickly as I had begun. A few days passed and I decided to pick it back up. My apprehension at the setting proved to be even more ridiculous than it sounds now, having put it into writing. I was immediately hooked and found myself arguing with the clock, "I'll go to bed as soon as I get to a good stopping point..." The problem was, there are no good stopping points. There is always another question that needs answered. I found myself reading until my eyes hurt, getting up out of bed and finishing at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. It's that kind of book.

The story follows Em Ridge as she embarks on her first voyage as a boat delivery captain, bringing a fifty-two-foot luxury yacht from Maine to the Bahamas. When a crew member is found overboard, the mystery begins to unfold. All of the characters in the novel face an inner conflict that adds to the story's draw. Just when I felt I was on the correct track, a new character or insight had me second guessing my own predictions. The rich characters brought subtle elements of romance, emotional twists and constant turns to the path I found myself following through the winding mystery. The journey of discovery that Em embarks on begins with an overboard crew member but quickly spirals back to her late husband and secrets that are only now coming to light. Em is a sweet, down to Earth, lovable character that I quickly fell in love with. The way the author presents the mystery makes you feel as if you are solving it right along with Emmeline, sharing in her confusion while searching for answers.

The book is not very long; only 262 pages. 'Night Watch' moves along at a steady pace as well, making it a quick, light read. The element of mystery and intrigue are woven throughout from the very beginning which also played a big part in keeping me hooked. I finished the book in three sittings. As soon as I closed my e-reader, I found myself searching for the author's body of work looking for my next read. If you like a thrilling mystery, pick up Night Watch and you're sure to find yourself a Linda Hall fan.

(The reviewer received a free copy of 'Night Watch' in return for an unbiased review)

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I begin? I loved it! "Night Watch," aptly named, is well written and at a good pace, captivating, a page turner, hard to put down and I was completely absorbed. I was so "into" this mystery, this morning, as I finished reading it, I realized I was so cold. I had to get our little fireplace going and brew myself a pot of hot tea to warm up.

Emmeline Ridge(Em)has been hired by a billionaire to take his luxury sea vessel from Maine to the Bahamas. The cruise ends prematurely when a young woman falls overboard into the cold Atlantic waters.

I could almost feel the rocking of the vessel on the Atlantic Ocean. I could almost feel the wind blowing my hair in every direction and the spray from the salty water soaking my already shivering body. As I read - intently focused - I was with the crew as they searched for the missing woman.

I thought the mystery was presented in such a way, the author was handing me, the reader, a clue or a piece to a puzzle. I was to examine and place the clue or the puzzle piece in the proper position. She then would give me another piece to the puzzle or a clue, I would examine it and place it in the order until all the pieces to the mystery were given. The puzzle then being complete, I, the reader had a clear picture of the mystery and all was solved! While I read this mystery, I took notes and made lists of the clues that had been given! It was a great read!

I liked Em Ridge. She was a good Captain and well informed with tons of experience in the water and on sea faring vessels. I also liked Ben - the detective. I look forward to the next book in the series!

A sincere thanks to the author for e-mailing her book to me, in exchange for an honest review!

[C.P. Cabaniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading the next one. There were some things that annoyed me and thus it does not get a full five star rating. My full review can be found at: http://courtneysreads.blogspot.com/20...

[Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quickly, before I get to the synopsis, I wanted to say that it is painfully obvious that Mrs. Hall loves writing. You can tell by her well developed characters, rich plot, slow leads to a great climax, and an ending which leaves you satisfied, even though there is a heavy lead-in to a sequel. A lot of times authors, even well published authors, lead a sequel with such a heavy-handed cliffhanger that you feel more frustrated than curious to buy the next book. (I'm even guilty of this.) Mrs. Hall's work is well thought out. Everything is smooth. There is no rush to get from one point to the next. She is a story teller telling a story she enjoys to tell. Her characters are consistent and human. Her plot has no holes. Her pace is perfect (fast in the exciting parts, and slow where explanation is needed). She writes well because she's well practiced, and she loves it. I've been reading a lot of Indie work lately, and it was surprisingly refreshing to read something so well written that I wouldn't dare to criticize it. It's frustrating to read a story which is supposed to be based in reality, but you just know that the character couldn't possibly do what was being portrayed. Mrs. Hall obeys the laws of physics, and human capabilities and faults all while creating suspense. It sounds easy, but so much of the work I've been reviewing has fallen oh so short in this task. The characters act as people would act. There aren't any random uncharacteristic acts thrown in just to make the plot make sense. I guess that I've been reading so much amateur work lately that I've begun to associate Indie writers with amateur writers. Mrs. Hall is not an amateur. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you for the break from criticizing, Mrs. Hall.

Okay, on to the synopsis...

Em Ridge, the protagonist, is a new sea captain. Her first voyage, after receiving her captain's license, is to take a yacht from Maine to the Bahamas. Two of her trusted sailing friends accompany her on the voyage, along with the yacht owner's daughter, Kricket Patterson, and a man named Rob who is trying to build a sailing resume.

The story starts as Em is awoken from a restless sleep to find that Kricket has gone missing. In a yacht, that can mean only one thing... man overboard. After a frantic search, and fret over her freshly minted license, Em calls in the Mayday. Em had recently lost her husband in a kayaking incident. The pain was too fresh. She knew the pain Mr. Patterson was feeling at losing his daughter. She knew that there would be no excuse, ultimately Em was responsible for everyone on the yacht, and she had lost a passenger. Mr. Patterson demanded that Em find his daughter. The crew searches the seas and finds a bloated body which is hardly recognizable.

Upon returning to shore with the body, Em learns that the woman she thought was Kricket was an impostor. Someone with Kricket's passport was posing as her to ride on Em's boat... but why?

Right after Em is interrogated, the state medical examiner sees her, and asks if he can take her out to lunch to discuss some new findings he'd come across about her own husband's suspicious death. The incident is beyond bizarre. The young boys responsible for his death were being protected by the community and their church. Everybody sung their good behavior. In the end, the case was thrown out as a simple accident, and the names of the minors driving the boat which ran down Em's husband's kayak were withheld.

The new state medical examiner was dissatisfied over the investigation, and did some investigating of his own. He couldn't find any of the boys involved. The houses they were supposed to have lived in were occupied by other people. One house was occupied by an old couple who had lived in the house for years and had never had a young man live with them. Stranger still, the church which supported the boys didn't exist. The boat involved in the accident had a fire and was destroyed a few months after the case was closed. The whole incident wreaked of cover-up. Em, of course, was shocked.

From here, the thick, twisting plot begins. The two murders may be linked. Everyone is a suspect. Em has family-like neighbors with whom she always confides. I suspected them. The detective in charge of the case is suspicious. The crew members in the opening voyage are suspicious. I even thought that Mr. Patterson might be involved.

The most enjoyable part of the book, however, isn't the twists and turns, the constant wondering, second guessing, or suspenseful mystery, it's the character-based focus. Em is real. You can feel her frustration. You sense her hurt and feelings of betrayal. She is conflicted. She morns the loss of her husband, and wants to case resolved. She fights for her own life and wonders why she is even involved in all of this. The depth of emotion is rich and real. There is even a slight romantic side of the novel, but it's not the "soap opera" ridiculous romance. Em is conflicted because she's still morning her husband, and yet she is still alive and still feels.

Mrs. Hall has a great gift for pulling the reader into the story. The suspense and mystery does keep you hooked, but I was more drawn by the realism of the characters. Em is messy, emotional, but strong. Ben, the detective, is not the super cop most novels portray. There are no stereotypical behaviors. The friendship Em has with her neighbors is endearing. The whole human-connection is what made this story for me. I loved it.

[Diane Coto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine you’ve dreamed of being the Captain of a ship since your uncle showed you the ropes when you were just a kid. Now your dreams come true and you are the Captain of Blue Peace, a fifty-two-foot sailboat, on its way from New Brunswick, Canada to Hamilton, Bermuda. The owner had asked you to keep a special watch over his daughter, Katherine (Kricket) Patterson. Kricket made it clear she did not want to be there. Then, she went overboard … she was found dead. Emmeline (Em) Ridge made that difficult and heart wrenching call to Roy and Elaine Patterson. When the Coast Guard arrived, they had brought the Pattersons. But upon seeing the body, they were even more distressed as this was not their daughter. Even more bewildering, the boat became a crime scene. The girl had not drowned; she’d been poisoned.

Em was not immune to sorrow. She’d lost her husband, Jesse, nearly two years before in a boating accident, but Em had doubts about the ‘accident’ part. Before his death, she sensed things were not right between them … could he have been having an affair? Or, was there something even more shady going on? Em begins involving herself in the investigation and starts to see a pattern of sorts. Were Jesse and the girl’s death related? And where is Kricket?

This story took place near Portland, Maine in a fictional island off the coast known as Chalk Spit. The dialogue was realistic, and between Em and her friends it was comfortable and cozy. As a character, Em was not without her flaws of self-doubt, but she was a strong lead seeking justice and truth. There was a loose end. With good reason, Em was concerned for her repairman, Harvey, and her neighbor, Liam. However, that problem remained unanswered. To say more concerning them would reveal a spoiler. Linda Hall has written several novels. The saying is ‘write what you know’. I think she has taken this advice seriously. She knows about sailing as she and her husband are both Senior Navigators and enjoy their own 34’ sailboat called Mystery. I rated Night Watch at 3.5 out of 5.

[S.A. Molteni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nightwatch by Linda Hall is a superbly written mystery novel with a nautical theme and one that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the clues to the mystery are revealed.

Em Ridge is the main character and the captain of a luxury yacht as it is being transferred from Maine to the Bahamas. Early on in the voyage, the yacht owner's daughter who has tagged along on the trip, is found dead. This sends Em reeling and she starts to question her abilities as a captain. Not only did someone die on the trip, but the girl that was the yacht owner's daughter is identified as another woman and is not related to the owner of the yacht.

Throughout the story, crew members are hiding facts and evidence and it is up to Em and the Portland, Maine police to find out who is responsible for the woman's death. In the middle of the investigation, Em is confronted with information from her past which could bring to light who killed her husband in a kayaking/boating accident years earlier. Could the two deaths be related? As the book progresses and you think you have an idea of what is really happening, new information is given and you are back to guessing who the killer is.

I absolutely loved Em Ridge - as a woman, as a captain and as the main character of this wonderful mystery. Her character was very well developed and you could not help but like her and root for her.

It is very evident that the author has captained vessels before and the minute details of this show through in the sights, sounds and descriptions as the story unfolds before you. I felt as if I were there on the yacht with Em and the crew.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery, as Nightwatch certainly is that. Looking forward to more from this very talented author and more from Em Ridge as she develops into a seasoned captain.

[Rosie Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night Watch is a mystery set in Maine. It has a sailing theme and opens with a long dream scene in which Em Ridge dreams about her dead husband. It's still painful for her to remember him, but at the moment she's Captain Ridge of Blue Peace a luxury sailboat which she is taking to Bermuda for it's owner.

On board ship she's woken to the news that Kricket, the owner's daughter has gone overboard. Scrambling to find her they finally haul out her dead body from the cold sea. They are forced to head into the mainland and are met by the coastguard and Officer Ben Dunlinson who begins an investigation into the girl's death.

The crew are taken for questioning and afterwards Em meets Dr Meyer who was a coroner in the investigation of her husband Jesse's death. He talks about some queries he had with the case and offers to do some more digging. The mystery continues and Em and her crew find themselves tangled in a complicated web of treachery.

This is a well paced mystery with a great setting.

[Margaret Millmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Em Ridge is a woman of the sea and after the death of her husband, she knows she must put her life back on track. She pursues her captain’s license and is now taking her maiden voyage under her new title. Her assignment is to relocate a luxury yacht from the East Coast to its new home in the Bahamas, but something goes terribly wrong and the mystery begins.

It’s clear that the author has vast experience in the sailing world, but she doesn’t overwhelm you with details and technical information. The author paints a vivid picture of life on the sea and in Maine, where the main story takes place. She does a great job of building the characters and giving them life. The story itself is creative and imaginative and was a very good mystery that kept me interested from beginning to end.

I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This book was provided to me for free for an honest and unbiased review (see all our reviews at http://www.bookexplosions.com/)

[Deb Elkink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! The cover, to begin with, is creepily beautiful and encapsulates a feeling of eery mystery that Hall maintains throughout the novel in written scenes as vivid as any picture. I really felt the sea, tasted its crusty salt, bent against its wind--the book engaged my prairie-girl sensibilities so I just knew what it was like to sail (which I've done only once in real life). The voice of the viewpoint character, Em Ridge, telling us her story was delightfully casual, as though she were chatting with me over a cuppa, and yet the plot was anything but domestically banal! Hall incorporated love and ocean storms, hints of TREASURE ISLAND replete with map, great foreshadowing and tension building, and even a horrible encounter with spiders that had me scratching at my own creeped-out flesh. Can't wait to read the next in this series!

[Kate Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Night Watch in two days, and it’s hard to say if the wonderful twists and turns in the multi-layered mystery plot kept me glued to the book or the rich, fascinating characters. I liked the main character, Em. It felt like she was someone I knew. And her neighbors! I can’t wait to meet up with them again in the next book. I also enjoyed how Hall wove her knowledge of sailing into the plot. But what I loved about Night Watch was how beautifully Hall portrayed Em’s love for her deceased husband. Truly spellbinding.

[Marla Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Watch is an exciting read right from the start. Em Ridge, captaining a boat for its owner, discovers that the owners daughter has disappeared from the boat during the night. The plot gears up even more as she discovers a bizarre tie between the girl's disappearance and her husband, who was killed in a boating accident. Lots of twists and turns here in this satisfying read.

[Barbara Phinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! It was really tense, as Linda Hall has returned to straight mystery. But romance readers, don't pass this one by. The main character, Em Ridge, is dealing with some pretty emotional issues. Having just lost her husband, Em is trying to re-establish her life again, but soon discovers that the life she lived before wasn't as she thought. Suspenseful, emotional, gripping.

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Batten down the hatches and get ready to ride out this wonderful mystery that is impossible to put down. In fact, I finished the book in the middle of the night. Lots of action and everybody looks guilty. Good job, Ms. Hall.

[Janice Dick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently sought out Linda Hall’s 2014 novel, Night Watch, and purchased a digital copy. I had read more than half a dozen of Linda’s books through the years, but it had been a while since I checked her list of publications. Night Watch grabbed me from the first page.

This first volume of the Em Ridge Mystery series captivated me with a wide cast of varied and flawed characters, a most realistic setting, such natural dialogue that I forgot I was reading, and a story filled with tension and hope.

Reasons for my immediate attachment to the story:
* The characters are strong, individual, and all of them have secrets
* The main character, although strong and self-sufficient, also has deep needs
* Tension is high in every scene, on every page, throughout the story
* With every answer comes another question…or two…or three
* The setting is credible because of the sailing experience of the author. I know this, but if I didn’t, I’d say she’d done a boatload of research, which is still true, I’m sure
* Because of the varied characters, there’s someone for every reader to identify with
* This is a multi-faceted novel, with important themes flowing throughout

I was especially concerned for the main character, Em. Full name and title: Captain Emmeline Ridge. She is a thirty-something ship captain, who currently makes her living ferrying boats from one place to another, and she is very good at it. However, when events and people conspire against her, she must find out who is after her and why.

Em misses her husband, Jesse, who was killed in a boat accident. She is more or less estranged from her family, but her neighbors are colorful and supportive. It gave me a sense of goodness and hope in the midst of evil and trauma. So many others were not who they seemed. Was her husband one of those?

For her own sake, Em needs to know what terrible secret her husband carried at the time of his death. But will her investigation cost her more than she bargained for?

I must have more of Em Ridge.

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Night Watch, Linda Hall launches a new series of nautical mysteries set on the coast of Maine.

Long time sailor but newly licensed captain, Emmaline (Em) Ridge is hired to deliver a luxury fifty-foot sailboat from New Brunswick, Canada to Bermuda for provisioning, and then on to Nassau in the Bahamas. For Em, captaining the Blue Peace is a dream come true. It is also a new start in life after her husband's death two years earlier, though she is still grieving. With great anticipation, she sets sail with three crew members and Kricket, the owner's daughter. A couple of days into the voyage, the dream turns into a nightmare when Kricket goes overboard and drowns during the night watch, and the Blue Peace is escorted by the Coast Guard to Portland, where the death will be investigated.

Both the character development and the plot of this mystery are masterfully crafted. Hall populates her story with complex characters who possess both strengths and weaknesses. They are characters for whom the past intersects the present, and are not necessarily who they seem to be, from the crew member who signed on at the last moment, to the handsome captain who steps forward to offer Em support, to her eccentric neighbors, and even to her late husband. The plot twists in surprising ways, yet each turn emerges from the virtues and foibles of the characters.

For a landlubber like me, Hall offers a step into the world afloat, as well as an engaging, fast-paced mystery. I could almost smell the salt air as I turned the pages and followed Em along the coast and out to the islands, trying to unravel the mystery. Night Watch inaugurates what is sure to be a captivating new series. I look forward to being aboard Em's next voyage.

by Barbara Heming
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boat delivery captain Emmeline (Em) Ridge has been hired by billionaire Roy Patterson to take his yacht from Maine to the Bahamas. Em hasn’t had her Coast Guard license that long, and this will be her first major delivery. Em must also bring Patterson’s daughter Kricket along, something Kricket isn’t thrilled to do. When Kricket goes overboard in the middle of the night, Em is horrified, and faced with the prospect that her career is over. The discovery that Kricket’s death wasn’t accidental triggers a series of twists and turns that result in a dangerous situation for Em.

Night Watch is the first installment in this entertaining amateur sleuth mystery, and it’s a winner. The opening chapters were action-packed and engaging. Em is interesting, realistic, brave, and working at a job rarely tackled by mystery authors. You don’t have to read author Linda Hall’s bio to know that she has an extensive sailing background. The terminology, sailing details, and references to weather patterns, for instance, demonstrate the author’s knowledge, adding authenticity to the story. In fact, those details made me feel that I was right there with them. The escalating tension and suspense were well done.

Like most brave and resourceful amateur sleuths, Em takes chances near the end of the book that had me holding my breath and thinking, No, don’t do that! Given what she learns as the story progresses, Em’s also a bit naïve when it comes to men. But amateur sleuths make mistakes. That partly why their predicaments have readers on the edge of their seat. Give this one a try, it’s an entertaining, worthwhile read.

[Wall-to-wall books - wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mystery! Got my attention right away and kept it. This was one of those books that had a spiderwebby plot that went in different directions and had you guessing all the way through. I kept trying to figure it out and kept getting little clues only to find out that I was wrong again. There was one character though, I won't ruin it for you, but I knew they had something to do with it - I knew they were bad and I was right! Although I never did have the whole thing figured out.

I am not a boat person, but I do love the beach, I love Maine, I love islands and so I loved all the settings in this book. Linda did a wonderful job taking us there and making us feel right at home on the island and on the boats.

Excellent character development. It took me the whole book to really fall in love with Em. In the beginning, I liked her and then towards the middle I wasn't really sure I liked her that much but then the last half I loved her! LOL And to be honest - I really liked the fact that she wasn't a pushover and didn't win my heart right away. She held her self back a little and was more complex so it was a growing relationship and those kinds of relationships are the ones that last. I'm glad it took me a while to love her.

Check out the full review on my blog - http://wall-to-wall-books.blogspot.co...

[Catherine A Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good Read, So Good I Am Bothered By The False Charges In The One and Two Star Reviews.

I am not normally a fan of mysteries, unless they are romantic mystery or suspense. However, a friend recommended I give one Ms. Halls books. I am so glad she did. This storyline was very intriguing, and I was impressed at the depth of the plot. The author also clearly did her research, nothing struck me as not being authentic. This book, in my opinion, IS a Christian read. Frankly, I was appalled at the inaccuracy of the bad reviews. There was precisely one curse word, Damn, and then a couple of scenes later the main character, Captain Emily tells her crew that she will not tolerate profanity. One word. That's it. In my opinion, it is wrong and just plain mean for any reviewer to mislead other readers as to the level of profanity in a book. That is not true Christian behavior. I may get admonished from Amazon for pointing my fingers at what I consider unfair behavior, but frankly, I don't care.
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[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable mystery featuring a protagonist with an unusual occupation – she's a boat delivery captain. As a result, there is lots of interesting detail about boats and sailing. The novel starts with an interesting death - a woman goes overboard, then they find out she’s not who she says she is, and then they find out she was already dead.

[Curtis Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Sailing Mystery

It is hard to find a good fiction sailing story that is realistic in terms of the sailing aspects. The author is clearly a sailor, and that comes across in the novel with accurate descriptions of the technical aspects of sailing and boats. On top of that, the mystery is engaging as well. I am looking forward to the second book in the series.

[Tracey Lampley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Watch delivers on the mystery. Without giving away the plot, I noticed the author places a premium on the character to engross the reader into the story. All is not what it seems. I rate this book a five-star read!

[THal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the suspense and mystery in this book.