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Hannah Ives Mystery #12
Dark Passage
Super-sleuth Hannah Ives must conjure up all her detective skills when her niece does a vanishing act on a family cruise.
Hannah, her sisters and fourteen-year-old niece Julie set sail from Baltimore on a bonding cruise, and have a dramatic first night when Pia Fanucci, a bubbly bartender magician’s assistant whom Hannah befriends, narrowly escapes injury during an illusion. But while Pia may make light of the incident, it’s no laughing matter when Julie suddenly disappears. Has she gone overboard, or is she injured somewhere on the enormous ship?
To make matters worse, Hannah meets David Warren, a grieving father whose twenty-two-year-old daughter vanished without trace from an earlier cruise. With claims of a proper investigation proving to be an illusion too far, Hannah teams up with David and Pia in desperation. Can they see through the ship’s smoke and mirrors to reveal the identity of a dangerous sea-faring predator?
Hannah, her sisters and fourteen-year-old niece Julie set sail from Baltimore on a bonding cruise, and have a dramatic first night when Pia Fanucci, a bubbly bartender magician’s assistant whom Hannah befriends, narrowly escapes injury during an illusion. But while Pia may make light of the incident, it’s no laughing matter when Julie suddenly disappears. Has she gone overboard, or is she injured somewhere on the enormous ship?
To make matters worse, Hannah meets David Warren, a grieving father whose twenty-two-year-old daughter vanished without trace from an earlier cruise. With claims of a proper investigation proving to be an illusion too far, Hannah teams up with David and Pia in desperation. Can they see through the ship’s smoke and mirrors to reveal the identity of a dangerous sea-faring predator?
- GenresMystery
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Marcia Talley
81 books56 followersMarcia Talley is the Agatha and Anthony award-winning author of DEAD MAN DANCING and six previous mysteries featuring amateur sleuth, Hannah Ives who, like the author, is a breast cancer survivor.
Marcia is author/editor of two star-studded collaborative novels, NAKED CAME THE PHOENIX and ID KILL FOR THAT set in a fashionable health spa and an exclusive gated community, respectively. Her short stories appear in more than a dozen collections including With Love, Marjorie Ann and Safety First, both Agatha award nominees, and the multi-award-winning Too Many Cooks, a humorous retelling of Shakespeares Macbeth from the viewpoint of the three witches. A recent story, Driven to Distraction won the Agatha Award, was nominated for an Anthony, and was reprinted in THE DANGEROUS BRIDE AND 21 OF THE YEARS FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES.
Marcia is immediate past president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, serves as Secretary for Sisters in Crime National, and is on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. She divides her time between Annapolis, Maryland and an antique sailboat in the Bahamas.
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Marcia is author/editor of two star-studded collaborative novels, NAKED CAME THE PHOENIX and ID KILL FOR THAT set in a fashionable health spa and an exclusive gated community, respectively. Her short stories appear in more than a dozen collections including With Love, Marjorie Ann and Safety First, both Agatha award nominees, and the multi-award-winning Too Many Cooks, a humorous retelling of Shakespeares Macbeth from the viewpoint of the three witches. A recent story, Driven to Distraction won the Agatha Award, was nominated for an Anthony, and was reprinted in THE DANGEROUS BRIDE AND 21 OF THE YEARS FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES.
Marcia is immediate past president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, serves as Secretary for Sisters in Crime National, and is on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. She divides her time between Annapolis, Maryland and an antique sailboat in the Bahamas.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 28, 2013
In the interest of fair play, let me say this first---I know Marcia Talley although I haven't seen her in years. She used to come to my bookstore for events and I have been a fan of her books for a long time. So, yes, I can't help but be a little bit biased, but I believe you'll find this a balanced review.
Hannah Ives has grown a lot over the years. We walked along beside her after she survived breast cancer but lost her job and discovered that she has a talent for solving crimes. Since then, Hannah has gotten family members and friends---even herself---out of one criminal crisis or another and branched out into helping others, all the while doing her sleuthing quietly and with a lot of thought. She'll need all her experience and knowledge of human nature to get to the bottom of a cold case while she and her sisters are on a cruise. Once Julie, her 14-year-old niece, on the cruise with her mom and aunts, becomes a victim, Hannah is even more determined to ferret out the killer.
The feeling that jumped out at me about this story, almost from the beginning, is comfort, in an odd sort of way. Partly, that's because I've been on cruises so the setting was very familiar. The sisterly bonding thing affected me, too, although I have no sisters; as my daughters have become mature women, I've found that we have a similar kind of bond and I enjoyed seeing Hannah, Ruth and Georgina spending some much-needed time together without the distractions of husbands and homes and jobs.
As for the sleuthing, I kind of think this is not Ms. Talley's strongest entry in the series largely because Hannah was not quite as efficient as she usually is and she was actually wrong about a few things, jumping to some very quick and inaccurate conclusions while I had it pegged fairly early. On the other hand, this is a nice riff on the locked room mystery trope and I did thoroughly enjoy myself. Dark Passage is a fun vacation read for fans of suspense with a lot of wit and red herrings and I'm already anticipating Hannah's next adventure in crime.
One last thing---as a former and, hopefully, future cruiser, I really appreciated the chapter-heading notes about security and safety on these ships. they're worthwhile for anyone planning a trip on the high seas.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2013.
Hannah Ives has grown a lot over the years. We walked along beside her after she survived breast cancer but lost her job and discovered that she has a talent for solving crimes. Since then, Hannah has gotten family members and friends---even herself---out of one criminal crisis or another and branched out into helping others, all the while doing her sleuthing quietly and with a lot of thought. She'll need all her experience and knowledge of human nature to get to the bottom of a cold case while she and her sisters are on a cruise. Once Julie, her 14-year-old niece, on the cruise with her mom and aunts, becomes a victim, Hannah is even more determined to ferret out the killer.
The feeling that jumped out at me about this story, almost from the beginning, is comfort, in an odd sort of way. Partly, that's because I've been on cruises so the setting was very familiar. The sisterly bonding thing affected me, too, although I have no sisters; as my daughters have become mature women, I've found that we have a similar kind of bond and I enjoyed seeing Hannah, Ruth and Georgina spending some much-needed time together without the distractions of husbands and homes and jobs.
As for the sleuthing, I kind of think this is not Ms. Talley's strongest entry in the series largely because Hannah was not quite as efficient as she usually is and she was actually wrong about a few things, jumping to some very quick and inaccurate conclusions while I had it pegged fairly early. On the other hand, this is a nice riff on the locked room mystery trope and I did thoroughly enjoy myself. Dark Passage is a fun vacation read for fans of suspense with a lot of wit and red herrings and I'm already anticipating Hannah's next adventure in crime.
One last thing---as a former and, hopefully, future cruiser, I really appreciated the chapter-heading notes about security and safety on these ships. they're worthwhile for anyone planning a trip on the high seas.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2013.
July 18, 2017
I read more than 1/3 of this book before I felt anything happened. It felt mundane and the characters weren't particularly interesting. I also felt that the epigraphs weren't very useful. And then, there were two segments that were quite suspenseful, including the dramatic climax of the book. Talley can write suspense really well. I was glad to have read the book for those segments.
September 9, 2024
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. It is fairly generic, the characters tend to be fairly shallow, and it felt like a lot of filler, describing outfits and meals in exhausting detail, but I feel a target audience comes for that so who am I. The action was well written and the mystery was compelling.
I am always bothered when the exploitation of women and children is exploited as a plot twist, but I know that's just my personal viewpoint.
I did feel the resolution of the mystery was a little contrived, but I read it and I understood it and that's better than some.
I am always bothered when the exploitation of women and children is exploited as a plot twist, but I know that's just my personal viewpoint.
I did feel the resolution of the mystery was a little contrived, but I read it and I understood it and that's better than some.
October 22, 2013
Hannah Ives, along with her sisters Ruth and Georgina, and Georgina’s teenaged daughter Julie, book a cruise from Baltimore to Bermuda for some sisterly bonding. However, what begins as a fun and exciting trip turns perilous when Hannah and her family learn there is a sinister side lurking behind the happy exterior of the cruise ship.
I really enjoyed reading this book! The reader is taken on an exhilarating ride, right along with Hannah, learning about cruises and getting caught up in the excitement of a fun trip. I could clearly picture the setting from the wonderful descriptions of the sights and sounds on the cruise ship. Then, the atmosphere grows dark and foreboding, which prepares the reader for heartache when the cruise takes a turn for the worse.
Throughout the book, the dialogue sparkles. The conversations between the three sisters, and especially between Hannah and Ruth, is extremely realistic with the typical teasing, sarcasm, gossiping, and laughing you would expect between close family members. Although it fits with their characters, I could have lived without Hannah spouting French phrases and Ruth quoting Shakespeare, but luckily this occurred mostly at the beginning of the book and didn’t end up a distraction.
When Hannah learns not everything is as it appears on the ship, she teams up with one of her fellow passengers to find out what is going on with the disappearance of young girls from cruise ships. There are a lot of red herrings thrown in to keep the story interesting and the ending doesn’t disappoint. Hannah’s sleuthing is interesting and what she learns is scary, because it is so realistic and very believable. Just as I wouldn’t want to read a Robin Cook thriller during a stay in the hospital, I wouldn’t want to pack this book on a cruise!
“Dark Passage” is an excellent book and the best of this series. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the others, because this story stands along even if you haven’t read the prior books.
I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Severn House, in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed reading this book! The reader is taken on an exhilarating ride, right along with Hannah, learning about cruises and getting caught up in the excitement of a fun trip. I could clearly picture the setting from the wonderful descriptions of the sights and sounds on the cruise ship. Then, the atmosphere grows dark and foreboding, which prepares the reader for heartache when the cruise takes a turn for the worse.
Throughout the book, the dialogue sparkles. The conversations between the three sisters, and especially between Hannah and Ruth, is extremely realistic with the typical teasing, sarcasm, gossiping, and laughing you would expect between close family members. Although it fits with their characters, I could have lived without Hannah spouting French phrases and Ruth quoting Shakespeare, but luckily this occurred mostly at the beginning of the book and didn’t end up a distraction.
When Hannah learns not everything is as it appears on the ship, she teams up with one of her fellow passengers to find out what is going on with the disappearance of young girls from cruise ships. There are a lot of red herrings thrown in to keep the story interesting and the ending doesn’t disappoint. Hannah’s sleuthing is interesting and what she learns is scary, because it is so realistic and very believable. Just as I wouldn’t want to read a Robin Cook thriller during a stay in the hospital, I wouldn’t want to pack this book on a cruise!
“Dark Passage” is an excellent book and the best of this series. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the others, because this story stands along even if you haven’t read the prior books.
I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Severn House, in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2014
The latest Hannah Ives book takes place aboard a cruise ship instead of Annapolis as Hannah, her two sisters, and niece head out for relaxing Caribbean vacation. Instead, their trip turns into a mystery involving another passenger who is searching for answers about his daughter's death on a previous trip on the same cruise line. He has met resistance from the cruise line but is undeterred in his quest. Hannah joins forces with the grieving father to help his investigation and enlists a sympathetic employee who knew the man's daughter. When Hannah's teenaged niece Julie is attacked, the team realizes the same perpetrator could be involved and is targeting young girls. Several suspects emerge and the team sets out to track down the attacker before he can strike again and before they reach their final port. The well-written story moves along nicely and made me even more grateful for the terrific cruise I took last year! :)
October 16, 2013
The latest in the Hannah Ives series, Dark Passage is set on a cruise liner. Hannah, her two sisters and a niece set sail from Baltimore headed for Bermuda. As always, Ms Talley interjects much local color, which I love about the series, along with well-researched facts to fashion a satisfying escape for the reader. I also appreciate her numerous nods to other writers of popular novels included this time around. May Ms Talley continue to conjure up more adventures for Hannah!
will-not-read
June 17, 2014I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12733447
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12733447
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews