Death on the Danube

Esther Brookstone Art Detective Series #3

by Steven M. Moore

Esther Brookstone, ex-MI6 agent in East Berlin in the Cold War and ex-Scotland Yard Inspector in the Art and Antiques Division, is on her honeymoon with Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden. Their idyllic cruise down the Danube is interrupted when a reclusive and mysterious passenger is murdered.***Why was the victim alone on that riverboat filled with couples, in a stateroom by himself? And who killed him? Esther and Bastiann were often called Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot by wags at the Yard, and this addition to the series might remind readers of Christie’s Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express, but this mystery/thriller is very much a story set in the twenty-first century. So tour the Danube with Esther and Bastiann…and enjoy the ride!***Steven M. Moore was born in California and has lived in various parts of the US and Colombia, South America. His travels around Europe, South America, and the US, for work or pleasure, taught him a lot about the human condition and our wonderful human diversity, a learning process that started during his childhood in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Steve writes sci-fi, mystery, and thriller novels. For more details, visit him at his website Steve is a member of International Thriller Writers.

372 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2020

About the author

Hi there. First a reader, but also an author, yet I'll be brief: I'm a native Californian, former Colombian resident, and now living in the Northeast. For more bio info, please see my author profile and/or website.
Books are my life right now. While I am a full-time writer, I read a lot, and not just in the genres I write in. Those are mystery, thriller, and sci-fi, by the way...and you'll find them in short stories, novellas, and novels. My latest novels are Rembrandt's Angel (Penmore Press), Goin' the Extra Mile (Carrick Publishing), and The Last Humans (Black Opal Books)--yeah, I'm now a mongrel, although I was never 100% DIY before either.
While I don't give away free novels (they're sometimes on sale at Smashwords for my email newsletter subscribers), I give away my short fiction. So does my collaborator A. B. Carolan. See my blog categories "Steve's Shorts," "ABC Shorts," and my list of PDFs free for the asking on my webpage "Free Stuff & Contests" at my website.
I'm a member of International Thriller Writers.
Around the world and to the stars!
In libris libertas!

Reviews

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book with really too many flaws.
1) It is part of a series and you can feel it. In practice the poor reader who comes across it by chance has a lot of difficulty in understanding the psychology of the main characters. Usually, under these conditions, I abandon the book. This time I went ahead, but because of the defect...
2) Set a few years in the future, but probably written when the COVID pandemic had not yet broken out, the liquid as it happened and resolved without consequences, a gimmick that I find very stupid.
3) There are a couple of subplots, like the one of the painting to be evaluated and its theft, that should fill the plot, but they seem to be put there to have something to stick to in the next episodes of the series.
Since I had arrived at a good point, I arrived at the end, which disappointed me at least as much as the rest.
The spot for the countries of Lower Bavaria and Austria that the river cruise touches isn't particularly interesting either, since it looks like a copy and paste from Wikipedia.

[Debra Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun cruise on the Danube for readers

Esther and Bastiann take a honeymoon cruise on the Danube and of course nothing goes as planned when a murder interrupts their cruise.

I enjoyed the book and all of the books in this series. I recommend it for murder mystery fans, especially, but it also contains some fun facts.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

They were on their honeymoon when a man is killed. He was a single on a cruise with couples. Why was he there alone? Who is he? Who would have killed him? Will they be able to find out? See how they get on

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Louise Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent holiday read which will keep you entertained. The writing style was not really to my taste as it was a little simple, but it is an interesting story with many good points.

[John Purvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steven M. Moore http://stevenmmoore.com is the author of more than two dozen novels. Death on the Danube was published in 2020 and this is the third novel in his Esther Brookstone Art Detective series. It is the 50th book I completed reading in 2023.

I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R. The primary character is Esther Brookstone.

She was an MI-6 agent in East Berlin, then Brookstone joined Scotland Yard. There she rose to Inspector in the Art and Antiquities Branch. Now in her mid-sixties, she is on a honeymoon cruise with her new husband, Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden.

The cruise is disrupted by the discovery of a murdered passenger. The murdered man is a mystery to the passengers and crew. More questions arise when a couple on the cruise dies in an odd accident. Have Brookstone and her husband taken an unlucky cruise, or is there something more suspicious going on? Is it somehow tied to her past with MI-6?

I enjoyed the 8+ hours I spent reading this 374-page mystery. I partially chose this novel because I have been on and enjoyed a Danube cruise. Unfortunately, the plot wanders around, and the story feels choppy. Nor am I impressed with the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).