Dead Slow Ahead

Casey Jones #2

by Stella Whitelaw

A Casey Jones Cruise Ship Mystery - Cruise Entertainments Director Casey Jones is back on board the Countess Georgina for the Mediterranean cruise. She has a new deputy the charming Lee Williams and a fresh troupe of entertainers. However, things on board dont always run smoothly, and with a disgruntled guest reporting a missing couture Chanel gown, and items going missing from the ship boutique, Casey senses this cruise is not going to be all calm . . .

Genres: Mystery

198 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Stella Whitelaw is a professional writer and journalist, with over 30 novels published as well as nearly 250 short stories in national women's magazines. She is Secretary of the Parliamentary Press Gallery at the House of Commons and lives in Surrey with six beautiful cats who have provided the inspiration for her many cat books. Pollution-induced asthma has sent her walking the Sussex coast and South Downs for fresh air for healing views.

Series:
* Jordan Lacey
* Casey Jones Cruise Ship Mystery

Reviews

[Bonnye Reed]

MyNextRead

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertainment director Casey Jones is off on another cruise, this time to the Mediterranean, along with handsome doctor Sam and smitten, but probably married, security director Richard. Casey isn't interested in romance or mystery, but mystery sees determined to find her. First difficult, well-dressed and apparently wealthy Ms Ember encounters a series of problems that look like persecution. Then one of the featured singers disappears. And then one of the passengers is murdered. Enter flown-in Scotland Yard, in the person of DCI Bruce Everton, who also finds Casey very attractive. The light-hearted voice of narrator Casey makes up for some of the gaps in the plot.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery, murder and travel to wonderful locations - what’s not to like about this book?

Great characters, including the feisty female protagonist, combined with an intriguing mystery and a shipboard murder, make for an excellent story. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the various places the cruise ship docked. The book was well-written with touches of humour and genuine interactions between the different personalities that made the storyline believable and the characters, and the situations they find themselves in, totally relatable.

[Donald Oates · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much clothing info

This book must have been written for women aged over 70. All the men are handsome. Acres of space are given to what clothes are being worn, yet most of the working day is covered by glib phrases such as "I spent the day chatting to passengers". The boat must be very small if she keeps meeting the same people, but no mention of any crew, other than the captain. Was that because she didn't think they fancied her? A bizarre story structure, with a sudden end. Fortunately it was short.

[Jan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay read. I didn't read the first in the series, so maybe I lost a little. I felt that the ending was abrubt.

[Pamela Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, easy to read, murder and mystery onboard a cruise ship in the Medite

Easy to read and fast paced. Mystery, murder, and mayhem on a cruise ship .... oh what fun!

[Sara Eames · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A reasonable cosy mystery but a bit slow in places.

[Mrs Susan J Bociek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow starter

A mix between a romance......well, a nearly romance.....and a murder mystery. Good holiday reading. It took me a while to get through it, but that was only because it wasn't 'gripping'.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caution: *Minor spoiler* ahead

I enjoyed this book. Not quite as much as the previous ones, but I must admit that it's because of the *spoiler part* cliffhanger at the end.

Yes, it was the magnificent storyline of a cruise, but I was a little disapointeed by the diversity of this book compared to others. It seemed like the ending was only put in the way it was because of the low diversity. However, it did leave me a little surprised at the twist and turns; I really did know those were going to happen, so kudos to the author. Speaking of which, why isn't Stella Whitelaw more recognized? All her books that I have read have had great writing and a fantastic storyline and I look forward to reading more of them.

Bottome line: Totally recommended. (Of course, read the first one before this or you will be confused.)

[Lulu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library when I was searching for a good deck book to read on a cruise. It took some getting used to the authors writing style, but then I rather enjoyed her Casey Jones character who is the cruise ship entertainment director. I worked in promotions at a casino for many years, which is a similar job in many respects, so I could relate to her. They followed a Mediterranean itinerary that was fabulous, Portugal, Gibraltar, Spain, France, Italy, Corsica, Elba...all the ports of call I want to go to! But the mystery and the plot of the book were a bit disconcerting. The ending was rather abrupt, and on the last page I was left wondering if I'd missed something. Mysteries are usually tied up nice and neat by the end. This one was not.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a light, enjoyable mystery, told with a good dose of cheeky British humor. The cruise ship setting opens up a lot of possibilities -- too many, as it turns out; Whitelaw really packs this one full of red herrings. At a certain point it became a bit too much. But all the loose ends are eventually tied up, even though not as tidily as one would hope.

[Torie Lynn]

Brit author

[Shiela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the first one in the series, the mystery aspect to this one was weak but the book sure did make me want to take a cruise!