Terns of Endearment by Donna Andrews - 4 stars

[annapi]

Meg and her whole family embark on a cruise to Bermuda, on which her grandfather is a featured guest engaged to deliver a series of shipboard lectures on wildlife and conservation. On the second day a passenger disappears leaving a suicide note, and then the ship suddenly develops engine trouble and stops in the middle of the ocean. The captain appears to have a drinking problem, and the harried first mate is elusive when they try to find answers as their ordeal stretches out.

I enjoyed this one more than most of the series - at first I was skeptical about such a drastic change in setting and rolling my eyes a bit at the contrivance of getting the whole family on a cruise at the same time, but once you accept that and go with the flow, the mystery is interesting, and the way Meg and her crew take over the ship can't help but make me smile and cheer for them. This volume may not have had as much deliberate humor injected into it, but I just thoroughly enjoyed Meg's problem solving capabilities and how they rally all the passengers. This is simply one of my favorite cozy series!

[Joi]

I've seen quite a bit of hype around The Floating Feldmans also set on a cruise, but more fluff and less mystery. Sounds like a good cruise read!