Mostly Murders

Book 1 in the River Cruise Cozies series.

Adelle is retired and bored, so when her friend asks her for help, she agrees to cover for her as a tour host for a small group of women going on a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. She is looking forward to meeting new people, but her little tour group isn’t in any way as peaceful and easy to deal with as she had hoped. Pleasing a group of four very different people with very different personalities is difficult enough under normal circumstances, but when a set of very expensive diamond jewellery is stolen from a guest on the cruise, suspicion and rumours make the task even more complicated.

A cute, cosy mystery set in Europe. I enjoyed the descriptions of sights and attractions all along the River Danube, and the light-hearted banter between the two sisters Tilly and Debbie who are a part of Adelle’s travel group. But the best thing about this cosy is its subtle message of not jumping to conclusions and not judging others too quickly without knowing what their situation is. When we judge and divide people, we create a hostile, unproductive environment around us, but when we work together, our differences become strengths that help us reach our goals.

Diamonds on the Danube is a quick and easy-to-read novella with no violence or deaths, and a story of women coming together, learning to appreciate each other’s quirks and differences, and the value of friendship, empathy and cooperation.

Cosy mystery – Contemporary – Travel