Dead Calm on the Danube

A River Cruise Cozy Mystery

When the Danube runs low, secrets rise. On a picture-perfect river cruise out of Vienna, a celebrated style icon “slips” beneath a low bridge - and four lifelong friends know a tidy accident when they see one. Dead Calm on the Danube launches the River Queens Mysteries, a witty, clue-driven cozy series where senior sleuths, European travel, and a locked-circle puzzle collide.

Meet the River Queens: retired ER nurse Nell (sharp eye, steadier hands), Birdie (numbers whisperer), Ruthie (charm with steel trim), and Glo (housekeeping ninja with a saintly smile). When the ship’s security officer and a watchful travel blogger hint at a pattern of “fainting spells” on other cruises, the Queens follow a breadcrumb trail from Vienna to Bratislava, the Wachau Valley and Melk Abbey, all the way to rainy Regensburg - collecting clues between dance halls, abbey corridors, and a sundeck that must go silent for low bridges.

With a charming “companion” who’s a little too helpful, a lift that pauses at the worst possible moments, and receipts, patches, and aliases that refuse to line up, the Queens assemble the kind of fair-play solution cozy readers crave. Expect zero gore, zero graphic content, and maximum banter, brain, and heart.

Perfect for readers who love:

• Cozy mystery & amateur sleuth series with smart, mature protagonists
• Travel mysteries set on a river cruise (Danube, Vienna, Bratislava, Melk, Regensburg)
• Closed-circle/locked-room vibes aboard ship
• Friendship-forward stories, witty dialogue, and satisfying twists
• Clean reads - no gratuitous violence, no explicit language

What you’ll get inside:

• A fresh river cruise cozy mystery that doubles as a European mini-escape
• Senior-sleuth teamwork with real skills (medicine, logistics, numbers, hospitality)
• Clues you can track - patch backing, lift timing, forged logs, and a name that keeps surfacing: Voss
• A warm, humorous tone and an ending that lands

Series launch: Each River Queens book explores a new European river itinerary with a complete, stand-alone mystery. Start here on the Danube - and watch for the next adventure on the Rhine.

Needs editing

Full disclosure. I am at the point where I can't continue. I'm not saying this is true, but the story has an ai written feel. Scenes are repeated or restarted. I made it to a scene where the main characters are checking out a pharmacy. They go through the scene, exit and then the next thing I know they are back in the pharmacy going over the same ground with more description added. I'm disappointed because I like the set-up and think it could be a cute mystery.

So many bad bad, very bad metaphors.

I liked the outline of this book. Setting is nice too. However I have never read a book where the writing had so many similes and metaphors. Nearly all were utter nonsense and should have been edited out. They should never had even been a thought. The writing is torturous and not relatable and I’m still not sure what exactly happened. If the writer would stop with the mangled descriptions and just write the story this book would be lovely. I dislike writing bad reviews, sigh.