Bon Voyage to Murder

A Fiona Quinn Mystery, Book 8

By: C.S. McDonald

Narrated by: Maren Swenson Waxenberg

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Hooray! Fiona has finally convinced her boyfriend detective Nathan Landry to go on a romantic Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately, their fun on the high seas is interrupted by murder. It isn’t long before they discover a boatload of suspects, who have motives deeper than the ocean for wanting the victim out of their lives.

©2019 Cindy McDonald (P)2020 Cindy McDonald

Delightful cozy mystery

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK 

I was honored to read book one in A Fiona Quinn Mystery series and I couldn’t wait to snuggle up in another cozy mystery where I know Fiona would be on her deceive hunt. That girl can smell trouble anywhere. Well, this time Fiona and Nathan’s cruise is a cruise gone bad from the start. In the very beginning there is what is thought to be an attempted murder and we know Fiona can’t let this one go, fun cruise or not. So here goes her  sleuthing skills, and she and Nathan put their heads together and start checking out what is happening and before they know it, the cruise gone bad it done with! I love this sweet cozy mystery just as much as the first Fiona Mystery I read. Though it’s a series you can certainly read these as a stand alone, but I would like to eventually read them in order because I think it would be more fun. 

This time I listen to this one, and the narration by Maren Swenson Waxenberg was such a wonderful pleasant experience. I’m not a huge fan of audio books, they are slowly growing on me, and I am finding out that it is the person doing the narration that makes the audio book. I could listen to Waxenberg for hours at a time and not get tired. I do have another Fiona Cozy Mystery review coming up in a couple of weeks so I hope you will check it out. If you love yourself a good cozy mystery, only now we can’t say by the fire unless we go outside in the heat, this is an amazing choice for you. This Fiona Quinn Mystery gets Five Stars from me. 

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Interesting Mystery

The writer brings us along on a cruise with Fiona Quin and her boyfriend who is a detective. You feel like you are there as she does a great job with the description of the setting and cruise life. She introduces us to fun characters and develops characters well to bring the story to life. There is great suspense and twist in this mystery. It is a well done audiobook as well.

I enjoyed this voyage and recommend it if you are looking for a cozy mystery good for older YA readers and beyond.

Plenty of action & story to keep you entertained

BON VOYAGE TO MURDER is the first Fiona Quinn mystery I have read, but it’s just one of a dozen or so in the series. There are clearly some established relationships and statuses (for example, a ghost in Fiona’s house), but the author writes it all in so that the book can stand alone. The personalities of the characters pop from the page (or when reading with your ears, from the speakers), and author C.S. McDonald gives enough information early so we know the personality types, too.

For those listening to the audio, I recommend having pen and paper handy because readers are thrown a ton of characters very quickly. It’s a lot to keep up with, especially for readers new to the series, like me. There were two characters, Julia the librarian and her husband, Rob, that really didn’t need to be in the story at all, so my guess is that perhaps they are regulars in the other books. (And the librarian in me might have had my hackles raised a few times with the librarian stereotyping, especially given it was coming from a kindergarten teacher, who would know what that’s like.) But what the cascade of characters does do is allows readers to understand that both Fiona and her detective boyfriend Nathan are keen observers. So we know there won’t be a lot that gets past them.

Where McDonald shines (just like in her Owl’s Nest Mysteries), is in her descriptions of people, warts and all. BON VOYAGE TO MURDER is full of characters who are quirky and crusty, fun and feisty, stiff and loosey-goosey. It’s very easy to visualize them all and feel like a fly on the wall to all of the goings-on. The setting on the cruise ship was perfect because the pacing of the story paralleled the journey, and as the cruise was coming to an end, the resolution was tying up, too -- just like an episode from the Love Boat, but with less love and more violence!

Speaking of love, my guess is that in the prior eight or so books, there’s been plenty of romance and sparks between Fiona and Nathan. In BON VOYAGE TO MURDER, we see a little hint of Nathan’s playful side, and we hear Fiona’s adoration of Nathan in her thoughts, but there’s not much to show their attraction to each other, and this made one aspect of the plot a bit tedious for me because it lacked build-up. (To be fair, it will likely be thrilling for series fans who know this couple well.)

Running in the background of the main murder mystery is a subplot, set back on land, and it includes a separate plethora of characters including Fiona’s brother, an eclectic/eccentric group of her brother’s friends, Fiona’s ghostly grandmother, all-too-living parents, all-too-missing dog, a mystic, and general shenanigans that provide some chaos and lots of comic relief from the seriousness of murderous intentions on the sea. There are a few things that happened that didn’t make sense, but it’s enough fun that readers won’t dwell on it.

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Maren Swenson Waxenberg does a great job of differentiating between the character voices, and her pacing was perfect, which allowed me to listen at regular speed – a rarity. It was in the voicing of the secondary characters that Waxenberg’s performance really complemented McDonald’s text and brought those characters to life. But I couldn’t ever get used to the voice of Fiona. She seemed annoying, and I don’t think that’s an accurate depiction of the character. I think I need to read earlier books with my eyes so I can get a good grip on Fiona’s personality.

In BON VOYAGE TO MURDER, there is plenty of action and story to keep any cozy mystery reader interested and entertained. Based on jumping in late in a well-established series, my recommendation (that I’m going to take by checking out MURDER ON POINTE, book one of the Fiona Quinn Mysteries) is to start at the beginning and read with your eyes if you want to absorb the finer mystery details and really get to know the characters. Or, if you just like to listen to a fun story, then go with the audio. Win-win!

Very enjoyable

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I loved the narrator. Fiona Quinn is a wonderful character and I love her boyfriend, Nathan Landry. It is fun to learn about Fiona, Nathan and the mother of Fiona. I love many of the scenes that take place in the school where Fiona teaches. I received a copy of this audiobook from ireadbooktour for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Cozy mystery readers will enjoy this book

This is the first book I have read in this series. So I had not established a relationship with Fiona and Nathan yet, I was able to jump right into this book with no issues. It felt like I had known Fiona and Nathan for a long time.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrator Maren Swenson Waxenberg did a very good job of bringing this story to life. All of the different characters did have a different voice. You could tell the male from the female characters. I wanted to point this out because some narrators don't do enough to really separate the voices that they kind of seem similar.

Talk about a intriguing cruise. There is no relaxing on this cruise with dueling enemies, Dusty and Cassidy on board. When one of them goes missing it is up to Fiona and Nathan to solve the case. Cozy mystery readers will enjoy this book. There is no gore or blood just a fun story with engaging characters.

Cozy mystery with no surprises

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Fiona and her boyfriend, Nathan, and another couple go on a cruise hoping for a nice, relaxing vacation. Unfortunately, one of the acts on board is a fading country singer who someone wants to kill! After a couple of accidents (or were they?), she disappears and is presumed lost at sea.

The murder mystery on the cruise was straight forward with no surprises. I had to feel bad for Nathan because he was so seasick after losing his patch and diving into the ocean to save Cassidy during one of the attempts on her life. As someone who suffers motion sickness, I could empathize.

When Fiona went on the cruise, she left her beloved dog, Harriet, behind, and her brother, Chad, was to take care of her. I enjoyed this part of the book the most because the same night that Fiona left, Chad lost Harriet. He looked for her the entire time that Fiona was gone, and their parents even flew in from out of town when he was desperate on what to do. Hilariously, the neighbors took Harriet in when they came across her and no one answered the door at Fiona’s house. The neighbor even said hi to Chad one day, but he didn’t have Harriet with him!

The narrator’s voice took a little getting used to. It’s not as soothing as some of the audiobook voices I’ve heard, but once I got used to it, I was fine. Her timing and inflection were very good.

If you like a cozy murder mystery with no surprises, you should like this book. For me, the Chad and Harriet story was the best part.

Great

Bon Voyage to Murder: A Fiona Quinn Mystery #8 was a great listen. I really liked the romantic aspect of Fiona and her boyfriend detective Nathan Landry going on a romantic Caribbean cruise. The romance when combined with murder made this my ideal type of book as the mix of romance and mystery tends to make for quite an enjoyable read. I really loved the Caribbean cruise setting as I have actually been on one so I was able to mix the setting quite well. The sound quality and narration of the audio book was quite well done!!

Cozy Cruising

3.5 stars

Pittsburgh teacher Fiona Quinn got her man, Nathan Landry, long ago and the pair have gone on a cruise with friends Julia and Rob Bell. Isn’t it handy to have a real detective nearby when a woman disappears, possibly overboard? Nathan’s presence gives Fiona entry to the investigation and Captain Baptiste is grateful for their help. Country singer Cassidy Kinsman was an aging, crabby drunk and there is no shortage of potential suspects but, as the sleuthing progresses, why would anyone want to attack a shy, skittish maid? Did she see or hear something she shouldn’t have?

The secondary storyline regarding Fiona’s brother, Chad, doesn’t add anything to the resolution of the mystery and I couldn’t help thinking she would never have left him to house-and-pet sit. These two are siblings so she would have known how out of touch with reality he is. Chad’s RPG buddies are pretty funny, though, and all these guys are like the modern day version of the Three Stooges so they’re worth a smile.

I haven’t quite made up my mind about Ms. Waxenberg’s narrative skills—there’s something a bit grating about Fiona’s voice in particular—but I’ll have another chance to evaluate when I listen to a second book next week. I do think Ms. Waxenberg handles the pacing nicely and does a variety of voices well.

All in all, Bon Voyage to Murder is a fun cozy, taking me back to my own cruising days, and I enjoyed the trip :-)

Show Biz Isn't Any Easier on the Water!

Fiona convinced her detective boyfriend to set his dislike of ships aside and take a cruise with her, but it'll be anything but relaxing! (There will be murder, in case you couldn't tell.) Meanwhile, Fiona's brother will be wishing he was the murder victim, as he's been left to babysit the house (granny's ghost and all) and Fiona's dog... who takes an impromptu vacation of her own with the neighbours.

I discovered CS McDonal's work and the Fiona Quinn series through an earlier iRead tour, and I loved what I found, so I jumped at the chance to review her latest book and TWO more Fiona audiobooks. I was not disappointed! Bon Voyage to Murder is exactly what I look for in a cozy mystery: fun characters, great witty banter, loads of humour, and a pleasantly predictable plot. Who's gonna die? It's obvious from page 10. Who dunnit? Your guess will be close in the first couple of chapters. Does it matter that you know where it's going? Absolutely not! The journey's a lot of fun anyway, if not precisely because you know where it's going because the characters and side plots are great and you don't want it to end.

If you love cozy mysteries, you'll love the Fiona Quinn series. Jump in at book one or pretty much anywhere along the line (though you might understand the ghost Granny better if you read the first book first) and you're sure to have a blast!

I was granted complimentary audiobook access to Bon Voyage to Murder as part of my participation in a blog tour for the author's latest novel, Maxed Out, via iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

A fun, clean cozy mystery

Bon Voyage to Murder is the second book I’ve read by this author (or in this case I listened to the audiobook.) I really enjoy her storytelling sense and the wonderful visuals she presents.

This story introduces me to Fiona Quinn, her detective boyfriend, Nathan Landry, Dusty (a retired country music star) and a boat load of other interesting secondary characters. As I mentioned earlier, the images placed in my mind of the cruise setting and fun, quirky characters were vivid, and the inflections the narrator used for the various voices really made the story come to life.

What starts out as a romantic cruise vacation, suddenly takes a different turn. Before they know it, they find themselves in the middle of a murder case. The plot builds nicely with a mixture of suspense and fun, delivering a satisfying end to this cozy mystery.

This book is outside my usual reading genres, but it’s been fun delving into something different. There are so many surprises and peculiarities to this story, giving it much more depth than I expected.

Dɪsᴄʟᴏsᴜʀᴇ: I ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʀʏ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴏᴏᴋ. Mʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴡᴀs ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴғʟᴜᴇɴᴄᴇᴅ.