Poisoned Waters is set in the 1950s on a trans-Atlantic cruise from Southampton to New York. Helen Gardener is murdered during the voyage. The novel follows the stories of seven unfortunate characters and how they are affected by the death of Helen Gardener. Was it merely an accident? Mr Phillips, the owner of the ship, and sponsor of the cruise, rules with an iron fist, in search of something or someone.
Lies spiral out of control as the suspects try to survive the final days on board. Conflicted by their sense of morals, greed, and lust, they realise what kind of people they really are. Who will rise? Who will fall? Who was Helen’s murderer?
I was lucky enough to receive an advance review copy of this novel, which also has the honour of being the first full e-book I’ve read! I know I know, I really need to get with the times 🙂 I read it over several lunch breaks at my day job, and found myself looking forward to finding out what was going to happen next as my clock ticked towards 1pm. The characters are well crafted, and you manage to find sympathy towards some of the seemingly ‘bad guy’ characters.
The book reminded me of a classic ‘who-done-it’ in the style of Agatha Christie’s ‘Poirot’ or similar books that are frequently adapted in the UK for addictive Sunday night TV shows. Very rare for me, I didn’t actually guess who had killed Helen Gardener, so that was a great surprise. All in all this is a cleverly woven tale of murder, betrayal and passion, and I would definitely recommend it.
This post has been part of the Poisoned Waters Blog Tour. Poisoned Waters is a thrilling mystery set on a trans-Atlantic cruise where a murderer walks amongst passengers.
The Literary Owl 