Voyages of the Queen: Book 2
Publication Date: June 15, 2024
March 1930
Ship’s nurse Maeve Chandler of the luxury liner Queen Victoria is finding out all that dazzles may not be diamonds, as she investigates a sparkling shipboard murder alongside up-and-coming diamantaire Harry Winston. The British luxury liner Queen Victoria is bound from New York to Cherbourg carrying several diamond dealers when one of them, an irascible and miserly old man, is found dead in his First-Class cabin, seated in an armchair with no sign of struggle, his mouth stuffed with diamonds, and the cabin locked from the inside. Traveling with him is his young nephew, who owes an insurmountable amount of cash to an American gangster and has fallen in love with a ship’s nurse. Also along for the voyage is a mysterious gunman hired for protection by the uncle only the day before sailing, as well as the uncle’s former business partner, feeling constant remorse for the deadly incident that led to their 30-year estrangement. Meanwhile, diamonds of every sort seem to be coming and going aboard the Queen Victoria, except the ones Maeve and Harry are searching for — along with a killer not afraid to kill again.
378 pages plus bonus chapter for next book in series, a reader’s guide for book clubs and a lexicon of definitions and people from the era who are mentioned in the book.
Queen of Diamonds is the second book in the Voyages of the Queen series by Scott Finley, and I am looking forward to reading more. A historical mystery set on a ship traveling between New York City and France, it had me turning the pages to see what would happen next.
The prologue sets the stage, and the time period is a week in March, 1930. There are many historical references, and the descriptions are vivid. There are a lot of diamonds—real and fake—as several diamond merchants are traveling to a diamond trading show. We are introduced to a multitude of characters, all of whom have depth to them. Some are mysterious, others straightforward, but we get to know them a little at a time. Maeve, Dr. Harper, and Mr. Harvey are back, as are several others with roles on the ship, and the story is told from Maeve’s point of view.
There are several shipboard murders to solve, as well as missing diamonds, and once again, Maeve plays amateur sleuth to figure out whodunnit. She updates those who need to know about her findings, and we are drawn in as she sifts for clues, throws out red herrings, and comes up with suspects. Those around her sometimes unknowingly provide information that helps tie things together.
There are lively descriptions that made me feel like I was there. There is some romance thrown in, and a few happily ever afters. There is closure with Maeve’s reveal of whodunnit, and it wasn’t who I thought, although I had felt they had an unexplained link to the story. The Reader’s Guide had thought-provoking questions, and the dictionary provided in the back of the book added another layer to the story.
Queen of Diamonds is a historical mystery with plenty of interesting details to help figure out whodunnit.
Scott spent 39 years in broadcast for all four major network affiliate, followed by training and corporate videos, and then media for non-profit entities, including the Alzheimer’s Association where he covered their media for the entire state of Texas.
He collected one Emmy® nomination, 19 Telly Awards, three Aegis Awards, two Addy awards and five Best Newscast in Texas awards from the Associated Press.
Scott lives in Dallas, Texas with his legal counsel Gabrielle, two cats and a neurotic dog.
