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Jason Davey #1
Cold Play
Jason Davey ran away to sea after the death of his wife, finding work as a contract entertainer aboard a cruise ship, the Star Sapphire. But when faces from his past come aboard as passengers, Jason's routine week-long trip to Alaska becomes anything but relaxing.
Jason's wife once worked for Diana Wyndham, a beautiful and eccentric actress. And hard-drinking ex-rocker, Rick Redding, once toured with a band Jason has strong ties to. Now Diana occupies one of the ship's luxury suites, and Rick dwells in the stateroom next door. Between them, they may know more about Jason's secret past than anyone suspects.
Jason narrates his—and the Sapphire's—story with drama, humor, and a touch of the supernatural as he tries to survive a trial by fire and ice on the journey to Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.
Jason's wife once worked for Diana Wyndham, a beautiful and eccentric actress. And hard-drinking ex-rocker, Rick Redding, once toured with a band Jason has strong ties to. Now Diana occupies one of the ship's luxury suites, and Rick dwells in the stateroom next door. Between them, they may know more about Jason's secret past than anyone suspects.
Jason narrates his—and the Sapphire's—story with drama, humor, and a touch of the supernatural as he tries to survive a trial by fire and ice on the journey to Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.
- GenresMystery
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 15, 2012
4 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Winona Kent
24 books71 followersWinona Kent is an award-winning author who was born in London, England and grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she completed her BA in English at the University of Regina. After moving to Vancouver, she graduated from UBC with an MFA in Creative Writing, and a diploma in Writing for Screen and TV from Vancouver Film School.
Winona's writing breakthrough came many years ago when she won First Prize in the Flare Magazine Fiction Contest with her short story about an all-night radio newsman, “Tower of Power”.
Her debut novel Skywatcher was a finalist in the Seal Books First Novel Award and was published by Bantam Books in 1989. This was followed by a sequel, The Cilla Rose Affair, and her first mystery, Cold Play, set aboard a cruise ship in Alaska.
After three time-travel romances (Persistence of Memory, In Loving Memory and Marianne's Memory), Winona returned to mysteries with Disturbing the Peace, a novella, in 2017 and the novel Notes on a Missing G-String in 2019, both featuring the character she first introduced in Cold Play, professional jazz musician / amateur sleuth Jason Davey.
The third and fourth books in Winona's Jason Davey Mystery series, Lost Time and Ticket to Ride, were published in 2020 and 2022. Her fifth Jason Davey Mystery, Bad Boy, was published in 2024.
Winona also writes short fiction. Her story “Salty Dog Blues” appeared in Sisters in Crime-Canada West's anthology Crime Wave in October 2020 and was nominated as a finalist in Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella in April 2021. “Blue Devil Blues” was one of the four entries in the anthology Last Shot, published in June 2021, and “Terminal Lucidity” appeared in the Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Women of a Certain Age (October 2022). “On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog”, will appear in the upcoming Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Dangerous Games (October 2024).
A collection of Winona’s short stories, Ten Stories That Worried My Mother, was published in 2023.
Winona has been a temporary secretary, a travel agent, a screenwriter and the Managing Editor of a literary magazine. Winona's currently the national Vice-Chair and the regional BC/YT rep for the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime – Canada West. After many decades working in jobs completely unrelated to writing, Winona is now happily embracing life as a full-time author. She lives in New Westminster, BC with her husband, and a concerning number of disobedient houseplants, many of which were rescued from her apartment building’s compost bin after being abandoned by previous owners.
Winona's writing breakthrough came many years ago when she won First Prize in the Flare Magazine Fiction Contest with her short story about an all-night radio newsman, “Tower of Power”.
Her debut novel Skywatcher was a finalist in the Seal Books First Novel Award and was published by Bantam Books in 1989. This was followed by a sequel, The Cilla Rose Affair, and her first mystery, Cold Play, set aboard a cruise ship in Alaska.
After three time-travel romances (Persistence of Memory, In Loving Memory and Marianne's Memory), Winona returned to mysteries with Disturbing the Peace, a novella, in 2017 and the novel Notes on a Missing G-String in 2019, both featuring the character she first introduced in Cold Play, professional jazz musician / amateur sleuth Jason Davey.
The third and fourth books in Winona's Jason Davey Mystery series, Lost Time and Ticket to Ride, were published in 2020 and 2022. Her fifth Jason Davey Mystery, Bad Boy, was published in 2024.
Winona also writes short fiction. Her story “Salty Dog Blues” appeared in Sisters in Crime-Canada West's anthology Crime Wave in October 2020 and was nominated as a finalist in Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella in April 2021. “Blue Devil Blues” was one of the four entries in the anthology Last Shot, published in June 2021, and “Terminal Lucidity” appeared in the Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Women of a Certain Age (October 2022). “On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog”, will appear in the upcoming Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Dangerous Games (October 2024).
A collection of Winona’s short stories, Ten Stories That Worried My Mother, was published in 2023.
Winona has been a temporary secretary, a travel agent, a screenwriter and the Managing Editor of a literary magazine. Winona's currently the national Vice-Chair and the regional BC/YT rep for the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime – Canada West. After many decades working in jobs completely unrelated to writing, Winona is now happily embracing life as a full-time author. She lives in New Westminster, BC with her husband, and a concerning number of disobedient houseplants, many of which were rescued from her apartment building’s compost bin after being abandoned by previous owners.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 30, 2012
I received this book from the author with a request for review.
I liked this book from the very start. The setting is marvelous and unusual: a vintage cruiser ship currently doing 7-day Alaskan cruises. Jason, an entertainer on the cruise ship, is the story's narrator. He has a great voice with a gentle sense of humor that shows in his observations of his life, fellow crew members and the passengers, and frequently about himself.
This is not a thrill-a-second story. Rather, it slowly unfolds and reveals more layers of intrigue. However, it never felt slow to me. Jason is a good story teller and pretty much the book could have been about nothing more than life on a cruise ship and it would've been interesting. Pointless, but interesting. Fortunately for us readers, however, there's more to this story than life on a cruise ship. The pace continues to pick up as events twist and turn to the final revelations in the end. Nothing horribly surprising - unexpected, but not surprising - but well told and compelling enough to keep me turning pages until I was finally done. I'd actually look forward to another book featuring this character, but this one doesn't really hint at a sequel or leave much mystery for another.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it's a good value for the price.
I liked this book from the very start. The setting is marvelous and unusual: a vintage cruiser ship currently doing 7-day Alaskan cruises. Jason, an entertainer on the cruise ship, is the story's narrator. He has a great voice with a gentle sense of humor that shows in his observations of his life, fellow crew members and the passengers, and frequently about himself.
This is not a thrill-a-second story. Rather, it slowly unfolds and reveals more layers of intrigue. However, it never felt slow to me. Jason is a good story teller and pretty much the book could have been about nothing more than life on a cruise ship and it would've been interesting. Pointless, but interesting. Fortunately for us readers, however, there's more to this story than life on a cruise ship. The pace continues to pick up as events twist and turn to the final revelations in the end. Nothing horribly surprising - unexpected, but not surprising - but well told and compelling enough to keep me turning pages until I was finally done. I'd actually look forward to another book featuring this character, but this one doesn't really hint at a sequel or leave much mystery for another.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it's a good value for the price.
September 1, 2014
Bloody good, couldn't put it down. It was funny, it was thrilling (took my heart rate a good hour to get back to normal after the end), it was twittertastic. Congratulations Winona! Nurse Fiona :)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews