Christmas Cruise Crisis by Hope Callaghan (2023)
Cruise Director Millie Mystery Series/Millie's Cruise Ship Mystery #1
Spin-off of - Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mystery series
+356-page Kindle Ebook story pages 1-347
Genre: Inspirational, Cozy Mystery > Christian Cozy Mysteries, Mystery Suspense, Holiday > Christmas
Featuring: Author's Links, Cast of Characters, Epigraph, Spoilers for Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mystery Series, Cruise Director, Captain, Mega Cruise Ship, Director of Food and Beverage, Friends, Detective, Guests, Assault, Doctor, Cruise Staff, Murder Investigation, Praying, Drugs, Drug Addict, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Wedding Planning, Sting Operation, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Ventriloquist, Teacup Yorkshire Terrier, Cat Feline Drug Detection Link to Bamboozled in Bimini - Book 2; Letter From Author, Link to The Original Millie’s Cruise Ship Series, Link to Newsletter, Link to Bibliography for Hope Callaghan, Bibliography of Series by Hope Callaghan with Blurbs, Author's Links, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Recipe
Rating as a movie: PG-13
Songs for the soundtrack: "Jingle Bell Cruise" by Hope Callaghan, "Bridal Chorus" by Richard Wagner
Books and Authors mentioned: 2 Corinthians by Paul the Apostle and Timothy
My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️💼🐈 🏝🚢✝️🎄
My thoughts: I started this story just after midnight and fell asleep during Chapter 8. I restarted the book as I was confused during my first reading as to what happened to Danielle. I had to read it a few times, and my conclusion was that the event and plot are pretty thin and unrealistic. This is typical for this genre, especially when you go this deep into a series. This is a spin-off series, so there are a lot of spoilers for the previous series, and they expect you to already be familiar with these characters. The character descriptions at the front of the book were very helpful, but you are still in the middle of a cozy series where the characters have run out of ideas, and it becomes repetitive. I have had Starboard Secrets on my TBR for nearly 3 years, and after reading this, I'm considering removing it. I was wearing my sitcom glasses while reading this, but I still had a hard time taking the characters seriously as the over-the-top events weren't funny to me. I think a drug-sniffing cat is about as funny as this story got; the rest was just cheesy and repetitive. However, there is still some comfort in that, so I might give it 6 more months before I decide. I could say the same for the Hannah Swinton series, which, even though I was annoyed with it, I continued reading because I'm invested. Cozies are good for fillers in between traumatic books. My biggest issue with this story is I originally put this on my TBR because it was set on a cruise ship and although she is the director of cruises I felt like there wasn't enough cruising in the book. My second biggest issue is that I started this book instead of the original series because it was a Christmas book, but there wasn't much Christmas here either. Overall, it was just okay.
Recommend to others: Sure, I think this book would be great for an older audience who wants a wholesome sitcom-like story and doesn't mind prayer. My mom would eat this up as an audiobook.
Millie's Cruise Ship Mystery
1. Christmas Cruise Crisis (2023)
2. Bamboozled in Bimini (2024)
3. Ketchikan Killer (2024)
4. Skagway Sleuths (2024)
5. Waylaid in Whittier (2025)
6. Tiki Hut Tragedy (2025)
7. High Seas Hijinks (2026)
Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mystery
1. Starboard Secrets (2015)
2. Portside Peril (2015)
3. Lethal Lobster (2015)
4. Deadly Deception (2015)
5. Vanishing Vacationers (2016)
6. Cruise Control (2016)
7. Killer Karaoke (2016)
8. Suite Revenge (2016)
9. Cruisin' for a Bruisin' (2017)
10. High Seas Heist (2017)
11. Family, Friends, and Foes (2017)
12. Murder on Main (2017)
13. Fatal Flirtation (2018)
14. Deadly Delivery (2018)
15. Reindeer & Robberies (2018)
16. Transatlantic Tragedy (2019)
17. Southampton Stalker (2019)
18. Peculiar Poison (2020)
19. Mischief and Mutiny (2020)
20. Dog-Gone Cruise Director (2020)
21. Southampton Strangler (2021)
22. Rendezvous and Revenge (2021)
23. Cruising Cowboys (2022)
24. Cruising Cold Turkey (2023)
Memorable Quotes: “What is it?” “I…I’m not sure if it’s because of the head injury, but Danielle is giving me conflicting stories about what happened to her.” “Conflicting stories?” “She claims she was taking a shortcut through a storage building, and then she said she went in there to search for a bag that belonged to her.” “She had a suitcase with her,” Millie said. “Maybe she was doing both…cutting through the building and looking for the bag.”
“I think someone on board this ship is after that suitcase.” “Me too. I hate to sleuth and run, but I’m hosting the champagne art auction.” “And I’m on schedule for a mix and mingles singles party.” “Which is down the corridor from my next event. We’ll run up there together,” Millie said.
The group bowed their heads as she began, “Dear Heavenly Father, we say a special prayer today for Danielle. Lord, you know she’s still saddened by the death of her brother and was hoping to have small mementos of him returned to her, but it hasn’t turned out that way.”
Annette picked up. “We pray for [retracted's] family, that you bring them comfort in their time of grief. In our busy, chaotic world on board this ship, may we always be mindful you are the calm in our daily storms and our only hope for eternal life. Thank you for this food, for the friends gathered around this table, and for your help in figuring out who is now targeting Danielle. We thank you for our Savior, Jesus and in his name we pray, amen.”
“I hate to gobble up my food and run, but I need to head upstairs for my boot stompin’ boogie class.” Felix tossed his paper bag and wrappers in the recycle bin and hugged Danielle. “Hang in there, girlfriend. We’re gonna get to the bottom of this.”