Killer Knots

Bad Hair Day #9

by Nancy J. Cohen

Set sail for murder and mayhem when hairstylist Marla Shore and her fiancé cruise to the Caribbean with a killer on board in this cruise ship cozy mystery.

Hairstylist Marla Shore is looking forward to a romantic interlude with her fiancé, Detective Dalton Vail, on their first Caribbean cruise. Her excitement hits a snag when she discovers his parents have come along for the ride. It isn’t how she might have chosen to meet her future in-laws, but she hopes they’ll have smooth sailing ahead.

The first sign of trouble is a mysterious note addressed to Martha Shore on her cabin door. Marla assumes the sender spelled her name wrong but is disturbed by the message. When she meets her dinner companions and learns they’ve received similar notes, she suspects something isn’t kosher, and it’s not the lobster on the menu. Moreover, Dalton’s parents have been seated at another table by mistake. Is it merely a mishap, or something more?

Their tablemates all seem to know each other as colleagues from an art museum, where an artist died recently under dubious circumstances. When her dinner companions start disappearing one-by-one, Marla realizes they’re headed for stormy waters. If she doesn’t find the culprit fast, she might end up with a one-way ticket to Davy Jones’s locker.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2007

About the author

Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and the RONE Award, placed first in the Chanticleer International Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook, have won the FAPA President’s Book Award, the Royal Palm Literary Award, and IAN Book of the Year. Nancy’s imaginative romances have proven popular with fans as well. These books have won the HOLT Medallion and Best Book in Romantic SciFi/Fantasy at The Romance Reviews. Active in the writing community, Nancy is a past president of Florida Romance Writers and Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. When not busy writing, she enjoys reading, fine dining, cruising, and visiting Disney World. Visit her at NancyJCohen.com

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mystery takes place on a cruise ship.

[Jerry Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the first page has the Caribbean cruise itinerary and Tropical Sun deck plan I was locked in. I haven’t read any of the other Bad Hair Day Mystery series but I got caught up on Marla’s Nancy Drew skills. Wasn’t a fan of Dalton’s eating habits or Marla and Brie’s shopping obsession. I liked how they connected the art museum and art auctions onboard.

Some of the myths needed to be busted:
1. Norovirus does happen but considerably lower chance onboard a cruise then on land due to the obsessive cleaning, inspections and sanitation. Also sailors and crew need to wash hands and/or sanitize prior to entering eateries.
2. Man Overboard does happen rarely less than 1/2.5 million passengers. There are so many safety features and video coverage to prevent incidents.
3. Lawless is totally not correct. Cruise lines need to follow Maritime Law, flagged country law and the law in all ports they visit. As the capacity of ships has increased the number of operational incidents have decreased.

[Jennifer Widmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately for me, once I start a series I rarely can stop. This series frustrates me. Some of the books in this series are good, some are not and this was one of those.
The first half of the book was slow and uninteresting, there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them all straight, and there were so many adjectives I felt like I was reading a high school paper that needed to be stretched an extra 500 words.
If you are able to skip books in a series, do it! All you need to know in the Marla/Dalton storyline is that they set a wedding date, December 8th, and Dalton's parents get along swimmingly with Marla.
Hopefully, the next book improves. Either way, I'll be reading it.

[Susan Moxley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A page turner with lots of twists and turns.

[Suzi G · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had been enjoying this series and like cruise ship mysteries, but this was tedious and annoying. I had to make a list of the over dozen characters from the art museum alone. Did not enjoy the reveal. Also, Vail ate like a pig on the ship, yet told Marla if she ate more, she wouldn't fit in her bikini! Really?

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Nancy Cohen's Killer Knots, the 9th installment in the Bad Hair Day Cozy mystery series, get ready to set sail for adventure on a cruise. When Marla Shore and her fiancé Dalton Vail, and her future daughter-in-law Brianna go on a family vacation on a cruise, it was nothing but a pleasurable ride for her. First someone had sent her a message and had gotten her name wrong, when she was placed at the table with a couple of people who worked in an art museum. As she had gotten to know them, she had learned that everyone had a secret to hide, and the art curator had an art auction with a well-known artist named Eldon Tusk, who mysterious had fallen to his death. And that artist had the same connection to Marla's past as a model. Besides heated tensions amounting on the ride, she had to deal with the tension between her future in-laws and some people missing the cruise or having an accident on the ship. As soon as she had gotten to know more about Tusk's accident and what happened to their shipmates, she grows closer and closer to the truth, until someone had waylaid them at one of the Caribbean ports. When the truth is known, it's a life-and-death battle on the last day of the cruise when she faces the killer spot on.

[Vickie Paye · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really gave this book a go, tried more than once to sit down and read it…but I’m finally giving up on page 65. I just could not get anything out of it that I can keep trying to enjoy it. First time this has ever happened! I’ve had it for way over a month so it’s time to call it quits.

A beautician who wants to be a sleuth-Marla Shore, with her cop fiancé-Dalton Vail embark on a cruise paid for by her future in laws. Daltons teenage daughter aboard with them.
It begins with a note under Marla’s door and a bunch of people aboard from the same museum all on the cruise paid for by anonymous donor. A bunch of circumstances lead Marla to believe something is awry all while Dalton is only worried about eating all the food he can daily.

Couldn’t get into the story.

[Julia David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Marla always finds an adventure wherever she goes. Marla and Dalton go on a cruise. Marla is surprised to find Dalton's parents are also on the cruise. When they get to know people who are sitting at their table, they find that the people are all from the same place of employment and an anonymous person had paid for all of them to take the cruise. All of them have secrets and someone is bent on discovering the secrets on the trip. One woman is missing, another woman was pushed down the stairs and then Marla is waylaid while they were in port. It all seems to center around a painting of an artist who died under suspicious circumstances. Will Marla enjoy the cruise or will she be her usual nosy self and investigate?

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the details it gave about what it’s like on a cruise. Really good descriptions. What I didn’t like was the main character and how she kept using the fact that she cared about people to make her want to butt her nose into everyone’s affairs. She seemed quite self-centred; not really caring about her family as much as those of the other characters.

I find it rare these days to find a murder mystery where the main character has to investigate for a good reason; and simply being nosy is just not good enough an excuse as everyone is using it. Why would the suspects just tell her their deepest secrets? Doesn’t make sense.

[Andrea Cambon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't love it, and if it hadn't been my only book on that trip I would have probably not read it. Anyway, it isn't horrible, I just found it to hollow

[Angel Downs · Rating 2 out of 5]

omg marla is so nosey and annoying that if i was her fiance i would of jump overboard on the cruise ship

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cozy mystery!!! Lots of twist and turns! A must read!!!

[Pam Hartman Eggett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly written and hard to follow. Would not recommend

[Janine Cavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the promise of the story, but there was, in my opinion, too many characters and too many details to keep track of. So I kind of lost interest.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marla Shore is ready for some fun, sun and getting to spend quality time with her fiancé, police detective, Dalton Vail and his fourteen years old daughter, Brianna aboard a cruise ship. What Marla didn’t realize was that Dalton had other ideas about how to spend their quality time together and it involved Marla getting to know her soon to be future in-laws! It seems though that Marla won’t be spending much time with anyone. She already has a new case just calling her name in the form of a personal note addressed to her…ok so maybe the first name was made out to Martha and not Marla but still…Marla can’t stop herself from getting involved.

Marla discovers that art and cruise ships don’t mix. Marla meets a group of museum employees that were all invited to have fun on the same cruise liner. While at an art auction, an very valuable art pieces shows up, painted by an artist who’s died under mysterious circumstances. Can Marla solve this case before she is all washed up?

Marla is such a fun loving gal. There isn’t any case too big or too small that Marla can’t solve and you can guarantee that Marla will look good doing it. If you think Marla’s one tough cookie when she’s on the case you should see her take on every woman’s nightmare….the dreaded split ends! I liked this book so much that I read it in one sitting. Killer Knots is the ninth book in this series featuring everyone’s favorite hairdresser and sleuth, Marla Shore. It can be read as a stand alone book. I hope to see this series go on for a long time. Nancy Cohen is a new favorite author of mine.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killer Knots features Nancy Cohen’s beautician sleuth on a cruise with her detective fiancé,his teenaged daughter and her soon to be in-laws. Right away there’s a name mix up – apparently there’s a Martha Shore on board - and Marla Shore, the star of the book, is getting messages intended for Martha. There’s a mix up with the seating arrangements too, with the in-laws being seated at Martha’s table and Marla and her squeeze at a table full of Martha’s museum friends. Someone misses the ship at a port of call, another table mate gets pushed down a flight of stairs, and Marla narrowly escapes a few hair-raising trouble spots, and its all because of an art auction on board. The mystery is tied together under the umbrellas of dark secrets, adultery, embezzlement, and paradise. The romance plays nicely under the cruise
setting and mystery, so there’s a little something for everyone.

Warning: I thought this would be a light read, given the cruise setting, but there was so much going on that I kept turning the pages.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marla and Dalton go on a cruise with his daughter and his parents. Of course mystery and intrigue follow! Fast moving interesting storyline, twists and turns, and lots of new information about Marla and more quirky characters. I really enjoyed hearing about the cruise as I will be leaving on one soon, hopefully won't have any murders to contend with! I loved how more information about Marla's past is inserted into this story. I am so happy that her in laws love her! Cannot wait to start the next book! Thank you Nancy J. Cohen for writing such a fun series!

[Sharleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy a good mystery book and this one was no different. It had a good story line with a family heading away on a cruise who meet up with many couples who had had their cruises paid for as a gift. They all work at a art gallery and someone died there, was it accidental or was it murder, that is the mystery. The family spend their cruise trying to work this out. The writer of this book put many twists into the story and kept me guessing right to the last two chapters. It was easy to read and the story plot kept my attention as I didn't want to put it down. With more mystery books written by this author I will be sure to read some of her other ones.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sped through Killer Knots in record time. Mostly I walked away wanting to go on a cruise myself, but I also really enjoyed the story for the most part. I've missed at least a couple of mysteries [or else I really, really need to have something done about my memory:] and it didn't hurt my ability to follow along, which is always a good thing once a series is more than a couple of books. Marla still uses 'pal' a little too much in her sarcastic thoughts, but I didn't spend the book shrieking about it, so definite improvement on that front.

[Rebecca Catherina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got 60 pages in but really could just not get into it. Picked this book up randomly at the library for a quick fun read but was rather disappointed. I mean if you read the first 60 pages and you are bored and have to force yourself to read it then it probably isn't a very good book... unless it's just not my type of book... but I usually like girly stories like this... oh well it was worth a try. No offense to the other since I haven't read any of her other stuff and many of the reviews for this book are good so give her a try if you'd like.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is well along in the series, but it was easy to pick up on the necessary background. Marla, a hairdresser, and her fiance are off on a Caribbean cruise with his parents and his teenage daughter. A group of people connected with an art gallery are part of the group and bring with them all kinds of complications, along with a possible unsolved murder.
It was light and fast, but not too simple.

[Kim Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have liked to rate as a 5, however, there were a couple of parts in the book where it jumped around as if pages were missing. I had to check to be certain that I didn't skip pages. It was an enjoyable read.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery and great cruise

Marla never disappoints getting into something. I loved the details of being on the cruise as well as how the mystery unfolded. Just when you think you know who's involved everything turns around. Very entertaining and easy read.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. I found the plot forced and the dialogue confusing. I never really connected with the protagonist or any of the characters. The set up was overly complicated and staged.

[Aleta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few books by her now... they are okay, just not my type. But the stories are good.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely a light book to read at the beach.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining. I probably won't read the rest of the series but it was good.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fun read for a cold day-- a Caribbean cruise with Marla and her fiance Dalton involves art, beaches, shopping and a murder....

[Carol Krout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughly enjoyed reading this book. Alot of suspense and action. I picked the book up on a whim....now I'm hooked on the Bad Hair Day series!!!!!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. Not sure I'll want to take a cruise anytime soon after reading it but it was a good mystery.