A YACHT FULL OF SUSPECTS, ON A SEA OF RED HERRINGS . . .
Rosalind King, Caro Hooper and Posy Starling may be famous for each playing fictional detective Dahlia Lively on screen, but their growing reputation for solving real murder cases has prompted an offer that they can't refuse . . .
Property mogul and billionaire, Percy Pendleton, has invited them for a two-week trip on his mega yacht this summer to investigate a case of expected murder.
Percy doesn't believe that his father's recent death was natural, despite what the police say. In fact, he thinks he's going to be murdered too - and soon.
Not being one to sit around waiting for things to happen, he's gathered all the people he suspects of wanting him dead for a luxury cruise around the Mediterranean. He's giving the three Dahlias the length of the voyage to investigate his father's demise, figure out who wants him dead, and stop them.
It's a challenge unlike any they've ever tackled before. But at least they get to enjoy the sun, sea and a Limoncello Spritz while they're interviewing the suspects . . .
Whether you've read the whole series, or are discovering the Three Dahlias novels for the first time, this is the perfect murder mystery to escape into this summer if you love Agatha Christie, Janice Hallett and Kristen Perrin.
Praise for the Three Dahlias mysteries . . .
'Dame Agatha would approve' DAILY MAIL
'An absolute treat of a read' JANICE HALLETT, author of THE APPEAL
'Hugely entertaining' THE TIMES
'A fun, 1930s style murder-mystery, which makes for perfect holiday reading' WOMAN'S WEEKLY
'The best kind of book to curl up with' KRISTEN PERRIN, author of HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER
'The perfect atmospheric, ingenious and fun!' IAN MOORE, author of DEATH AND CROISSANTS
'A wonderful celebration of Golden Age crime' S.J. BENNETT, author of THE WINDSOR KNOT
I sincerely hope there will be 100 books that feature the 3 Dahlias and their sleuthing❣️
The three actresses having all played the fictional character Dahlia Liverly, have become a found family. The way that they right the wrongs with their unique skillsets makes for fantastic fun. I love the quotes from the book series interwoven into their ongoing adventures.
I’m beyond pleased that the next book in the series comes out this fall.
I love the Three Dahlias series, so of course Death on a Lively Sea was a must-listen for me as soon as it was published on Audible.
As always, it was well-written and I enjoyed spending time in the company of Caro, Rosalind and Poppy, the three actors who have all played Golden Age detective Dahlia Lively.
The mystery element was a little thinner than usual. The Dahlias are hired by super-rich Percy who believes that someone has killed his father and is aiming to murder him next, and his way of dealing with his suspicions is to invite all his enemies on a luxury cruise and ask the Dahlias to work out which of them is likely to make an attempt on his life. No-one does, but someone else is murdered, perhaps in mistake for Percy, perhaps not.
I always think that closed cast murders must be the hardest for authors to write. In this case, I spent most of the novel thinking "It can't be X and Y because they look so clearly the perpetrators they must be red herrings." The longer the Dahlias went without exploring this option, the more I thought, "Oh no, it's starting to look like it is X and Y." And then, of course, it turned out to be X and Y.
In brief, a fun excursion on the high seas with some of my favourite characters in crime fiction. I'm glad I read it, but hope that the next in the series will be a bit of a harder case to crack for us regular readers.