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DEADLY REUNION
by June Shaw
Five Star, August 2011
253 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 1432824988


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

I have been to many class reunions, but none involved murder - there was a near miss when I came across a nun I would cheerfully have whacked had there been a weapon handy.

Cealie Gunther's class reunion is not off to an auspicious start. Several women friends drop out from what was to be a wonderful Alaskan cruise. Only four are left, and then one male classmate insinuates himself into the group, totally changing the dynamic.

From the outset, the sailing is not smooth. Cealie has a problem with Aunt Sue, who started life as Uncle Stu. Cealie is not sure how much her anatomy has been altered, but Aunt Sue is behaving like a flirtatious female, especially with a young man she meets while the shipmates are having their life-saving drill. Moments later, he is found dead at the bottom of the stairwell, and Cealie is terrified that Aunt Sue may be involved.

Another complication is that Cealie's former lover Gil Thurman has turned up. He has not come to pursue Cealie, as she feared, but, as the owner of a chain of restaurants, he wants simply to introduce one of his chefs to the cruise.

Most of the book is taken up with the daily events of the cruise (which made me happy I have never taken one). Eating and drinking are the prime pastimes for most of the cruise participants, while Cealie is trying to ferret out the identity of the murderer of Jonathan Mill, who, it turns out, did not fall down the stairwell by accident.

Cealie had two other motives for coming on the cruise. She knows her friend Tetter has a secret that is bothering her but one she won't share. Cealie is determined to pry the secret out of her. She also wants to go to Alaska to see her son and his family. However, when she arrives, the family has left, and her son introduces her to his new life partner, a male.

Cealie is an intriguing character. Recently widowed, she cherishes her independence, yet she can't help relying on Gil and she fluctuates about whether to rekindle their romance. Randy and Tetter are a puzzle -- both happily married to someone else but carrying on an outrageous flirtation, to Cealie's consternation.

The ending is somewhat awkward. The killer conveniently comes clean, even though another murder might have appeared an alternative. The solution relies a bit too much on coincidence. Nevertheless Cealie makes an attractive protagonist and amateur sleuth.

§ Mary Elizabeth Devine taught English Literature for 35 years, is co-author of five books about customs and manners around the world and lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Devine, September 2011

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