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The Royal Mermaid is setting forth on her maiden voyage, filled with 400 passengers who received free passage due to good works they performed during the preceding months of the year. Sounds like a cruise made in heaven, right? Perhaps, but then again perhaps not. Not when there's a mystery afoot.
Private detective Regan Reilly and her husband Jack, head of the Major Case Squad of New York City, along with Regan's parents --- Nora, a respected mystery writer, and Luke Reilly --- have all joined recent lottery winner and amateur sleuth Alvirah Meehan and her husband Willy as guests on the cruise as a result of Alvirah's charitable contributions.
Even before the officially christened "Santa Cruise" can commence, however, things have gone awry. There's been a mix-up on the guest list, and it seems that the ship is a room short of being able to accommodate all of the guests. Cabin assignments are juggled, though, and soon enough everyone is settled satisfactorily in their rooms. Everyone, that is, except for two stowaways.
Tony "Bull's-Eye" Pinto, a crime boss, and Barron Highbridge, a white-collar criminal who bilked the unsuspecting out of a fortune, are both using the Santa Cruise as their means to flee the country and therefore avoid punishment for their crimes. When their room is suddenly given to Alvirah and Willy, things take a turn for the worse.
Part of what makes the Santa Cruise merry is the 10 Santas who are to dress in costume and mingle with the guests, but even the Clauses aren't feeling the holiday spirit. Especially when two of the costumes go missing and no one knows where they went or what it means.
Along with the usual activities available on a cruise, there is to be a special memorial service for the deceased mother of Commodore Randolph Weed, the owner of the ship. He intends to dispose of his mother's ashes at sea, but even that doesn't go quite as planned. Bad publicity and scandal cast serious doubt as to whether or not the Commodore made a wise investment in purchasing and refurbishing the ancient ship known as the Royal Mermaid.
In their fourth holiday mystery, Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, have written a fun book with an interesting cast of characters. The other "do-gooders of the year" are a unique and special bunch who lightens the novel's serious mood. As may be expected, the mystery is solved by the end of the book in a climactic way, and all of the charming characters play a part in it. This is a fast read, and you won't want to put it down until you know whodunit!
--- Reviewed by Amie Taylor
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