Worse things happen at sea

‘Silly, Fen,’ she scolded herself and peered out of the cabin door to check no one had heard her talking to herself, before closing it behind her.

Yes! Fen Churche is back! The third novel in the Fen Churche Mystery Series has just been published and I’m so happy. I’ve been following former landgirl Fenella Churche on her journey to France in search of her fiancé Arthur, as told in A Dangerous Goodbye. Instead of finding him, she stumbles upon multiple murder cases, which she is determined to solve. In France she meets Captain James Lancaster, who is a friend of Arthur’s and also investigating his disappearance. After solving the murders, together they start their journey back to England, stopping in Paris to visit Fen’s old family friend Rose. It seems murder follows Fen, because in Night Train to Paris her friend Rose gets killed and it’s once again up to Fen to solve her murder.

Sad over the loss of her fiancé and her good friend, Fen boards a boat to England, accompanied by James. This is where Fliss Chester’s third novel starts: The Moonlit Murders. Aboard, Fen meets lovely new people, most of them American, as the ship will continue on to New York after it has reached Southampton, England. The young Eloise, who’s been living in shelter with her aunt during the long years of war, begs her to accompany her all the way to New York. Even though Fen misses home and her friends, she decides to take a risk and sail all the way to America. Especially when she finds out that James is not intending to end his journey in England and will also be traveling to New York!

But of course the journey won’t be what they think it will be. Expensive jewellery goes missing and when Fen is searching the lifeboats to see if the jewellery is hidden there, she discovers a body. ‘Worse things happen at sea’ indeed!

I won’t spoil any more of the plot — this is a book you have to experience for yourself! I can only tell you that I almost yelled out loud near the end; I most definitely did not see that particular twist coming! In my opinion, if a detective story can surprise you at the end it’s an excellent one.