Shadow of the Queen is the first book in Scott Finley’s Voyages of the Queen historical cozy mystery series. Set in the 1920s, the series features a ship’s nurse Maeve Chandler turned amateur sleuth.
Title: Shadow of the Queen
Author: Scott Finley
Series: Voyages of the Queen
First Published: June 1, 2024
Publisher: Victoria Ink
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the author
*** Thank you to the author, Scott Finley, for providing me with an e-copy of this book for review purposes. ***
October 1929. Murder books passage on the British luxury liner Queen Victoria, turning ship’s nurse Maeve Chandler into an amateur sleuth apprenticing under the tutelage of mystery writer Agatha Christie.
A passenger dies in full view of the first-class dining salon, followed by a millionaire apparently leaping overboard a day before the New York stock market crashes. Then, an abusive husband is pushed down an open lift shaft and a crewman is left to cook against a boiler in the ship’s engine room. A killer will walk free when the ship reaches New York unless Maeve and Agatha can unwind the clues — but with 2,935 suspects on board, every revolution of the Queen Victoria’s propellers means time is running out.
An intriguing new cozy mystery series set in the 1920
Some of my favourite cozy mystery series are set in the past – I just love a good historical fiction mystery! So when I read the synopsis for Shadow of the Queen, I jumped right in. A murder mystery set in the 1920s, on a luxury liner, with a plucky amateur sleuth, PLUS an assist by Agatha Christie? Yes please!
One of the best parts of reading historical fiction is being transported to a different time. This book was no exception -I loved reading all the detailed descriptions of the luxury liner and its passengers – the author really brought this part of the past to life and I felt immersed in the story because of how well the setting was fleshed out.
The characters were also enjoyable to meet. I particularly liked Maeve – she makes a great main character and her interactions with Agatha Christie were a treat. It was such fun to imagine Agatha Christie travelling incognito and then offering advice on sleuthing to this a young woman. Maeve can definitely hold her own and I think she’s going to make a great amateur sleuth to base a series around.
The mystery itself was very well done. There were so many victims, suspects, motives and characters but it never felt messy and things were easy to keep track of. I very much enjoyed just following the action and didn’t spend too much time trying to figure out who the killer was because I was having such a good time with the story.
The series premise is also interesting – since Maeve works on a ship there are endless possibilities for crimes and suspects – I have a feeling we’ll be seeing Maeve for a long time to come (I hope so!)
Quote from Shadow of the Queen
