Shattered by a broken engagement and a business venture derailed by Jerome Haddad, her unscrupulous partner, Giovanna Rogers goes on a luxury Galapagos cruise with her grandmother to decompress.At least that’s what her grandmother thinks. Giovanna is determined to make Jerome pay for what he’s done, and she has a tip he’s headed for the Galapagos.While snorkeling in Gardner Bay off the coast of … off the coast of Española Island, Giovanna and another cruise passenger, tortoise researcher Laurel Pardo, both become separated from the group and Laurel is left behind. No one on the ship will acknowledge Laurel is missing, and Giovanna suspects a cover-up.
When the police come on board to investigate a death, Giovanna is sure the victim is Laurel. She’s anxious to give her testimony to the attractive local detective assigned to the case. Instead, she learns someone else is dead, and she’s a person of interest.
Resolved to keep searching for Laurel and make sense of her disappearance, Giovanna finds that several people on board the cruise ship have reasons to want Laurel gone. One is a scam involving Tio Armando, the famous Galapagos giant tortoise and a major tourist attraction in the archipelago. And Jerome Haddad has a hand in it. Thinking she’s the cat in this game, Giovanna gets too involved and becomes the mouse, putting her life in jeopardy. But if she doesn’t stop him, Jerome will go on to ruin others.
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What an amazing location to set this novel which rapidly turns a cruise of a lifetime into a murder scene, and a deepening mystery about the star of the Galapagos islands, a giant tortoise called Tio Armando.
These celebrated islands are heavily reliant on tourism for the funding of conservation projects involving the unique flora and fauna, some of which is near extinction. There are several interested parties in maintaining this lucrative business opportunity and some are therefore keen to cover up discrepancies and even murder.
Things are not adding up on board the luxury cruise liner and the mystery deepens as one of the passengers appears to have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. This is followed as the passengers disembark for guided tours of the various conservation projects to find that promised exhibits are missing.
Giovanna is not only there to take in the sights and is on a mission to expose and get justice after being fleeced by a habitual conman, discovering in the processs that she is not the only one aboard the ship who has been taken to the cleaners. The subject of her investigation however has his own agenda, with prospective victims already drawn into his schemes. Lives are at risk as well as fortunes and the action heats up in a race against time.
The author has written articles on her visit to the Galapagos Islands and clearly spent her time well on researching the various islands and conservation efforts. This gives the novel a very authentic feel.
The action is played out on the ship, in the waters rich with marine life surrounding the islands and ashore as the group of sightseers visit scientific projects and the capital of the Galapagos.
The players are diverse and some of them you wouldn’t necessarily want to be trapped on a cruise liner with, but all have a part to play as the mystery unravels. There are some lovely interludes as we tag along with the passengers exploring this incredible region, where we are introduced to the wonders of the nature to be found there. And there is also the burgeoning romance between Giovanna and the young detective, who may be the only person who can bring all the threads of this mystery together to provide us with a satisfactory conclusion.
This is an exciting adventure as well as a murder mystery with the bonus of being a wonderful introduction to the Galapagos Islands.
Secrets of the Galapagos is a mystery novel written by Sharon Marchisello. I became aware of the book through her blog and social media presence and had added one of her tales to my TBR. Last week, it was next in line in the queue, so I bought it online and dived in… it was a great addition to the week, and now it’s time to share a bit about the book.
To start, the setting was fresh and unique to me. I knew a little about these islands but not enough to claim anything intelligent. I really enjoyed how Marchisello weaved in facts and imagery so that not only were we readers on a vacation with her, we also felt and experienced the magic of the setting. Between boat rides, scuba diving, animals, and nature, it was a great way to see the world without having to leave my apartment. Though I’d love to get there some day, it’s probably not in the cards for a while. Next best thing — follow a mystery that offers up some killer intentions and an education!
Giovanna and her grandmother are on a cruise when one of their fellow passengers doesn’t make it back from an off-boat scuba experience. They’re certain she’s missing but others claim they saw her on the second boat bringing people back to the main ship. Soon, a break-in happens on the ship and a person is found dead in the ship’s pool. Is it all connected? As we meet ~20 passengers and crew, readers get to determine which one is lying and how the whole puzzle fits together. The story was great. I liked the characters. It’s a clean writing style, and it kept my attention.
As a mystery, it also brought some suspense. It’s not a frightening thriller, more a gentle boil that bursts when the culprit’s nefarious plans come to light. Giovanna’s own history is in question too, as she finds out the man who broke up her engagement lurks on a nearby ship, and he’s pulled financial schemes on others too. Is he involved in the murder? If that’s not enough, a giant tortoise (known in these islands by most as Tio Armando) has gone missing, and people are being awfully vague. As we learn the backgrounds of the guests, I found myself getting more interested in the plot too… someone was being duplicitous, and there were several options to consider.
If you enjoy a good mystery with some romance and a lovely setting, this will be a lovely afternoon read. The POV changes a few times, and it takes a bit to adjust on an e-book to understand the perspective has moved to someone new, but once I figured out that piece… it was nice to recognize how a few people viewed the mystery on the ship. I would definitely read more by the author too.