cover image Set Sail for Murder

Set Sail for Murder

R. T. Jordan, . . Kensington, $22 (291pp) ISBN 978-0-7582-2939-7

Near the start of Jordan's giddy, gossipy fourth Polly Pepper mystery (after 2009's A Talent for Murder ), “international entertainment celebrity” Polly—along with her loyal son, Tim, and patient companion, Placenta—embarks from San Francisco on a Polly Pepper Playhouse reunion cruise aboard the Intacti (an anagram of Titanic ). The “Kool Krooz” is scarcely under way before someone slashes the throat of Laura Crawford, a showboating former co-star, with a sharpened DVD from season six of the Polly Pepper Playhouse boxed set. The unsinkable Polly is in rare form as she tries to figure out who murdered the hateful Laura—and avoid becoming the killer's next victim before the Intacti reaches Alaska. Celebrity has-beens, their fickle fans, eccentric crew members, and various oddballs add to the fun. Armed with plenty of champagne, Polly proves once again that she's no slouch as a detective. (June)