London is elated: the European river towns are small, historic and charming. She gets to see a new port every night, gets to sample an endless array of new cuisine and meet a stream of interesting people. It is a traveler’s dream, and it is anything but predictable.
In Book 3, CRIME (AND LAGER), the cruise takes them into Germany, into its historic towns and fabled beer festivals. But when a festival goer—a loud, arrogant local—turns up dead from drinking too much beer, suspicion falls on the touring passengers. The death is quickly ruled a murder, and London realizes her future—and that of the ship—hinges on her solving the crime.
Laugh-out-loud funny, romantic, endearing, rife with new sights, culture and food, CRIME (AND LAGER) offers a fun and suspenseful trip through the heart of Europe, anchored in an intriguing.
Comment: This is the third installment in the European Voyage series. Although the fictional sections aren't as amazing as I could hope, the history and small details the author includes certainly make for, at least, an interesting reading.
This time, London Rose and the passengers of the river cruise are in Germany and despite the delays caused by the events which took place in the previous installments, they still stop as predicted, in Bamberg, a Bavarian cozy town, known for the amazing breweries in the region. All seems cozy and cute but then the festivities really start off and the passengers also want to participate, including Audrey, someone who hasn't been very active in the other novels but that now takes center stage as she and London get involved with yet another murder. The victim is a magazine critic who always covers the city's beer competitions but that no one really liked. Coincidences make London be again in the perfect place to find the culprit before the cruise has to be delayed once more, but will everyone be happy with what she uncovers?
I will very likely read all the installments in this series despite the fact they aren't as engaging and well done as they could, even for a cozy mystery where the quickness of the events and the elements of the mystery are easy to solve. I think the author is competent in providing a story, a setting, many details but the characters just aren't developed well, especially the protagonists.
London remains a sort of aloof woman, even when she is pondering her life decisions and contemplating her wandering spirit, just liek that of her parents. She still reads as someone who is too lonely and while the author uses her sister's life and children as a way to measure how London would or could feel she is aimless, I can't say any of them is better off than the other. Of course everyone is different and what works for some, doesn't for someone else, but more than knowing this, I'd like to see this used in a way to let us understand where London stands in her decisions. Will she be a traveler all her life? If so, fine, but then I'd prefer the whole "looking for her mother" sub plot to be presented differently because right now it feels as if London is simply this way because she doesn't know what happened to her.
I also think the author could have dealt with these details in a better way. London doesn't read as someone who is easy to understand and I can't say if I'm rooting for her to find answers and settle down or for her to have answers and just keep on traveling. It's as if there's no real definition on what she is supposed to do and part of me feels adrift. It also doesn't help that London doesn't seem to have any particular interest nor goal later on... I think the biggest flaw in the books for me so far has been the lack of personality and characterization of everyone. It's like everyone is just there.
As for the crime investigation, I don't have much to say. Things are presented easily, not overly exaggerated in details, the hints and clues are there and even though the final discovery happens in an obvious coincidental manner - it's always like this, but this time even more so - I still liked to see the steps taken because at the same time this would provide us with actions situations and some clues about some characters. I think the motive for the crime was a bit over the top, could have been easily avoided but I suppose I can accept some things in life just happen in ways we could not imagine.
As it happened with my experience reading the previous books, one of - if not the best - elements I liked the most in this one was all the interesting historical and cultural notes the author used to enrich the plot, especially what we can learn from the Bavaria region where the cruise stopped. I especially liked to know there are differences between that region and the rest of Germany, as it happens in any other country's regions (but we always tend to label things together), and how much importance is given to the beer production apart from the known facts.
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