Cruise Ship Chaos, a cozy mystery from Karen Cino

Please help us give Karen Cino a very warm welcome this week. Karen is here this week to share Cruise Ship Chaos with us. Cruise Ship Chaos is a Cozy Mystery with a touch of romance. Welcome, Karen! We are all excited to hear more about Cruise Ship Chaos.

About Cruise Ship Chaos:

Connie and Sara go on a cruise with their detective boyfriends. This is the first time Connie is on a cruise. Even though she was reluctant at first, she quickly settles into their suite. This trip was about relaxing and not worrying about solving murders. However, as Connie and Brett are making their way to their room, the elevator door open to a staged dead body. Once again, the women are on the case. Will they be able to solve the case before they become the next victims?

#6 in the Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series
Genre: Cozy Mystery with Romance elements

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Excerpt from Cruise Ship Chaos:

“What’s the game plan?” Connie asked when the elevator doors closed.

“We have little time so we have to move fast.”

“What if the husband is in the room?”

“I’ll knock on the door and we’ll take it from there.”

“That goes without saying. But the difference here is that there is no back door or closet to hide in if the husband comes when we are searching through their things,” Connie warned.

“We’ll be fine, trust me.”

Connie rolled her eyes. “So, tell me your game plan?”

“If the room is set up like ours, then I’ll search the dresser and you hit the nightstand.”

“Hopefully, they unpacked or else we will be searching through their luggage.”

“You always worry for nothing. Have I ever steered you wrong?”

Connie bit her bottom lip. Every time she got involved in searching a house, they always wound up in a compromising position. And if it weren’t for Brett and Warren they would have been seriously injured or killed by now. They have been lucky that neither one of them had wound up in the hospital.

“That is such an unfair question. “

Before Sara could answer the elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the empty hallway. Connie couldn’t understand where all the people were. For such an enormous ship, there was no one wandering in the halls or on the elevator.

“Looking good,” Sara whispered. “Let’s see. We are almost there. A few more doors.” Sara stopped in front of room 469 and knocked on the door.

“What are you going to say if he answers the door?”

“Chances are he’s not in there because he’s out building his alibi.”

Sara pressed her ear against the door while Connie kept her sight on either side of the hallway, hoping that no one opened their door. After a minute passed, Sara knocked again. They waited and when no one answered, Sara tapped the room key on the panel and they both slid in.

“Boy, this room is compact. They don’t even have a porthole,” Connie said.

“That’s why we are in the executive suites. No way was I being confined to a room this size. They are lucky they can get into the bed.”

“I know. At least we have the couch area and the terrace. But enough chatter. Let’s get the job done. I don’t want to get caught in here,” Connie said.

“All right. I don’t see their suitcases, so chances are they unpacked.”

Connie opened the closet door and agreed. “Their clothes are hanging in the closet. Damn is their closet small.” She giggled. “I’ll go check the nightstand.”

“I got the dresser.”

Connie opened the drawer and all she saw were novels, medicine and vitamin bottles. She took her phone out of her handbag and took pictures of the bottles before closing the drawer. Going over to the other side, it surprised her to see a box of condoms stuffed in the back of the drawer amongst his bathing suits.

“I found condoms here,” Connie called out. As she went to turn around, she stepped on something. She bent down and picked up a man’s wallet. Inside was the driver’s license of Bryan Kabale, who lives in Somerset, New Jersey and was born on April 18, 1948. There was money in his wallet as well as various credit cards. Connie snapped a picture of his driver’s license and quickly glanced through them to see if there was anything else that would be a clue, but turned up empty.

“Well, well, well. You will never guess what I just found.” Sara said.

“I found Kabale’s wallet. Apparently he was in a hurry to get out of the room and dropped his wallet on the way out.”

“Which means we have little time. Let me take a picture of the divorce papers I found in Bryan’s drawer.”

“Get out of here. Divorce papers? Are they signed?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I get to that page, but I doubt it. This isn’t the divorce decree.”

Connie watched as Sara snapped pictures of the document before placing it back into the drawers. Sara went through the last two drawers, coming up empty before she walked to the closet. She opened the door and squatted down to where there was a safe.

“Locked. There’s no way get it open. I say we do a quick sweep of the bathroom before getting out of here,” Sara advised.

They opened the bathroom door and laughed. The bathroom was the size of a storage cabinet, compared to the large shower in their rooms.

“I don’t see anything here. Let’s get out of here.” Connie slowly peeped out the door and looked both ways as if she were crossing train tracks. She nodded to Sara and slipped down the hallway back to the elevator. “The guys must be wondering where we are.”

About the Author:

Karen Cino is a multi-published author who has been writing since she was fourteen years old. She started her career by writing poetry, short stories and articles for her high school newspaper. Her daily walks down at the boardwalk are what gets her muse going. It clears her mind and helps her find realistic plot ideas and characters, boosting up her muse. Karen loves writing about local places that people can relate to.

Karen loves the summer, loves the beach. Her previous books were written and take place in various places across Staten Island. Karen relocated to the Jersey Shore in 2015 and traded in the Staten Island Boardwalk for the Jersey Shore. Her Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series takes place at the Jersey Shore.

Karen is a member of Romance Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writing Association, Liberty States Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime.

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