Great Escapes Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: Death on the Danube by Jennifer S. Alderson

Today I'm participating in the Death on the Danube Blog Tour.  In this post you'll find book and author information along with my review.  And be sure to enter the giveaway below.

About the book . . .

   

 Death on the Danube: A New Year's Murder in Budapest

Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series

Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Traveling Life Press (November 28, 2019)
Print Length ~200 Pages
ASIN: B07XLF95SN

Synopsis . . .   Who knew a New Year’s trip to Budapest could be so deadly? The tour must go on – even with a killer in their midst…

Recent divorcee Lana Hansen needs a break. Her luck has run sour for going on a decade, ever since she got fired from her favorite job as an investigative reporter. When her fresh start in Seattle doesn’t work out as planned, Lana ends up unemployed and penniless on Christmas Eve.

Dotty Thompson, her landlord and the owner of Wanderlust Tours, is also in a tight spot after one of her tour guides ends up in the hospital, leaving her a guide short on Christmas Day.

When Dotty offers her a job leading the tour group through Budapest, Hungary, Lana jumps at the chance. It’s the perfect way to ring in the new year and pay her rent!

What starts off as the adventure of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare when Carl, her fellow tour guide, is found floating in the Danube River. Was it murder or accidental death? Suspects abound when Lana discovers almost everyone on the tour had a bone to pick with Carl.

But Dotty insists the tour must go on, so Lana finds herself trapped with nine murder suspects. When another guest turns up dead, Lana has to figure out who the killer is before she too ends up floating in the Danube…

Introducing Lana Hansen, tour guide, reluctant amateur sleuth, and star of the Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series. Join Lana as she leads tourists and readers to fascinating cities around the globe on intriguing adventures that, unfortunately for Lana, often turn deadly.

Feel-good stories about friendship, travel, and celebrating new experiences. Coming soon: Books 2 and 3 in the Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series!

My review . . . Seattleite Lana Hansen’s life is adrift.  A disgraced investigative journalist, Lana is smarting from her recent divorce, underemployment, and precarious financial situation.  When her landlady Dotty Thompson, owner of Wanderlust Tours, offers her a chance to cancel her rental debt by assisting with a tour, Lana is tempted but a tad reluctant. Is Dotty’s proposal the financial and career turning point Lana so desperately seeks?  And is Lana up to the task?  There is, of course, a small catch.  Lana must join a tour already in progress, feign familiarity with places she's never visited, and pretend to be older.  The 37-year-old Lana ultimately decides to accept the free trip to Budapest, adding gray highlights to her hair and studying up on local information to give the appearance of an experienced 50-year-old tour guide.  What could go wrong?

Lana’s assignment is to fill in for an injured tour guide for the remaining six days of the trip, working with Carl Miller, the other tour leader who is known for his charming, slick personality.  As Lana settles into her tour duties, Carl goes missing, and his body is later found afloat in the Danube.  Was his death deliberate or accidental?  The eclectic group of tourists, many of whom have had personal experiences with Carl, quickly fall into two categories: amateur sleuths and prime suspects, and it is up to Lana to use her investigative reporting skills to identify the guilty and save the tour from further mishaps.

Death on the Danube is an entertaining and enjoyable read.  In addition to the fun of solving a mystery on foreign soil, this story reads like a travelogue.  The richly-detailed descriptions of historic landmarks—from castles, to opera houses, museums, holiday markets, and grand hotels—actually make readers feel as though they too are on the tour.  This book is ideal for those who enjoy travel and those who like to travel vicariously.

Lana’s own wanderlust—and that of readers of this promising new series—will continue to be fulfilled in future installments planned by the author, with destinations of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Costa Rica on the horizon, and no passport or packing is required.

Giveaway . . .  Enter to win a Death on the Danube prize package by clicking on this link.


About the author . . .  Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, she moved to Darwin, Australia, before settling in the Netherlands. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. When not writing, she can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip.

Jennifer’s love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning mystery series—the Zelda Richardson Mysteries and Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries—and standalone stories.


Author links . . . 
Website: http://www.jennifersalderson.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/JennifeSAlderson
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jenniferSAldersonauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JSAauthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/JenniferSAlderson
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-s-alderson


Purchase links . . . 
Amazon COM 
Amazon Worldwide
Amazon Author Page

  

Tour Participants . . .

November 29 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
November 29 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
November 30 – I Read What You Write – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 1 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 2 – TBR Book Blog – REVIEW
December 2 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
December 3 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 3 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
December 4 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
December 4 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
December 5 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
December 5 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW
December 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 6 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
December 7 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 7 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
December 8 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 9 – Diane Reviews Books – REVIEW
December 9 – This Is My Truth Now – SPOTLIGHT
December 10 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW  
December 10 – eBook addicts – REVIEW
December 11 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
December 11 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
December 12 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
December 12 – That’s What She’s Reading – GUEST POST

Note . . . I received a complimentary copy of Death on the Danube from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

This Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the Book Club Librarian blog.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Sharing this original post on Twitter and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.