Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
This is the first installment in the Happy Hoofers Mystery series. The storyline centers around a group of five fifty-something tap dancing friends (Tina, Mary Louise, Pat, Janice and Gini). When the women post a video to Youtube showing their tapping skills they are hired to perform on a Russian Cruise ship sailing the Volga river from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
The cruise doesn't start out on a good "foot" when the women discover the food is horrible, the staff is surly and aren't fluent in English, and their staterooms have barely enough room to turn around. With all the guests complaining about the horrible food cooked by English Chef Kenneth Allgood, it is no surprise that he turns up missing. The police are summoned to look for the missing Chef and when they locate a dead body floating in the river with the Chef's passport in it's pocket they determine the missing man has been murdered and thrown overboard.
This book caught my eye with the colorful cover, the cute dog in the window, and the tagline Hilarity and Hijinks. It has been in my TBR pile for a while and I decided it was time to read it as part of my Goodreads Summer 2015 challenge. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. There is only a brief two page mention of a stray dog that has no bearing on the storyline whatsoever, and I definitely did not find myself laughing out loud at any hijinks on the high seas.
The women are a close group of friends and I enjoyed the relationship dynamics between them, but they really do not do any investigating into the murder. The women have a very brief conversation with a police inspector but most of the information regarding the investigation comes from a third party passed on to them over meals and drinks.
There are very good descriptions of the Russian scenery and landmarks which I found interesting as I know very little about Russian history. I enjoyed learning a few Russian words and liked the recipes that were included throughout the book so it wasn't a complete failure.
I will give the second in the series Flamenco, Flan and Fatalities a try just to see what the Happy Hoofers are up to on their next adventure to Spain.
The cruise doesn't start out on a good "foot" when the women discover the food is horrible, the staff is surly and aren't fluent in English, and their staterooms have barely enough room to turn around. With all the guests complaining about the horrible food cooked by English Chef Kenneth Allgood, it is no surprise that he turns up missing. The police are summoned to look for the missing Chef and when they locate a dead body floating in the river with the Chef's passport in it's pocket they determine the missing man has been murdered and thrown overboard.
This book caught my eye with the colorful cover, the cute dog in the window, and the tagline Hilarity and Hijinks. It has been in my TBR pile for a while and I decided it was time to read it as part of my Goodreads Summer 2015 challenge. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. There is only a brief two page mention of a stray dog that has no bearing on the storyline whatsoever, and I definitely did not find myself laughing out loud at any hijinks on the high seas.
The women are a close group of friends and I enjoyed the relationship dynamics between them, but they really do not do any investigating into the murder. The women have a very brief conversation with a police inspector but most of the information regarding the investigation comes from a third party passed on to them over meals and drinks.
There are very good descriptions of the Russian scenery and landmarks which I found interesting as I know very little about Russian history. I enjoyed learning a few Russian words and liked the recipes that were included throughout the book so it wasn't a complete failure.
I will give the second in the series Flamenco, Flan and Fatalities a try just to see what the Happy Hoofers are up to on their next adventure to Spain.
