Murder On Board, my new fiction novel is a story of a modern-day cruise liner, the SS Azara, which carries two thousand passengers and eight hundred crew across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, the Carribean and South America before returning to Southampton, England. The cruise, which lasts a full fifty days, is a holiday of a lifetime for the passengers but for some onboard, it may end up being the final holiday of their lifetime.
Why so?
Well, because on this cruise the average age of passengers is seventy-three years so the Trafalgar Cruises advertisement should not have read
Adult Cruise in the byline but more accurately
Geriatric Cruise. When people reach this age, life becomes less certain. A percentage, say 2% of passengers will die from natural causes. Another 3% will develop illnesses while onboard as they cope with the rough seas, high humidity and over-indulging in all of life's pleasures.
Lifes Pleasures ?- such as what?
Dinner out, every night for most passengers is a five-course meal. Your average adult when at home would be lucky, to eat out once a week, nay once a month. Fine dining for fifty nights on the trot would test the staying power of young and healthy individuals. Imagine the effect on ancient bowels, intestines and stomachs of the elderly as they take to bed within an hour of eating? Pass the indigestion tablets, please.
It's a well-known fact that alcohol intake is significantly upped on holidays in general and this is particularly encouraged by the cruise lines as they offer drinks packages to accompany the evening meals. The onboard bars are open from early to very late. Duty-free alcohol sales by the shops on board occur regularly throughout the cruise. Once the ship reaches port alcohol is invariably for sale in the harbour and local shops and can be brought back on board and in quantity.
The sun, once the Caribbean has been reached, is well in excess of 25 degrees most days and holidaymakers, particularly the elderly are rather slow to get the message to use sunblock.
What's the plot?
Luke our central character and his wife Margaret are much younger than most of their fellow passengers and this cruise celebrates Luke's retirement. He's not much of a sun-worshipper but he is determined to challenge himself on this cruise. He and Margaret will be joining classes to learn how to play bridge and dance ballroom dancing. Both will be a challenge for Luke but Margaret appreciates his commitment because these are both activities she really enjoys and he has avoided to date.
Little does she realise that in stretching Luke to learn these skills she is jeopardising other passengers lives.
