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Passage Reading: Murder at the Marina

We are shoving off from the Green Turtle Cay in a few hours. It's roughly a 29-hour passage until we arrive in Ft. Pierce and the end of our 2018 Bahamas adventure. If we've learned one thing about passage making, it's the importance of lots of chocolate and something to read or listen to. Thank goodness we have perfected our Coconut Chocolate Brownie recipe (it includes coconut rum!) and Matt has a fresh copy of Murder at the Marina to keep him busy! 

 It might seem like smooth sailing is ahead for Mollie, but as every boater knows, it's cloudy with a chance of death! 
Lucy was lucky enough to get an advanced copy to check out. She gives it two thumbs up, but recommends baking some brownies to snack on while reading. The book should really come with the brownies, but as yet the Amazon drone's payload capacity is sadly insufficient. 

If you're looking around for a fun summer read, check out our friend Ellen's newest book. We'll just go ahead and let her describe it in her own words...

From "The Cynical Sailor" Ellen:

Thanks for hosting me on your site today to celebrate the release of my cozy mystery, Murder at the Marina. This is the first book in the lighthearted and humorous Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery series, featuring a reluctant sailor turned amateur sleuth.

My own sailing adventures and misadventures inspired me to write this series. My husband and I bought our first sailboat in New Zealand in 2012. After a couple of years cruising in those beautiful waters, we returned to the States and bought a bigger boat which we moved onto in 2015. We've since cruised in Florida and the Bahamas, labored over endless boat projects, and worked to keep our cruising kitty (savings) topped up.

I wanted to reflect my experiences learning to sail, cruising and living aboard a boat, and being part of the boating community in my cozy mysteries. You could say that there's a little bit of me in my main character, Mollie.

I thought I'd share one of the boating tidbits which I wrote about in Murder at the Marina—namely, how much it costs. There's a saying that BOAT stands for “break out another thousand.” It would actually be more accurate if it said, “many thousands,” because owning a boat isn't cheap.
When her husband starts putting a list together of everything they need to buy for their boat, Mollie is stunned at how much it is all going to cost. I can completely relate to how she feels. I remember being astonished at how quickly our savings account was depleted just by doing routine maintenance and repairs to our first boat. It will be interesting to see over the course of the series how Mollie copes as costs mount up.

Too true Ellen! What's on our summer list? New fridge: $1200. New trampoline: $1500. New paddleboard: $1500. Everything else that we haven't broken yet but will: innumerable! 

If you'd like to learn more about Mollie and her sailing adventures, you can find details about Murder at the Marina below.

What's this book about? Does it have actionable ways that I can murder my partner? 

A dilapidated sailboat for your anniversary—not very romantic. A dead body on board—even worse.

Mollie McGhie is hoping for diamonds for her tenth wedding anniversary. Instead, her husband presents her with a dilapidated sailboat. Just one problem—she doesn’t know anything about boats, nor does she want to.

When Mollie discovers someone murdered on board, she hopes it will convince her husband that owning a boat is a bad idea. Unfortunately, he’s more determined than ever to fix the boat up and set out to sea.

Mollie finds herself drawn into the tight-knit community living at Palm Tree Marina in Coconut Cove, a small town on the Florida coast. She uncovers a crime ring dealing in stolen marine equipment, investigates an alien abduction, eats way too many chocolate bars, adopts a cat, and learns far more about sailing than she ever wanted to.

Can Mollie discover who the murderer is before her nosiness gets her killed?


Who is this Agatha Christie of the seas? 
Ellen Jacobson writes mystery and scifi/fantasy stories. She is the author of the “MollieMcGhie Sailing Mystery” series. She lives on a sailboat with her husband, exploring the world from the water. When she isn't working on boat projects or seeking out deserted islands, she blogs about their adventures at The Cynical Sailor. 
You can connect with Ellen: Newsletter Sign-up


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What's on your summer reading list? What's your favorite reading snack? 

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5 comments

  1. Thanks so much for being part of the Murder at the Marina Blog Tour & Fiesta!! Love this picture of Lucy and I'm loving the description of me as "Agatha Christie of the Seas" :-)

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  2. Hi guys! Love your blog. I have been following you for a while! My husband and 6 kids live on a Lagoon 410 and we are at the marina in Vero Beach for the summer. If you make it this way, would love to meet you! We are hard to miss..the crazy sailing family on the dock in front of the office!haha!-Krista

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    1. You have to meet Matt, Lucy, and Hastings some time. They are so much fun!

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  3. Great introduction to Ellen's book, Lucy, and such wonderful support! Yep, owning a boat is expensive. And, necessary (read: less fun) items are always bought first. Better not to sink, as a start. We never had enough left for toys. :-(

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