Lily Shepherd boards a cruise liner for a new life in Australia and is plunged into a world of cocktails, jazz and glamorous friends. But as the sun beats down, poisonous secrets begin to surface. Suddenly Lily finds herself trapped with nowhere to go ...
Australia, six-weeks later
The world is at war, the cruise liner docks, and a beautiful young woman is escorted onto dry land in handcuffs.
What has she done?
From the opening section when we read about a woman being walked down a gangway in handcuffs, I found myself asking questions, what did you do?, and with the introduction of each new character could it be you?, to the the last chapter when all my questions and more were answered. Dangerous Crossing is not a 'whodunnit' in a traditional sense of the word, in fact I'd go as far to say that the murder/mystery was almost secondary, it is more of a character-driven story on an eventful journey.
It's July 1939 and with the political unrest happening in Europe we meet a colourful cast of characters as they embark on a five week journey on the ocean liner Orontes that will take them to a new life on the other side of the world. From the offset it is clear that many of the travellers have a story to tell as to why they are taking this journey but at the same time some have dark secrets that they wish to remain hidden. As paths cross, friendships blossom which would more than likely never have happened at home due to their different cultures and professions.
I loved the whole sense and time throughout this story, of what life must have been like on the brink of war, and seeing the journey to the unknown through the eyes of Lily as she enjoys new experiences both onboard and onshore at the stopover ports, I could picture so vividly the encounter Lily experienced in Gibraltar with the macaques. It's clear that the author has done a lot of research as her descriptive writing really pulls you into the sights and sounds they experience along the way. I particularly loved reading at the end the real story that influenced the writing of this book although I don't think that journey was quite as eventful as Lily's!
Dangerous Crossing was a stunning read from start to finish, I'm only kicking myself that I left it so long to read as I've had a copy of the book since late last year. I loved this first dip into historical fiction by Rachel Rhys, otherwise known as Tammy Cohen, so hope that it won't be the last even though I do enjoy reading her thrillers too.
I'd like to thank Anne Cater for inviting me to be part of the blog tour and Transworld for my copy of Dangerous Crossing to read.
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