It’s here! It was such fun to write this book, but it holds a deep message. Captain Jim and Diana are among a host of international passengers on this transatlantic steamship, because our world is full of variety–shapes, colors, races, religions, genders and affiliations! And many have secrets which Captain Jim must uncover. Strange stories filter through the ship, when a diplomat is gruesomely murdered. BTW, the victim J Nepomuceno was in fact an important Spaniard in the 1870s, so it’s conceivable that he might be around in 1894. And what if someone remembers what he did twenty years before? Hm…
I love ships, but I’m a terrible traveler. I get terribly seasick. So when Captain Jim is up against a ticking clock, he finds himself laid low with Mal de Mer! Aha. Now Diana has a chance to shine!
I wrote this book during 2022, when Roe v Wade was struck down. Then came horrendous news stories of women struggling with terrible dilemmas. I cannot imagine the trauma that having an unviable fetus would bring. What about girls, barely teens, forced to bear a rapist’s child? What cruelty is this, in the world’s most advanced country? Sadly I’ve been watching the country I love gain increasingly misogynistic laws, laws that drive physicians and caregivers from entire states. It’s easy to be righteous about what other people should do, what other women should do. Until it happens to you. When you read Dora’s story I hope you empathize with a woman in a terrible bind, who makes an untenable choice. There, but for the grace of God…
Nev March: Award Winning Author of Historical Mysteries 