Customer Reviews

Death Takes Passage

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took almost the same voyage with the Cruise West's Spirit of Endeavor from Juneau to Seattle a few years ago. This book relives that Inner Passage voyage with the Spirit of 98 brilliantly. Each town is described excellently. Mystery was inventive. I recognized so many real people in this book. The author must have enjoyed writing this immensely and it shows. A wonderful series. Got out all my pictures from that voyage to enjoy once again. Great adventure!

This book is great! It is one of my favorite Sue Henry books. She made clear images in my mind of the scenery. Ms. Henry did a wonderful job at keeping me guessing who did it until the end.

This book proves to be rather interesting and somewhat entertaining murder-mystery. Its part of Sue Henry's Alex Jensen and Jessie Arnold series. This time around, Jessie is without any doggies to help her around, a changed of pace for her. Most of the story take place aboard a ship and the story - which proves to be somewhat unoriginal - still was well written and paced.

I thought due to the fact that it take place aboard a cruise ship, this was one of Sue Henry's lesser Alaskan atmospheric books. Tidbits of Alaskana flavors is shown but this proves to be rather a run of a mill thriller. This book is more of an Alex Jensen book with Jessie Arnold playing somewhat of a second fiddle.

Despite of this rather lackluster endorsement, I still thought that the book was a page turner and the plot ended up working out pretty well. But overall, Sue Henry readers may regard this book as one of her lesser works.

The Spirit of '98, a small cruise ship, sets sail up the Inside Passage of Alaska to commemorate the Gold Rush of 1898. Alex Jensen and his girlfriend Jessie Arnold are aboard as official representatives of the State of Alaska. Alex is looking forward to a leisurely cruise, but his police skills are called into play when some valuable items are stolen from several staterooms. Soon the problems compound when a dead body is found in the water and one of the crewmembers disappears. In the meantime, 2 men have stolen a sailboat and later a powerboat to commit a crime which is unknown to them. Eventually the two story lines merge and the entire ship is threatened by a diabolical plot. Alex untangles the mystery and sets out to save the ship from imminent danger. Sue Henry can always be counted on for wonderful descriptions of Alaska interwoven with an intriguing mystery.

Not as good as some of her books, but if you enjoy reading about Alaska with a little action this is a good book.

Alaska state trooper Sergeant Alex Jensen and his girlfriend Iditarod veteran Jessie Arnold are excited as they join the centennial celebration of the famous Klondike gold rush. On board the cruise ship is many famous people and a million dollars worth of gold. This is expected to be the gala event of the season and Alex plans to relish the event by wearing full dress attire at the party.

Everything changes when rooms are broken into and valuables stolen. Things get even nastier when someone tries to murder a celebration official. They turn downright ugly when a crew member is found dead. Alex and Jessie begins to investigate the incidents in which there are many suspects, including someone(s) who prefer to remain anonymous.

No one does Alaska (historical and present) better than Sue Henry does and her fourth Alex Jensen mystery enhances her reputation for brilliantly scribing the final frontier. Though the dialogue occasionally seems artificial, the lead characters remain refreshingly huggable and the story line is fast paced and extremely interesting. Readers will want to book a ticket on the cruise ship, DEATH TAKES PASSAGE. The audience will know that they have gotten their money's worth.

Harriet Klausner

This is another fast-paced murder mystery by Sue Henry with great descriptions of the Alaskan countryside. It keeps you guessing until the end.

Fundamentally, this is a good "locked room" sort of mystery. On a ship with less than 200 people (and 15 tons of gold) there's only so many places to look for a murder. Still, Alex and Jessie have quite a search on their hands as sub-plots emerge. Periodic, anonymous conversations by the bad guys only add to the suspense. The final 20% of the book has lots of action (and remarkably little blood).

The use of the scenery is both a strong and weak point in the book. This series is a favorite because I enjoy the armchair traveling experience of going to Alaska in the books. Maybe it was having to listen to every word on tape, but the traveloge was a bit too much in this book.

Finally, make sure to read the author's notes. This book is based on a real ship and a real anniversary sailing. Lots of real people are used as characters which is fun.

I just finished Death Takes Passage, and now I feel homesick! Ms Henry did great justice to the beauty of Southeast Alaska. I especially appreciated the inclusion of several people that I know from Skagway. The story was fabulous, even without Tank and Jessie's other sled dogs. Fast-paced, full of action and lots of twists and turns, I highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed the mix of the mystery itself with the enjoyment by the passengers of the voyage. Quite a fun story to follow beginning to end. I was born/raised in Alaska, currently living in So. Calif. and it was so delightful to see familiar place-names and gain new information about the Klondike Gold Rush. This was my first read of Sue Henry and I look forward to reading the rest of her books.