Customer Reviews

Grave Review: A Jubilee Showboat Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery)

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The Jubilee Palace showboat has stopped for a performance in Moss Hollow, Kentucky. It is soon discovered that Moss Hollow is the birthplace of the troupe's lead actress, Marianne Dresden.

Apparently Marianne Dresden was born Mary Alice Kobb and left her parents' cabin and a big secret and ran away from the river town. The town appears to be run by the Diggers family. Everywhere Gwen Barlow turns, there is another member of the Diggers family.

Gwen's mother inherited the Jubilee Palace and now lives on it with her daughter Gwen and her son Preston.

After the performance, Mary Alice's father is found murdered on the showboat, grounding it in Moss Hollow until the investigation is completed. Gwen had so hoped they could leave right after the performance to avoid problems with the Kobb family.

In an attempt to free the Jubilee so it can move on, Gwen begins to investigate the murder to try to assist the sheriff. She soon finds that many people had reasons to see Mr. Kobb eliminated. In her attempts to find the truth, she has to deal with small-town prejudice and a country preacher who takes a fancy to Gwen. Then there's the crude moonshiner who once dated Mary Alice. Mary Alice wants nothing to do with anyone in Moss Hollow.

Gwen is happy to have the handsome showboat captain, Carson Stockwell, assisting her in the investigation and protecting her when needed.

Before the Jubilee is finally freed to go, a miracle arrives for Gwen. Can Gwen solve the murder without putting herself in harm and losing a chance at the miracle?

I love this series set on an old showboat. The characters are so enjoyable. So many different personalities and yet it is easy to keep them straight as you read. The author has done a great job of creating them and making them come to life. I feel as if I've been aboard the showboat when I'm reading.

Gwen is a fun, but determined young woman. She has to be to be able to run the Jubilee. But there are some twists in this book that make her relook at her life.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the next one.

After inheriting the showboat the Jubilee Palace, The Barlows, mother Lillian daughter Gwen and brother Preston leave their staid existence in a small town and perform shows along the rivers of America. Their latest stop is Moss Hollow, Kentucky; an insular village that makes the star of the show Marianne Dresden acts very peculiar. Instead of acting like her casual out going self, she hides in her stateroom.

Gwen learns the reason the star is acting despondent and reclusive is because she came from this town and her real name is Mary Alice Kobb who left home in disgrace. Her father, a stern emotionally abusive man wants her to come home which she refuses to do and after the performances his body is found dead. The sheriff refuses to let the Jubilee leave until the murderer is caught and when another killing occurs, Gwen decides to snoop never realizing that she will be caught in a killer's trap.

Readers who like exciting amateur sleuth novels set in an American historical setting near the turn of the twentieth century will find the Jubilee showboat mysteries a pure delight. Cynthia Thomason creates characters that are easy to like and places then in situations that range from the comical to dangerous sometimes in the same scene. She creates a picture of a bygone era, one this reviewer finds enchanting.

Harriet Klausner