Set Sail for Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Henrie O Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Carolyn Hart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Henrie O Mysteries | Publication Date: April 10, 2007

When retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins, Henrie O to her friends, receives a call for help, she discovers that love once kindled never burns to ashes. Although she refused Jimmy Lennox's marriage proposal, there is still a special place for him in her heart. She wished him well when he found happiness with Sophia Montgomery, world-famous documentary filmmaker and stepmother to the now grown heirs of a great fortune. Sophia is at odds with the heirs, and Jimmy fears for her safety. He asks Henrie O to come along with the family on a Baltic cruise. Henrie O can't turn down her old friend, though old passions are stirred when he calls.

On the voyage she soon realizes this dysfunctional family is plunging toward destruction and one of the travelers has murder in mind. As the ports of call pass—Copenhagen, Gdynia, Tallinn, St. Petersburg—death inexorably approaches. Henrie O works desperately to save Jimmy and to bring hope to lives blighted by anger, resentment, and heartbreak.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the long-awaited seventh installment of Hart's popular series starring feisty retired journalist Henrie O (after 2001's Resort to Murder), Henrie O's erstwhile lover, Jimmy, has married another woman, the dashing Sophia Montgomery, and he's afraid that one of Sophia's stepchildren from a previous marriage is trying to kill her. When Jimmy begs Henrie O to accompany his family on a cruise and get to the bottom of the suspicious accidents that keep befalling Sophia, she reluctantly agrees. It turns out that Sophia's stepkids have plenty of reasons to hate her, not least that she stands in the way of their inheritance. The scheming stepkids are predictable and two-dimensional, but Henrie O remains a complex character, and her struggles to keep her feelings for Jimmy platonic are every bit as engaging as the putative mystery. Henrie O's fans, and devotees of Hart's lighter Death on Demand series, will enjoy this quick read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Retired newswoman Henrie O Collins sails on a two-week Baltic cruise to help out an old friend and former boyfriend, James Lennox, who is concerned that someone is trying to kill his wife, documentary filmmaker Sophia Montgomery. James believes that there have already been two attempts on Sophia's life, and he suspects that one of her second husband's children is out to kill her because she controls when they will receive their inheritance. The whole family is required to go on the cruise, during which Sophia will announce her decision regarding the inheritance. James wants Henrie O to help protect Sophia, who believes James' concerns are ridiculous, and to determine which child is the would-be killer. Framed by descriptions of the lovely Baltic ports of call, Hart's seventh in the Henrie O series combines engaging subordinate characters and surprising plot twists with the charms of Henrie O herself, who grapples with her past feelings for James while trying to solve the case. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006072403X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060724030
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,484,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Hart writes the Death on Demand series set in a mystery bookstore on a South Carolina sea island and the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series featuring a lively redheaded ghost. Coming in 2012 from Berkley Prime Crime will be DEATH COMES SILENTLY, 22nd in the Death on Demand series, and WHAT THE CAT SAW, fist in the series featuring Nela Farley who has an uncanny sense of cats' thoughts.

She is also the author of several WWII novels, including ESCAPE FROM PARIS which is now available for the first time in its complete uncut version. Escape from Paris is the story of two sisters who defy the Gestapo to help British fliers avoid capture.

In Ghost at Work, Bailey Ruth returns to earth to help someone in trouble. She moves a body, investigates a murder, saves a marriage, prevents a suicide, and--in a fiery finale--rescues a child who knows too much. In Merry, Merry Ghost, Bailey Ruth protects a little boy from danger. In Ghost in Trouble, Bailey Ruth tries to corral a wilful woman determined to play hunt-the-killer. Coming in 2013 is HIJACKED GHOST which puts Bailey Ruth at risk of ever returning to Heaven.

Letter from Home, a WWII novel set on the home front, received the Agatha Award for Best Mystery of 2003. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers. Thirteen-year-old Gretchen Gilman is working for the small-town newspaper during the hot summer of 1944. Murder occurs on the street where she lives, forever changing her life and the lives of those involved.

Hart was one of 10 mystery authors featured at the National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington, DC, in 2003 for Letter from Home and again in 2007 for Set Sail for Murder, 7th in the Henrie O series. In Set Sail for Murder (new in paperback March 2008), Henrie O joins a troubled family on a Baltic cruise and death is an unwelcome passenger.

Hart has been nominated 9 times for the Agatha Award for Best Novel and has won 3 times. In 2007 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic. She will be the International Guest of Honor at Bloody Words in Toronto on June 6-8, 2008.

Hart is a native of Oklahoma City, a journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and a former president of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, and American Crime Writers League.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I love Carolyn Hart but...., June 14, 2007

By 

Marjorie Cunningham (El Paso, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Set Sail for Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Henrie O Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I had a hard time accepting the premise of this book, that an "old love" would ask Henrie O to come on a cruise and evaluate his family for potential murderers. As I read through the book, the one thing on my mind was that Ms. Hart, a wonderful writer, needed an excuse to take this marvelous trip to Scandanavia and Russia, and so wrote a book around it.

I felt the guilty party was fairly obvious, and the characters became so friendly with Henrie O so rapidly that it was a farce. Why on earth answer her questions? Old friend or not, she definitely intruded on this family gathering, and I was uncomfortable. This book is merely OK, but it comes from a five-star writer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Return of an enjoyable series, June 13, 2007

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Set Sail for Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Henrie O Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Henrie O Collins, a retired newspaper reporter, is surprised to hear from her former lover, Jimmy Lennox. Jimmy has married a wealthy woman named Sophia Montgomery who is in charge of her step-children's trust fund. Sophia will soon make an important decision about her step-children's money and Jimmy is afraid that one of them wants to kill Sophia before she has a chance to make that decision. Jimmy invites Henry O to accompany the family on a Baltic cruise and to try to find out which of the step-children is threatening Sophia's life. Although this puts Henry O in an awkward situation, she agrees to help Jimmy try to protect Sophia. Author Carolyn Hart puts out plenty of red herrings, but I did figure out who the murderer is. Despite knowing the murderer, I enjoyed the book and found the setting of a cruise and the stops at various Scandanavian ports to be very interesting.

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Cozy!, July 10, 2009

By 

The Book Resort "The Book Resort" (Long Island, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Set Sail for Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Henrie O Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Carolyn Hart's long-awaited seventh installment in the highly popular Henri O series after six years takes you on a exotic and opulent cruise.The book kicks off with spunky retired journalist Henri O receiving a phone call from dear friend and one time lover, Jimmy Lennox.Jimmy's wife glamorous world-famous documentary film maker, Sophia, has been barely escaping some weird "accidents " that she just shrugs and shakes off as coincidence. Jimmy fears for his wife's safety and pleads with Henri O to join them on a family cruise to the Baltic that will determine what Sophia will do with her step children from her second husband's inheritance.Henri O reluctantly agrees to join the family, but knows Jimmy would come to her rescue if ever there was a need. Sophia's scheming step children loathe her for controlling their money.As the voyage sets sail we are given a wonderful description of the ports of call and the luxuriant cruise ship. I truly enjoyed my two week cruise with the lovely Henri O. It was my first Henri O book and I am anxious to read the series from the beginning. It was well-written, well-plotted and a delight to read.As a diehard fan of her Death on Demand series I was highly impressed with getting to know this charming, fiesty, humorous character.The one thing I love about picking up a book by Hart is her vast use of vocabulary.