Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys Review! #Netgalley #DangerousCrossing

The Book
The ship has been like a world within itself, a vast floating city outside of normal rules. But the longer the journey continues, the more confined it is starting to feel, deck upon deck, passenger upon passenger, all of them churning around each other without anywhere to go...

1939: Europe is on the brink of war when young Lily Shepherd boards an ocean liner in Essex, bound for Australia. She is ready to start anew, leaving behind the shadows in her past. The passage proves magical, complete with live music, cocktails, and fancy dress balls. With stops at exotic locations along the way—Naples, Cairo, Ceylon—the voyage shows Lily places she’d only ever dreamed of and enables her to make friends with those above her social station, people who would ordinarily never give her the time of day. She even allows herself to hope that a man she couldn’t possibly have a future with outside the cocoon of the ship might return her feelings.

But Lily soon realizes that she’s not the only one hiding secrets. Her newfound friends—the toxic wealthy couple Eliza and Max; Cambridge graduate Edward; Jewish refugee Maria; fascist George—are also running away from their pasts. As the glamour of the voyage fades, the stage is set for something sinister to occur. By the time the ship docks, two passengers are dead, war has been declared, and Lily’s life will be changed irrevocably.

More praise for Dangerous Crossing

"[Rhys] offers plenty of glamorous atmosphere, period detail, and engaging ports of call along the way to please both historical fiction readers and mystery lovers."
-- Library Journal

"This is a seductive historical-fiction novel that grabs readers' attention from the first page and doesn't let go...Rhys combines history, intrigue, scandal, and murder, and readers will love it."
-- Booklist

"Suspense is built from the opening page until the jaw dropping ending due to [Rhys'] sharp plotting. Readers will be completely absorbed in every aspect of the characters' lives, the voyage and two murders...a tale to savor."
-- RT Book Reviews

The Author
Rachel Rhys is the pen-name of a successful psychological suspense author. A Dangerous Crossing is her debut novel under this name. The story is inspired by a real diary which the author discovered by accident while helping her mother move house. It was written with care and attention by a servant girl who travelled from England to Australia on a cruise liner in the late 1930s.

Rachel Rhys lives in North London with her family, including a much-loved dog.

The Review

1939: Lily Shephard is on her way to Australia to work as a domestic. On board she meets some entertaining characters. There is a wealthy couple, Eliza and Max, who prefer to be below decks than their own deck. There is Edward who develops an attraction to Lily, and his sister who appears to be overprotective, Maria who is a Jewish refugee and then there is George, a fascist who is really an unlikeable fellow.

Lily finds herself caught up in the world that she would normally not be in. Dress balls, cocktail parties, a world that takes her to Naples, Cairo and Ceylon. All is well until it isn't, meaning that Maria disappears and it is thought that she jumped overboard. Lily also begins to see that Eliza and Max are not who they appear to be and George is sounding more dangerous in his beliefs as time goes on and his fascination with Lily proves to be dangerous to her. Who are these people that Lily has befriended? It seems that they are all running away from their past lives and secrets. Then there is a murder that has everyone reeling.

This novel starts out seeming to be one of a romantic voyage for Lily and a new life for her. Based on the diaries that the author found that belonged to Joan, a friend of her mothers. The diaries detail the voyage that Joan took to Australia. In it Joan told a myriad of details that included, the clothing, the price of things, who she met etcetera. I found this to be interesting in that Rachel Rhys was able to tell a story that contained a lot of real facts from a real person.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in two sittings! A historical fiction novel that had the world on the brink of war.

This review was done voluntarily.