First published 2026
Trixie Troublefield Baxter teaches art classes aboard the Emerald Queen of the Seas and writes a travel blog. She lives on the cruise ship with her husband Ransom, who heads security. For her fiftieth birthday, Trixie boards a voyage to Iceland carrying the Second Act Society, an exclusive midlife program for high-profile guests with dark secrets. Documentary producer Gideon Vale gets strangled with his own scarf on embarkation day. Every reinvented guest becomes a suspect. A flirtatious ghost appears who knows the killer's identity but treats the investigation like a game show. Between champagne fountains and Northern Lights viewings, Trixie races to unmask the murderer before they kill again. Ransom works the case alongside her while their friends Bess and Nettie create chaos. A mysterious widow may be fleeing something more dangerous than scandal. As the ship sails past volcanic cliffs and black sand beaches toward the Blue Lagoon, Trixie discovers that turning fifty with a corpse, champagne, and a chatty ghost gives midlife crisis new meaning.
Genres: romance, travel, adventure, mystery, contemporary, cozy-mystery
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, whimsical
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family, second-chance
Setting: Blue Lagoon, Emerald Queen of the Seas, Iceland
Period: Midlife
Kindle Edition · Hollis Thatcher Press, LTD.