Dead Man's Dish

An absolutely addictive cozy murder mystery (Rose Cruz Cruise Ship Mysteries Book 1)

By: Audrey Alden

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A luxurious cruise. A high-profile passenger list. And a murder that must be solved before the ship docks.

Rose Dela Cruz thought a change of pace was exactly what she needed. After her career as a private investigator hit a dead end, she accepted a new role as Cruise Director aboard The Midnight Tide—seeking peace on the open sea.

But on her first day aboard, tranquility was shattered. Eleanor Bridges, a wealthy and obnoxious guest, was found dead, poisoned during dinner.

With the help of Ben, the ship’s captain, Cole, Head of Security, and Rex, her loyal beagle, Rose plunged into a tangled web of suspects. All the alibis were airtight. Everyone seemed innocent—until a second poisoning attempt sent a chilling message: the killer was still onboard.

As Rose followed each lead, she uncovered a network of jealousy, betrayal, and old grudges. But time was running out. With the ship nearing port, the killer was preparing to vanish without a trace.

In a race against time, Rose had to piece together the final pieces of the puzzle—before the truth slipped away forever.

AI Narration

While AI narration has improved, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The story was okay, needed an editor to help with certain details and awkward phrasing.

Wounded by Narration

Pleasant cozy mystery that lost appeal from the monotone of AI voice (devoid of the color inflection needed to bring the various characters inhabiting a story to life). I'd rather pay $2.00 for an actor capable of some vocal variety. Otherwise, the series gets off to a fairly good start... which will hopefully have more depth as we learn more about the primary characters.

Horrible narrative.

It was difficult to follow the story as the narrative was horrible to listen to.

Couldn’t get past chapter 2

I was intrigued by the story line but I could not get past chapter 2 due to the narration. It just wasn’t tolerable.