A magical mystery murder cruise is an apt description of this book. And I am so excited to talk about it and my suspicions.
But first, I want to talk about Dee, Ganymedes, as our protagonist. I know that Ms. White’s bio says she wants to bring more LGBTQIA+ and fat positivity into fantasy, and she couldn’t have given us a character who does that more.
I think what I like most about Dee is her sense of humor. I find myself laughing out loud frequently. I’ve tabbed my book up mostly with one-liners or small conversations he has that has me cracking up. I’m almost through that color! I’ve had to give his sidekick, Grasshopper, her own color for the quirky things she says, too.
Overall, the characters are really making this a fun read for me.
I also want to mention, before we get into the fantasy and mystery bits, that I really appreciate Dee’s mental state. Although I don’t like how down he is on himself, his self-esteem doesn’t seem to impact his owning who he is and not faking it (other than lying about his blessing) for other people’s sake.
Now, his blessing. Man, that amplifies his hate for himself and his feeling of worthlessness. It’s mentioned several times in the first third of this book, and one of my major hopes for the end of this story is that he can see the worth in himself, and maybe, he can discover his blessing. Maybe, it's latent or it’s not what people think it is. Maybe, it’s his good heart. Because he does seem to have a big one of those.
Okay, let’s talk about the fantasy world and how Ms. White’s set us up in the first third of the book.
I really love the meeting and mystery structure that allows us to gain a ton of information in a short span of time without it being boring. Without it seeming like telling. Because, honestly, telling is needed sometimes, and she did it well.
I like how Dee’s Diagram of Deduction works to give us a round picture of the world, it brings together the snippets before into a coherent image. The map in the beginning really helps with this, too.
I especially like how easy it is to see the inequities in this world. It’s given to us straight from the beginning.
“I don’t want to be a pissfish.”
This makes it more meaningful when Dee and Eudora have their moment in the bathroom. The fish province sacrificed the most because they didn’t need to be saved. You know, in their mythologically edited history.
This is what gives me hope about a happy ending for Dee. Because he seems to embody this, as do his people, by giving because it’s nice and good to give when people need it. To not be selfish—even though his father is the perfect example of the opposite.
There’s also a lot of turmoil hinted at during the building of this world and its provinces. I suspect we will get deeper into this, and I’m excited to see how it pans out with the mystery.
And okay. Let’s talk about what I think is the elephant in the room—not to be confused with the Elephant Province—Ravi.
He’s who I thought was going to be the love interest. You know, a second chance romance kind of thing. Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers again? I don’t know, but I was sucker punched when he died.
Ms. White did a fantastic job making me feel that alright.
Okay. Okay. Let’s dig into the mystery a bit.
Once again, Ms. White’s ability to make everyone look at least a little suspicious is well done. I do, indeed, suspect everyone but Dee, Grasshopper, and Wyatt (our unlikely love interest?)
Beyond the public accusations, I love how Dee breaks it down in his wall (and has his dragon cover it with naked pictures of the Emperor).
I won’t go over all of it, I just want to boil down the bits that point to who I think the perpetrator is.
And that’s: Cordelia.
I know. It’s not the obvious one. Or maybe it is because Dee hates her, and we kind of hate her, too, for trying to take Ravi. But honestly, if I were writing this story, I’d make it Cordelia.
Here’s what’s pointing me in that direction:
Cordelia interrupts the first dinner to announce her engagement to Ravi. It’s certainly not an appropriate time, and she seems to be one-upping the Dragon Blessed.
Cordelia didn’t invite the lower provinces to her brother’s funeral, and they didn’t know of his passing until the cruise. It speaks of a lack of unity and purpose alienation of the lower provinces.
Her presence on the deck of the ship right before Ravi is found, paired with the fact that someone would have had to get close to him, and other than Dee, no one else could. Plus! That note he was holding. Was he breaking up with her or the other way around? It points to her more in my eyes. It seems dramatic like her character is shown so far.
Dee says she couldn’t have done it because her nightgown was white with no blood, but she could have stripped an outer layer off and sent it into the ocean while she was wailing at its edge. People would be distracted by the sheer wet garment she still had on.
Cordelia is who pulled Eudora’s guard away from her when she was hanged. She may be using her grief to hide her guilt. I also have a small inkling that she killed her brother, but I have nothing to back that up. It’s just a feeling.
Dee keeps saying he believes her, but she seems like a good actress. Usually, when someone is adamant about believing another character without any evidence to back it up, I grow suspicious.
Now, are the others still in the running? Absolutely.
I just can’t shake Cordelia as my prime suspect. Do let me know what you think. Whodunit? And why? I welcome being proved wrong.