SHADOW OF THE QUEEN (Book one) by Scott Finley - Review


 
October 1929, the Atlantic Ocean

Deaths on the British Luxury liner, Queen Victoria take place in debut author, Scott Finley's novel, SHADOW of the QUEEN (VictoriaInkPub).

A killer is stalking the halls. He's gotten away with one murder and there may be more. Maeve Chandler under the tutelage of mystery writer, Agatha Christie must find out who the killer is before the Queen Victoria arrives in New York. This is book one in author, Finley's "Voyages of the Queen" series.

I may be a bit biased because I know Scott, in fact he was my boss at one time. But no one can argue against the fact that SHADOW of the QUEEN is a well researched, well-written and a compelling story. 

A perfect way to "set sail away from the ills of the day" while enjoying a delicious pumpkin spice latte.



Scott's fascination with the golden age of trans-Atlantic luxury liners began at an early age with reading Walter Lord's Titanic classic, "A Night to Remember." The later discovery that sinkings were not the norm and that ships actually crossed the Atlantic without incident didn't dampen his enthusiasm. He wanted a ship to put in his parent's backyard to play with after elementary school: unfortunately, being a fifth generation Texan and living inland in Dallas, ocean liners are hard to find. After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism Scott channeled his energies into a career in broadcast news, working for all four major network affiliates, then afterward doing training and corporate videos. Following that was a stint doing media for non-profit entities.

Along the way, and despite his best efforts, he collected one Emmy® nomination, 19 Telly Awards, three Aegis Awards, two Addy awards and five Best Newscast in Texas awards from the Associated Press, as well as an honorable mention from PR News for blogging for a non-profit. Outside of media and broadcast, he is the author of "A Little Theatre", a two-act comedy that has been produced by several Texas community theaters with relatively few over-ripe tomatoes thrown at the actors.

Scott is an actor himself, having over thirty community theatrical productions to his credit as well as working as an interactive performer at Texas’ Scarborough Renaissance Festival® (where he says he wouldn't have worn the white hose if he didn't have the legs for it) and in murder mystery productions (usually as the victim).

To further warp his personality, he was an actor and writer for an old west gunfight show (again, usually the victim).

In his free time he enjoys writing, reading, Lionel trains, and repairing/restoring radios from the 1930’s – 1950’s.

But the call of the sea persisted....and ultimately found voice in the Voyages of the Queen series.

So, in a way, he did finally get that ship to play with; sadly, people keep getting killed aboard it.

He shares a home with his legal counsel Gabrielle, three cats, and a confused dog,

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