While I enjoyed this mystery, I found it a little too improbable for the captain to ask them to investigate the murder. Why would he ask a middle-aged couple to investigate a mystery when they aren't professionals or sleuths of any sort.

Adventure and Africa have called to Bert Mason for years, although it must be said his only reference points come from books and movies. Conversely, his wife Mamie has no interest in seeing anything outside of Hills Corner, Ohio, until sets eyes on the pyramids. Keyse-Walker takes us on a round-Africa tour aboard Columbus, a Norddeutscher Lloyd liner. Bert and Mamie are assigned a very personable steward, from the mostly German staff, who makes a great cuppa joe, and turns out to be more than he appears. Leaving New York in February 1939, readers sail to Casablanca, Tenerife, Dakar, Cape Town, Madagascar, Mombasa, Nairobi, Zanzibar, Khartoum, Luxor, and Cairo, luxuriating in lush, vibrant detail (sometimes desert and dust) at each stop. Whether or not the Masons are enamoured, readers are treated to a fabulous virtual tour.

Two humourless Nazi officers are stationed aboard the ship to guide her back into German territorial waters, should war break out. Sturmbannführer Heissemeyer, so well represented he made my skin crawl, is loathed by everyone. When he goes overboard, he isn’t much missed, but Mamie, as witness, may be in danger. The Masons are charged with finding the killer for the sole reason that Bert played deputy sheriff for a few weeks! As passengers confide their life stories to the down-to-earth Mamie, the suspect list grows.

Chapters alternate between Bert and Mamie’s wry perspective, and are headed by quotes from the 1939 round-Africa-tour brochure. Their differing points-of-view have all the endearing quirks of a long-married couple, adding colour and realism. I found myself experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime trip right along with them. Using his characters’ backstories, the author sheds light on the horror Hitler and his Nazi party were already unleashing upon the world, grounding the trip firmly in history. An excellent read.

Mystery readers will adore getting to know Bert and Mamie, those Americans from Ohio. Many will hope that this is the start of a series.

The couple goon a cruise to Africa, motivated by Bert’s wish to take the trip. It is 1939 and readers probably know what this means about the state of the world. Things are not good.

What will happen when Mamie witnesses a murder? Yes, readers can imagine that she and Bert will figure things out; the fun is in getting there in this entertaining read.

Recommended to mystery readers, those who like historical crime and armchair travelers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this title. All opinions are my own.

A fun historical mystery/travelogue of a Midwestern American couple married for 30 years who take a cruise around Africa on a German luxury liner just before WWII. The cruise is filled with glamourous people with dubious intentions, spies, Nazis, and star-crossed lovers. Then, of course, a murder happens which Mamie is the sole witness.
None of the port of calls are interested in investigating so, in desperation, the captain asks the only person with any investigative experience background--of course, Bert--to see if he can discover the culprit.

The beginning of each chapter has a description from an actual brochure of a passenger ship travelling around Africa from this time period. It is just one more detail that brings the experience of luxury travel and exotic places of "dark" Africa to life (which turns out to be not so exotic as Mamie and Bert expected in a lot of places). The depiction of the party that occurs for people who have crossed the equator, on a ship, for the first time is lavish in detail and sounds like a lot of fun.

The point of view changes between Bert and Mamie throughout the book. It gives insight into their relationship and their personalities. I love the give and take that happens between them as only can between people who have been together for a long time. There is subtle poking at each, inside jokes and tenderness.

The murder doesn't happen until a far ways into the book. The mystery is solid with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing.

An enjoyable book (though I didn't like the having the Nazis around spieling their hate, but it is realistic).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.

Adventures, spies, mystery and historical fiction: there's a lot going on in this book, I had a lot of fun and the slid mystery kept me guessing.
The author did an excellent job in describing the life on the ship and the places, I wished I was there as the seemed so fascinating.
I would be happy to read other books featuring these characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Married for thirty years, Mamie agreed to this cruise around Africa so that her husband Bert could indulge his lifelong passion for adventure-- something you can't find much of in Hills Corners, Ohio. While Bert is hankering for some rip-roaring tales to tell the folks back home, Mamie is the sort who prefers room service, lounging poolside and dancing in the evenings. They are an outgoing couple who rapidly make friends among the passengers and crew, although they would prefer to avoid the Nazis on board.

When Mamie witnesses a crime, the captain of the ship wants to keep it as quiet as possible and uses Bert's experience as a sheriff's deputy (even though it was only for a year and twenty years ago at that) to avoid bringing in the police when the ship arrives at port. Husband and wife make an interesting investigative team, reminiscent of Hollywood's Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man movies. While Bert tries to keep his wife safe, Mamie gathers many important clues through her girl talk with the friends she's made on board.

Bert and Mamie are a likable pair, and I enjoyed their give and take. The author's setting of an actual ocean liner and cruise just before the start of World War II brought the story to life and made me wish I could travel along with them as they sailed around the continent, stopping several times along the way for "in-country" trips. All in all, a choice investigation for an armchair traveler like me.

This book was such fun for me. I loved the setting. A cruise to Africa on the Columbus in 1939. The little blurbs you get at the head of each chapter from the cruise company was fun. Throw in a man overboard and it became a fun mystery.

Bert and Mamie are a little rough around the edges but I enjoyed them both. I will certainly look for another adventure from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest opinion. 3.5⭐️

A locked cruise ship mystery! It's 1939 and Bert, using the profits from his tomatoes, booked a cruise to Africa hoping that he and his wife Mamie would see the wonders of the continent. It's a German owned ship, which complicates things - Bert hadn't thought about it- and then there's the Nazi. Told alternately by Bert and Mamie, this is only a question of who killed the man but deeper issues about the period as well (but don't worry- it's thought provoking but not heavy). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I have read two of the author's "Teddy Creque mysteries" and his "Havana Highwire" from his Cuban noir series. All very enjoyable as is this one. He seems to base the main characters on his Grandparents - at least in name.
It's early in 1939 and Bert and Mamie Mason who run a successful Tomato growing and distribution business in Ohio U.S.A. decide to take a cruise to the African continent. They travel on the North German LLoyd liner Columbus from New York for sixty three days due to return to New York on 8th April.
The cruise starts pleasantly but uneventually, but then it takes a sinister turn. There is an SS Nazi officer on board who upsets many people. When Mamie sees him thrown overboard. the Ship's Captain tries to get various Islands police involved unsuccessfully.
Bert is astounded when the captain suggests that he investigates. This is based on his very brief career as a deputy Sheriff in a backwater town.
Then the adventure begins. Mamie is concerned that the murderer is aware that she witnessed the murder, but could not make out the assailant. There is an attempt on Mamie's life and also Spys, double agents and a gun toting woman and that is just a part of it!
They eventually narrow down the suspects, but do they remain in danger?
Very well researched and written. Very highly recommended. A very good read.

All Aboard…
As the reader joins daring amateur detective duo Bert and Mamie on an African cruise adventure where death may just be the order of the day. When the cruise takes a deadly turn the duo have no choice but to don their sleuthing hats - but will they make it back home in one piece? With an eccentric and eclectic cast of characters, set pre Second World War, comes an unexpected and engaging whodunit mixed amply with an interesting travelogue and a dash of daring dos.

This is a mish mash of stories told by both Bert and Mamie. This is the story of their dream holiday, a story of war and of course a whodunit for sure. Set in 1939 where Bert and Mamie are taking a cruise of Africa, the war has not yet begun and all is good. Or so it seems at first.

But then there is murder, mystery, spies, secrets, Nazi party members, double agents...... A cast full of characters that help to make this a very interesting read. It is entertaining and different but I did enjoy it's mix of travel, history, mystery and all the twists and turns you would expect. A great read.

Part travelogue, part murder mystery Bert and Mamie Take a Cruise is an enjoyable trip around Africa in the early part of 1939 just before the start of World War 2.
Bert and Mamie alternate the story telling which gives two opinions on the events as they unfold. They set sail on a cruise around Africa from New York on a German ship the SS Columbus little imagining that there would be murder on board. A fictional story but the real SS Columbus did make a sixty three day cruise around Africa in February 1939.
There is an interesting cast of characters, including Nazi Party members, agents and double agents. Who to trust and who to doubt unfolds slowly as you travel with Bert and Mamie to the exotic African coast. The notes at the beginning of each chapter are direct quotes from the Round Africa Cruise Brochure that was published to promote the 1939 cruise.
All in all an enjoyable book which should please lovers of golden age of crime fiction.

Well, John Keyse-Walker’s Bert and Mamie Take a Cruise wasn’t at all what I expected. I thought I would be reading a cozy armchair traveler mystery set in 1939. Well, yes and no. There’s much more foreshadowing of World War II than I expected. There are excellent descriptions of Africa in 1939, as seen through the eyes of two tourists from Ohio, but the foreshadowing brought the story up a notch.

Bert and Mamie Mason, from eastern Ohio, are farmers who made money during the Depression, raising greenhouse tomatoes. Now, Bert wants to indulge his yearning for “wild and untamed” Africa, and knows they can afford the trip. Mamie’s a little reluctant to take a sixty-three day cruise, but they book a trip on the SS Columbus, leaving New York City February 4, 1939 and returning April 18. It isn’t Africa that’s so “wild and untamed”. It’s the cruise and murders.

Early on the cruise, Mamie is startled when Bert pulls a gun, and shoots and “kills” the purser who had strangled a stewardess and left her body behind the bandstand. But, Bert was just part of the act that night, and no one died. As the couple alternates telling the story, they get to know the crew and some of the passengers. Sturmbannfuhrer (Major) Heissemeyer made no secret of his affiliation with the Third Reich on this German ship. He never hid his contempt for passengers or the crew, and admitted he was making a list of those who offended Germany. It’s Mamie who sees someone throw Heissenmeyer off the ship late one night as Bert sleeps. And, it’s the captain who turns the case over to Bert who was only a sheriff’s deputy for one year. Because Mamie was a witness, Captain Dane knows Bert will want to find the killer who might know that Mamie saw the murder.

Bert and Mamie Take a Cruise is an odd combination of travelogue and pre-war history. The descriptions of the trip itself are taken directly from the “Round Africa Cruise” brochure from the original Raymond Whitcomb flyer for the 1939 trip. And, readers get to see Africa through the eyes of a couple in their 50s who have never really been anywhere exotic. At the same time, there are some vivid descriptions of Nazism and Nazi treatment of women, descriptions that Mamie has a hard time believing because Americans have not yet seen what’s really happening in Europe. And, Mamie is firmly on the side of isolationism. She’s convinced the U.S. would remain neutral if Europe started “another one of their squabbling wars”.

Keyse-Walker combines history, a travel guide, and a murder mystery with an unlikely part of amateur sleuths. The book won’t be for everyone, but it’s certainly an interesting cruise into the past.