A fun and fabulous mystery to recommend to your readers who have enjoyed books by Richard Osman, Deanna Raybourn, and Anthony Horowitz. It takes place on a literary-themed cruise that is a writing workshop for women only. Our amateur detective here is a mystery author who is teaching a class on mystery writing. So, once there is a murder (and then a few more) she springs into action to solve it. I could not put this down, thanks to the fast paced plot, smart and funny tone, and terrific characters. I had enjoyed Kemper Donovan's first book, and this one was a little different -- more a traditional "locked room" type of mystery.

I love that this book reminded me of an Agatha Christy novel. I also loved that this takes place on a cruise ship. A good mystery and a good plot.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

"Loose Lips” by Kemper Donovan is a delightful and witty mystery that combines the charm of a classic whodunit with the modern intrigue of a literary cruise.

This novel, the 2nd in the Ghostwriter Mystery series, is a testament to Donovan’s skill in crafting engaging characters and intricate plots that keep readers guessing until the very end.

The cruise promises a blend of writing workshops and high-seas adventure, but things take a dark turn when an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances. As more guests fall ill, it becomes clear that the cruise is anything but a relaxing getaway. 

Donovan excels in creating a cast of quirky and memorable characters. The protagonist, a sharp and observant ghostwriter, is both relatable and endearing. Her interactions with Payton, a charismatic yet manipulative figure, add depth and tension to the narrative. The ensemble of cruise guests, each with their own eccentricities and hidden agendas, enriches the story and provides a plethora of potential suspects. Donovan’s ability to flesh out these characters with humor and nuance makes the mystery all the more engaging.

Donovan’s writing is crisp and witty, with a keen eye for detail and a knack for satire. The dialogue is sharp and often humorous, capturing the absurdities of the literary world and the dynamics of the cruise setting. The narrative is well-paced, balancing moments of suspense with lighter, comedic interludes. 

"Loose Lips” explores themes of ambition, rivalry, and the blurred lines between truth and fiction. The novel delves into the competitive nature of the literary world, where success often comes at the expense of personal relationships. It also examines the role of the ghostwriter, highlighting the often-overlooked contributions of those who work behind the scenes. The cruise setting serves as a microcosm of society, where appearances can be deceiving and everyone has something to hide.

"Loose Lips” is a thoroughly entertaining mystery that combines the best elements of classic and contemporary crime fiction. Kemper Donovan has crafted a story that is both clever and fun, with a protagonist who is easy to root for.

Whether you’re a fan of literary mysteries or looking for a new twist on the genre, “Loose Lips” is a must-read. This novel is sure to leave readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Ghostwriter Mystery series.

verbal-humor, snarky, writers, wry-humor, amateur-sleuth, murders, investigations, cruise-ship, cozy-mystery, ghostwriter, frenemy, closed-circle-mystery, snide, poisons, unpleasant-guests****

The extensive publisher's blurb really gets the reader in the mood to join Belle Currer, instructor of the literary themed cruise aimed to inform 300 paying participants about the benefits and particulars of the mystery genre. She is accompanied by her frenemy, Payton Garrett, a successful self-help writer who makes a good foil for the humor and a participant in having survived the poisoning. Belle is also the narrator in this interesting foray.
I requested and received a temporary digital copy from Kensington Books/A John Scognamiglio Book via NetGalley.
#GhostwriterMysteriesBk2 #LooseLips #NetGalley Avail Jan 21, 2025

The ghostwriter invited by frenemy Payton Garrett on a Lit cruise to lead a workshop. Not her best idea, but she feels she needs the money, especially as it was paid ahead of the cruise. But things begin to go crazy when another frenemy with a real vendetta against Payton turns up. Next day someone is dead and it's up to the ghostwriter to solve the mystery before someone else meets his/her end. Pleasant follow up to The Busy Body and looking forward to what happens next in the ghostwriter's life.

This Agatha Christie-style mystery is set on a cruise ship with a group of hopeful writers, one of them with homicidal tendencies. When an attendee ends up dead with others showing signs of being poisoned, it becomes a race to figure out who is creating their real-life murder mystery on the ship.

The plot is enjoyable and pays homage to Murder on the Orient Express. As the second book in a series, some elements make it a bit challenging to read as a standalone. This is especially true given how little the reader knows about the narrator. Add in that many characters are unlikable (and not in the fun villain sense), and it is hard to find someone to root for in the story. That being said, fans of the first book will be content with this second book.

What a fun book~and it’s hardly sufficient to. be restricted to just a 5⭐️ rating to describe how
much fun it has. Even to spend time on this ill fated cruise ship. The cast of characters is just
brilliant ~ such a great group of folks are assembled for a week long writing seminars and
social events of Authors and those who want to shine as writers. This is a group of quirky
and insanity driven writers and staff aboard the cruise ship, but to avoid spoilers, this is all
I will leave you with, beyond loud proclamations to read this book the minute it’s released.
The Author is hilarious~he’s nailed his story here and everyone plays their part to
perfection!
My thanks to the Publisher for this book which I appreciate very much and am delighted
for the opportunity to provide reviews !

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Kemper Donovan has achieved that rare feat. His second Ghostwriter mystery is better than his first, The Busy Body, in my opinion. Loose Lips takes the Ghostwriter, now working under the pseudonym Belle Currer, on a cruise with 300 suspects.

As Belle Currer, the ghostwriter told the story of her experiences in Maine in a mystery called The Busy Body. Now, her frenemy, Payton Garrett, has invited her to teach the mystery class on the “Get Lit Cruise”, a short cruise for women who are passionate about literature, and rich enough to afford the trip. Payton and Belle were friends in their MFA days. Now, Payton’s a successful self-help guru with numerous followers. She’s invited 300 of them, all women, on this cruise. The only three men on the excursion are the chef, Payton’s assistant, and her ex, a journalist along to write about the trip.

Even the beginning of the trip seems off when Flora Fortescue, another friend from grad school days, shows up. Flora has been suing Payton for plagiarism, so she certainly shouldn’t be on the trip. When Payton gets sick at dinner, and someone dies of poisoning, Flora is the primary suspect.

Belle is dragged into the murder investigation, assisting the ship’s doctor, Joan Chen. Belle doesn’t relish her role as sidekick. But, she’s forgotten some of the points she teaches in her mystery writing class. The three criteria for proving someone committed a crime are motive, means and opportunity.

Loose Lips is a fun mystery, with comments about classic mystery writers and their books. It’s a closed-circle murder with 300 suspects, but it’s easy to remember the main ones. Donovan, a podcaster who specializes in Agatha Christie, capitalizes on his knowledge and background with this enjoyable book.

I read The Busy Body by this author and loved it. So I was super excited to start this second novel in the ghostwriter series featuring Belle Currer. When she is asked to come on a “Get Lit Cruise” as an instructor, Belle isn’t thrilled but still can’t refuse the opportunity. Once aboard, she is reconnected with Payton Garret, a popular author and the organizer of the cruise. On the all female voyage, Belle soon finds herself in the middle of another murder investigation. She makes fast friends with the ship’s doctor, Joan Chen and the two do their best to solve the case before another murder is committed. This was a fun read. I really love the way Donovan writes. His novels are full of snarky comments and inside jokes. Although I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first in this series, it was still an enjoyable story with several twists at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.

This is not this books fault, but I didn't know this was a sequel in a series, and every so often wondered to myself if there was information I was missing in the story. Now that I know there is a book #1 some of those holes make a lot of sense, but I haven't decided if I'll go back and read it. This was a cool device for what is essentially a murder mystery. Its Murder on the Orient Express but a boat instead of a train. I love a good feminist moment but having only women on the boat except for three other men felt like a strange exception to me.
I will say everyone on this boat can jump right off if they want. There wasn't one character I thought I would've been devastated to find was a victim of the murderer. Which if that's your thing,cool, but I need someone to root for, and I felt really far away from all these characters and their motivations.

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. So goes the adage, but sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a very popular, bestselling author—and the ghostwriter’s long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days.
Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband—who is also on board. And she’s acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres, while basking in Payton’s reflected glow.
Between mentoring guests, flirting with Payton’s ex, and taking bets on how long before someone performs a reenactment of Titanic’s “I’m flying!” scene (answer: not long enough), there’s plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there’s one activity nobody expected: solving a murder.
When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn’t even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe—except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist . . .

Thanks for the ARC! This was a fun Agatha Christie style murder on a boat story. I had a pretty good idea who the killer was pretty early in the book, which was unfortunate, but there were enough twists and turns to make me doubt myself a few times and enjoy the journey. As well as some Christie influence, there's certainly some comparisons to be made to Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, and The Word Is Murder. Fun read, and will have to check out the first book in the series!

Our nameless ghostwriter and mystery author is back again, this time on an (almost) all-ladies' writers' cruise organized by the ghostwriter's college friend and successful author, Payton Garrett. When an attendee dies and several others become ill from what seems like a poisoning, the ghostwriter and the ship's doctor become determined to find the killer.

This book is a fun, twisty romp that's peppered with references to well-known mystery writers and books. The dialogue is snappy and the main character enjoyably snarky [example: " lobsters, crabs, squids, and crayfish (aka crawdads, just please God don't let them sing)"]. The cruise ship setting makes it feel like a large-scale locked-room mystery, and the pace is brisk without being frantic. I liked this second book from Donovan even better than the first and hope to see the ghostwriter in future titles. Recommended for readers who like Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, and Richard Osman.

Tremendous..
A literary cruise turns fatal in this tremendously entertaining and perfectly penned mystery bubbling over with eclectic and eccentric characters populating a frenetic and frothy plot. Undertones of the Golden Age and Christiesque inferences abound as our delightfully irreverent mystery writer protagonist finds herself in deep water, in more ways than one. The second in the Ghostwriter series of mysteries from Kemper Donovan, host of the wildly enjoyable ‘All About Agatha’ podcast, and is equally as immersive as the first in the series. Just tremendous.

The ghostwriter using Belle as a pen name has published the first book in her mystery series and is teaching a mystery writing workshop on a woman-only cruise. An old school friend has organized it, and Belle is suffering a little from relationship hangovers from her school days, and a little more from being an introvert in quite a bit of forced human interaction. Her angst, along with her incisive observations, make the start of the cruise interesting for the reader.

But then the murders begin. The characters are well drawn, quirky, and endearing. The setting doesn't reduce the number of suspects as much as a country house party would, but adds spice to the story. The plot is deft and complex. The book is well written, showcasing the heroine's prickly charm and introducing more of her backstory to the reader.

An enjoyable read!

This is the second book in a series and readers will love the smart plotting and character development. This is a must read!

*Loose Lips* by Kemper Donovan is a fun, twisty ride that will pull you into the world of a whodunit on the high seas. The story centers on a successful ghostwriter who reluctantly joins a literary-themed cruise, only to find herself tangled in a web of murder and mystery. The quirky, well-drawn characters and the cleverly constructed plot make it feel like a literary version of *Knives Out*—so if you're a fan of that film, this book is definitely for you.

The tension on the ship builds as secrets are revealed, alliances shift, and the body count rises, all leading to a surprising twist that keeps you guessing until the very end. Donovan's witty writing and sharp observations on the literary world add a layer of depth and humor to the mystery, making *Loose Lips* a thoroughly enjoyable read for fans of both cozy mysteries and thrillers.
#LooseLips #NetGalley

This second book about the ghostwriter finds her on a writing cruise her frenemy is putting on. Meeting old friends and new acquaintances keeps her busy until there is a murder on board. Then a second. Than a third. Now, along with the ships doctor, her new friend, she is trying to figure out who the murderer is before there is another death.