In the mood for a mystery read, I was scouring my Kindle and came upon The Blue by Lucy Clarke. Opening it, I got a bit excited as it was set in New Zealand where I live so was cool to see that part and it started with a good mystery premise of dark secrets and hidden truths. The book then jumps back a few months to our main character Lana and her best friend Kitty, leaving the UK and heading to the Philippines. Lana has just found out her Dad had been lying to her about her mother all her life and is feeling betrayed and Kitty feels like her acting is a dead-end career and so the pair of them pool their finances together and head to the Philippines for a travelling holiday. While they are travelling, they meet a group who have been sailing on a yacht and travelling the islands. They are planning to sail from the Philippines to New Zealand. During this time, they join the boat and crew. There are a few rules on the ship: everyone does their part, no onboard relationships and no drugs. Soon becomes a book of travelling from island to island until one day there is a mess and two of the passengers argue and one is kicked off. One minute he was there the next gone and later the passengers treat it like a man overboard. Soon secrets and spoken truths will erupt onboard which leaves Lana leaving the yacht and staying in the Bay of Islands with her art gallery dreams. Until one day, she hears news of a Yacht "The Blue" crashing and sinking. Are her friends alright or have they been killed? Find out in The Blue by Lucy Clarke today. The Blue in parts was a slow read but overall had a good mystery aspect to the story.

My apologies, this is a late review, but what a good book! It had me gripped from the start, and I loved the setting on a yacht, something different. What starts as a fun adventure, slowly reveals all the tensions that lurk underneath, sad stories, complicated relationships, lies, it has everything. The ending was really good, with unexpected twists. Well done!