Shattered at Sea

Shattered at Sea by Cheryl Hollon is A Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery. Savannah Webb has been hired to be a replacement glass artist on the Mediterranean cruise ship, Obscura. On route to Barcelona, Savannah and her boyfriend, Edward stop in St. Albans, England to visit with his parents and pick up Edward’s cousin, Ian Morris who will be joining them on the cruise. Savannah is surprised and pleased to see Rachel and Faith Rosenburg on the ship. After getting settled, Savannah introduces herself to the glass blowing crew and settles in for the first glass demonstration. The next morning, Ian has disappeared, and the ship’s security believes he committed suicide or accidently fell overboard. Ian had drunk quite heavily and, according to the twins, Ian was feeling despondent. Edward and Savannah with help from the Faith and Rachel, search for Ian on the ship, but they are unsuccessful. They are certain that Ian is hiding, but they do not know why. Can Savannah and Edward find Ian before it is too late? A Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. The book is set in St. Petersburg, Florida which is near to where I live. I like reading about familiar sights along with the beautiful creations Savannah makes from glass. The series also contains friendly characters that I enjoy visiting in each new book. Shattered at Sea has Savannah, Edward and the Rosenburg twins, but we only get a glimpse of Amanda Blake and Jacob Underwood. I am happy, though, that the author found a way to include them. I thought Shattered at Sea was easy to read, but the pace was a little slow. Instead of a murder, we have a missing person’s case. Personally, I found the storyline slightly farfetched. I do not want to say too much and spoil it for you. There are a limited number of suspects and identifying the guilty party is unchallenging. There was a lack of tension and suspense. I felt that certain details were off in the book and the resolution seemed incomplete. I appreciated the levity the twins provided to the book and it was interesting to learn about a different method of glassblowing. It was also nice that Savannah was creating glass pieces in this book (back to her roots). I did not like the details Edward revealed about his past and they did not go with his character. My rating for Shattered at Sea is 3 out of 5 stars. If you have not read any of the previous books in this series, I recommend starting with Pane and Suffering. The ending is satisfying and will have leave you smiling. While Shattered as Sea is not my favorite book in A Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery series, I am looking forward to reading Savannah’s next tale.

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