The fourth Larkin Day mystery by Nicole Dieker, MURDER ON THE NERD CRUISE, finds the “best amateur detective in Pratincola, Iowa” on vacation with her boyfriend Ed, her friends Anni and Elliott, her mother Josephine, and Josephine’s girlfriend Claire. The themed “nerd” cruise is a gathering of folks who have more than the usual passion for their hobbies; and, although Larkin doesn’t consider herself a “nerd,” she fits right in. After a breathless summer solving murders back home, she’s looking forward to some downtime.
It’s not meant to be, though. When Larkin meets the legendary author Adamantine Darcy, she can’t help but notice that something’s off; the elderly woman seems reliant on an artificial intelligence device plugged into her ear, and she’s accompanied by a woman named Moira Pennington (whose relationship to Adamantine is obscure). After a freak power outage, Adamantine accuses Larkin of stealing her latest—and likely final—manuscript, and Larkin begins to suspect she’s got to put some work in to prevent a murder.
Dieker has forged a robust career as a freelance writer and has recently pivoted into fiction, but her previous work writing about personal finance and self-improvement (among other topics) pays off here. She writes with a keen eye for detail, quickly establishing the mood and atmosphere of a “nerd cruise”—the obsession with online connectivity while at sea, the presentations and panels, the games and activities—and the division between those who have special perks and those who have to belly up to the cash bar. The ship quickly becomes a solid, real place filled with believably quirky and largely compelling characters.
The mystery itself is well-crafted. Adamantine is a fairly obvious riff on Agatha Christie, whose work famously suffered later in her career due to suspected dementia. Fearing that she won’t be able to finish her final book, Adamantine’s reliance on an AI tool is both a cutting-edge detail that sings and a clever point of weakness to be exploited. Although the ride is fun and the writing very good, Dieker does obscure a bit too much. Larkin’s final revelations of what she’s been up to are satisfying, but also feel a little unfair; there’s no way the reader can even guess at the outcome. Too much information is hidden from them. For mystery fans who like a bit of fair play, this might be a disappointment, but the fast-paced story and likable characters in MURDER ON THE NERD CRUISE make it easy to overlook.
Nicole Dieker uses a sharp eye for detail and a deft hand with characters to craft a fun, surprising mystery that’s sure to entertain in MURDER ON THE NERD CRUISE.
~Jeff Somers for IndieReader