Rachel Prince Mystery Books in Order
Part ofDawn Brookes Books in OrderThis page lists the Rachel Prince Mystery books by Dawn Brookes in order, with short summaries, series background, and tips on the best place to start.
Last updated: July 6, 2026
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Publication Order
16 books
A Cruise to Murder
by Dawn Brookes
2018
Heartbroken after her fiancé leaves her, Rachel books a Mediterranean cruise with her nurse friend Sarah. When a suspicious death puts an elderly passenger in danger, her holiday becomes a race to uncover a killer.
Deadly Cruise
by Dawn Brookes
2018
Rachel accepts a free transatlantic cruise to New York after a bruising trial, hoping to recharge. Instead she finds a dead crew member, a missing man, and a tangle of suspicious behaviour she cannot ignore.
A Christmas Cruise Murder
by Dawn Brookes
2019
A festive cruise should give Rachel a chance to relax, but Christmas cheer does not last long when murder interrupts the voyage. Between holiday pressures and shipboard secrets, she has to find the killer fast.
Dying to Cruise
by Dawn Brookes
2019
Rachel takes an Australian and New Zealand cruise as a guest lecturer, hoping for work and some sunshine. Then a tour leader is found dead, her ex appears on board, and the voyage turns into a tense murder hunt.
Killer Cruise
by Dawn Brookes
2019
Rachel joins Lady Marjorie on a Baltic cruise hoping for calm, but an unpopular tribute singer ends up dead after chaos on board. With suspects everywhere, Rachel and Marjorie cannot resist investigating.
Honeymoon Cruise Murder
by Dawn Brookes
2020
Newly married Rachel and Carlos hope their Mediterranean honeymoon will bring peace, not murder. But when death intrudes on the voyage, romance has to wait while Rachel starts pulling apart the case.
Murderous Cruise Habit
by Dawn Brookes
2020
Another Coral Queen voyage brings Rachel face to face with strange behaviour, shipboard tension, and a death that refuses to look simple. To solve it, she has to sort through a tangle of secrets before the killer strikes again.
A Murder Mystery Cruise
by Dawn Brookes
2021
Rachel joins Lady Marjorie on a Norwegian fjords cruise and gets roped into an onboard murder mystery event. When one of the performers dies for real, the game suddenly becomes deadly.
Captain's Dinner Cruise Murder
by Dawn Brookes
2021
Dinner at the captain's table should be a treat for Rachel and Lady Marjorie, until a guest disappears and valuable diamonds vanish too. With suspects all around the table, Rachel must untangle lies before the killer slips away.
Hazardous Cruise
by Dawn Brookes
2021
Rachel is called to the Coral Queen for a winter Mediterranean and Adriatic voyage after threats and sabotage put the crew on edge. When a senior officer turns up dead, she goes undercover to stop a clever killer.
Corporate Cruise Murder
by Dawn Brookes
2022
On the Indian leg of the Coral Queen's world voyage, Rachel meets a team of young pharmaceutical researchers all chasing the same promotion. When one of them dies, ambition, secrets, and corporate pressure make every colleague a suspect.
Treacherous Cruise Flirtation
by Dawn Brookes
2023
Rachel is enjoying the Coral Queen's Hawaiian sunshine when a private nurse is found dead on a sunbed. Alongside Lady Marjorie, she has to cut through secrets and lies before paradise turns deadlier.
Toxic Cruise Cocktail
by Dawn Brookes
2024
Rachel and Carlos board the Coral Queen to celebrate her parents' wedding anniversary, expecting family time and tropical stops. When a passenger from her father's past dies at the welcome cocktail party, old secrets come roaring back.
Cruise Fountain Finale
by Dawn Brookes
2025
Rachel plans a brief New York interlude, but a wealthy Coral Queen passenger is murdered at Bethesda Fountain before the ship sails. Working against the clock, she has to prove the wrong suspect was not the killer.
Cruise into Darkness
by Dawn Brookes
2025
A violent storm and a blackout leave the Coral Queen blind in the night. When power returns and a body is found on the laundry conveyor, Rachel has to investigate in a ship suddenly full of fear.
Fatal Cruise Convention
by Dawn Brookes
2026
This Rachel Prince mystery centers on another deadly case at sea, with a convention setting suggested by the title. Expect Rachel to face a fresh closed-circle puzzle aboard the Coral Queen.
Series background & context
The Rachel Prince books are cruise ship mysteries built around one very simple problem: Rachel never manages to get the peaceful holiday she planned. She first arrives on the fictional Coral Queen looking for a break and soon finds herself surrounded by suspicious deaths, nervous passengers, overworked crew, and too many secrets to ignore. From there, the series grows into a long-running blend of murder puzzle, travel fiction, friendship story, and slow-burn character arc.
Rachel is the center of it all. She starts out as a young police officer with strong instincts and a stubborn sense of right and wrong, and that combination keeps getting her dragged into trouble. She is practical, curious, and not especially good at leaving things alone when something feels wrong. Her best friend Sarah Bradshaw works as a nurse on board the Coral Queen, so the books always have a little medical texture in the background. That detail never takes over, but it helps the ship feel like a real working place rather than just a floating backdrop.
The supporting cast is a big part of the appeal. Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe becomes one of Rachel's most important fellow sleuths, bringing sharp observations, comic timing, and an almost cheerful willingness to get involved. Carlos Jacobi begins as a mystery in his own right and gradually becomes central to Rachel's personal life. Over time, the relationships deepen, the stakes shift, and readers get to watch Rachel change from an off-duty outsider into someone much more closely tied to shipboard security and the safety of everyone on board.
The ship matters.
A cruise is perfect cozy-mystery territory because nobody can simply wander off forever. Guests, entertainers, medical staff, and security teams all have to keep seeing one another at meals, on excursions, in corridors, and at formal events. That gives the books a strong closed-circle feel even when the route changes. One trip may head through the Mediterranean, another to the Baltic, another to Australia and New Zealand, the Norwegian fjords, India, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, or New York. The ports keep the scenery fresh, but the Coral Queen stays familiar.
In tone, these are clean mysteries with real danger but not graphic violence. The pleasure comes from the puzzle, the travel, and the recurring characters as much as from the crime itself. There is some romance, some family tension, and a steady belief that justice should win in the end. If that sounds like your kind of reading, start with A Cruise to Murder and keep going in order. The cases stand alone, but the emotional payoffs get better as Rachel's world expands.
Edited by
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