Mystery
Date Published: June 10, 2025
Publisher: MindStir Media
Mystery Series!
In Murder on the Squid Row Run, oboist Georgiana Quilter is finally hitting
her stride—with a dream orchestra job and a new apartment. But when she
agrees to pose as a celebrity’s girlfriend during a glamorous
international sailing rally, things take a dark and deadly turn.
A body turns up on board. A child disappears. A saboteur strikes. As the Squid
Row Run heads from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Georgiana races to uncover
secrets buried at sea—all while navigating a fake romance that’s
becoming dangerously real.
Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries, strong female sleuths, and nautical
adventures, authentic maritime details inspired by the author’s own
seven-year circumnavigation. Suspense, wit, and danger at every port
of an international sailing rally.”
Goodlander, Cruising World Magazine
Love mystery series set on the water? This is your next great read.
EXCERPT
A jolt knocked half of us across the deck. Cookies flew. Someone
screamed. Another groaned. I wildly grasped for something to hang onto.
A cacophony of troubled voices tried to calm others down.
“Silence!” ordered Constance.
Everyone became quiet and still wherever they’d landed. Our deck
resumed an even horizontal position. No one appeared hurt. Then I heard
a loud whooshing expulsion of air behind me and got a whiff of some-
thing pungent and foul. It smelled like a cross between garbage left out in
the sun too long and rotting, fermenting fish.
A whale! A whale had surfaced an arm’s length from where I’d settled!
An unholy stinky smell came from forcefully expelled air from his blow-
hole. No one moved or spoke. Soon the whale floated away from us before
his massive back arched, flippers waved, and pale moonlight reflected off
him as his tail breached. He slipped under the water and disappeared. Our
silence didn’t last long.
“Madre mia! A whale! So big!” Maria said. “I’ve only seen them with
binoculars.” Voices rose from every direction.
I scanned the deck and everyone looked okay.
Author Julia Shovein brings authenticity and edge to her mystery novels, drawn
from a life spent at sea and in service. After a thirty-year career as a
university professor of nursing (Professor Emeritus), Julia retired and
embarked on a global sailing adventure with her husband, circumnavigating the
globe over seven years.
She lived and wrote in exotic locations like New Zealand, Turkey, and
London’s St. Katherine Dock. Upon returning home to Paradise,
California, Julia and her husband narrowly escaped the devastating Campfire
wildfire. These life-altering experiences shaped her writing—and her
heroine, Georgiana Quilter.
Now living in Bremerton, Washington, with her husband Horst and husky Blue,
Julia is a proud member of the Poulsbo Yacht Club. She’s truly, as
Cruising World puts it, “the real thing.”
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