Breath and Betrayal
(2026)(The fifth book in the Paws and Portholes Mysteries series)
A novel by Hailey Hartley
Yoga instructor Serena Hayes boards the Tranquility Seas with her intuitive Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Lotus, hoping to expand her small Asheville studio by teaching wellness retreats at sea. Seven days of Caribbean sunshine, meditation sessions, and ocean breezes sound like the perfect way to grow her business and finally step beyond her comfort zone. But when Lotus's exceptional nose leads them to the ship's fitness center early one morning, Serena discovers wealthy heiress Lillian Blackwood strangled with a resistance band in what's been hastily staged to look like a tragic gym accident. Ship security wants to close the case quickly, but everything Serena's yoga training has taught her about body positioning and observing details screams that this was murder.
As Serena investigates despite warnings to stay out of ship security matters, she uncovers a web of embezzlement, forged documents, and a personal assistant with expensive tastes and mounting debts. Lillian had scheduled a meeting with her attorney at the next port to revise her will and file a police report about two hundred thousand dollars in unauthorized expenses. With Lotus's scent-tracking abilities helping identify a killer's signature perfume on evidence the security team overlooked, Serena must piece together a timeline that proves this accident was actually calculated murder. But pursuing justice means going up against a crew that wants the investigation swept under the rug, and someone who's already killed once to protect their secrets won't hesitate to eliminate a yoga instructor who asks too many questions.
The resistance band was wrapped with precision, not fumbled in panic. The body position suggests a deliberate attack, not an equipment mishap. And that perfume scent Lotus keeps alerting to doesn't match anything the victim wore. Between suspicious crew members, conflicting witness statements, and a killer who's walking free with a fortune they were never meant to inherit, Serena must trust her instincts and prove what really happened before the ship docks in Fort Lauderdale. Can a yoga instructor and her remarkably observant dog unmask a murderer hiding behind a facade of devoted service? Or will Serena discover that some poses are too dangerous to hold? One thing's certain: this wellness cruise is about to become an investigation into greed, betrayal, and the deadly price of inheritance.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
As Serena investigates despite warnings to stay out of ship security matters, she uncovers a web of embezzlement, forged documents, and a personal assistant with expensive tastes and mounting debts. Lillian had scheduled a meeting with her attorney at the next port to revise her will and file a police report about two hundred thousand dollars in unauthorized expenses. With Lotus's scent-tracking abilities helping identify a killer's signature perfume on evidence the security team overlooked, Serena must piece together a timeline that proves this accident was actually calculated murder. But pursuing justice means going up against a crew that wants the investigation swept under the rug, and someone who's already killed once to protect their secrets won't hesitate to eliminate a yoga instructor who asks too many questions.
The resistance band was wrapped with precision, not fumbled in panic. The body position suggests a deliberate attack, not an equipment mishap. And that perfume scent Lotus keeps alerting to doesn't match anything the victim wore. Between suspicious crew members, conflicting witness statements, and a killer who's walking free with a fortune they were never meant to inherit, Serena must trust her instincts and prove what really happened before the ship docks in Fort Lauderdale. Can a yoga instructor and her remarkably observant dog unmask a murderer hiding behind a facade of devoted service? Or will Serena discover that some poses are too dangerous to hold? One thing's certain: this wellness cruise is about to become an investigation into greed, betrayal, and the deadly price of inheritance.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Breath and Betrayal