Holidays on a river cruiser are thought to be peaceful and stress free - this one wasn't. Elaine Forest, a police inspector from the UK, expected nothing more than a watching brief as she cruised on the River Danube. However, when you mix an assortment of characters, including an old hand of stage and screen, a snooty rival, two yokels, two amazing old ladies, a retired journalist, and girls out to have fun then blend them with a vain Italian member of staff, a Russian prince and a large dose of criminality, the results are anything but predictable.

The intervention of foreign police and the UK 'Border Force' together with smuggling, subterfuge, murder, farce, audacity and romance, all help to produce a series of surprising deceptions.