Back in Britain

I'm back home after a short but hugely enjoyable cruise when I was a speaker - or 'conversationalist', to use the company's rather nice term - on the Seabourn Sojourn. I was introduced to Seabourn as a prospective speaker by my pals Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny, and they were absolutely right to sing the company's praises. Everyone I have dealt with has been delightful and the whole experience was very positive.

In fact, the original idea was that I'd do a cruise with Seabourn some time in 2026. However, someone dropped out, and I had a few days free in between a couple of events with Ann and my other colleagues in Murder Squad, celebrating our 25 years together. Luckily for me, all the logistics worked out, with a flight out to Bordeaux and a train trip home from Southampton.

A Seabourn cruise is a luxury experience - definitely recommended! - and the key for anyone taking part as a conversationalist is to buy into the ethos of looking after the guests on board. I was especially impressed by the care taken to look after single travellers. So in addition to two conversations - one concerning Agatha Christie and the other concerning game-playing in detective fiction - on a couple of nights I hosted tables of guests, and they proved to be really good company. When presenting, I used PowerPoint for the first time in more than twenty years (after a rather traumatic incident at work, when pitching to prospective clients and the system broke down!) and with the help of the tech team, all was well.

There were three stops, all of them appealing and full of character. The first was at Bordeaux, which I last visited many years ago, and the second at the delightful and historic port town of La Rochelle, which I found quite entrancing. Finally, there was St Helier on Jersey, a town I always enjoy visiting. I felt very fortunate to have had such a fun time as well as sharing my passion for Golden Age mysteries with a receptive and interesting audience.