A Picture of Pretense

In A Picture of Pretense by Christine Noyes, we meet a group on the Perth cruise ship and immediately wish we were on board with them. Holly and her dad Mike; Cate and her sister Shelia; Lynn, her husband Doug, and wheelchair-bound son Bradley; and the intriguing Derek all find themselves at the same dinner table. They very quickly become friends and spend most of their time together sharing meals, going on outings, sunning at the pool, and trying to figure out who and what Derek is really doing aboard the ship. As the group watches and figures out more than Derek would have liked, the plot thickens and they realize he is not on vacation but has a very different mission.