Southern Cross — Jim Debrosse

An all-expense-paid trip to the Caribbean offers a much-needed distraction to Cincinnati investigative reporter Rick Decker. Justin Grammer, the black-sheep scion of one of Cincinnati's most socially prominent families, has disappeared from a cruise ship, and Rick and partner Rebo Johnson are to find out what happened. It's the sort of scandalmongering assignment Decker usually tries to avoid, but Rick recently went through a heartbreaking breakup with his longtime girlfriend and could use some distance between him and the memories Cincinnati holds.
Traveling incognito, Rick and Rebo book passage on the Southern Cross, where Justin was last seen. On board, they find a party in progress, but - appearances to the contrary - things aren't all fun and games. Justin's disappearance has tensions running high; the situation explodes when the ship's most glamorous passenger is brutally murdered. When Rick links the dead woman to Justin, he realizes that whatever the missing man was mixed up in isn't over. A killer is on the loose, and Decker, whose involvement has gone way beyond simply covering the news, may be in too deep.