Have you ever wanted to sail away on a yacht? Like sexy mysteries? If so, this book by R.P. Dahlke is for you.

The book opens with Katrina Hunter exhausted, sailing solo from San Francisco Bay to Ensenada, the first real port of call in Baja, Mexico in a thirty two foot Westsail yacht. She thinks she sees a mermaid, an hallucination she supposes, due to her sleep deprived state. However, she decides to investigate and finds the body of a dead teen-age girl. Despite not wanting to get involved in a potential murder case, Katrina does the right thing and calls the Mexican Navy to investigate

Katrina is a San Francisco police woman currently on forced leave for shooting a man who threatened her sister. Before you know it she discovers a man from her past and gets involved with the handsome Mexican-Italian Chief Inspector Raul Vignaroli.

If that was all there was to this book, it would have been an interesting whodunit. But the book is actually a metaphor for the fact that we can’t run away from our problems and as such offers an interesting philosophical look at life as well. Although the book is set in Mexico, the book is really about people from the U.S. “the ones passing through and the ones stuck in a Dangerous Harbor”.

Rebecca Dahlke, the author spent several years in Ensenada, Mexico aboard her cutter rigged Hylas 47 sailboat. She started the book 10 years ago based on a local story which she said was “staggering in its brutality.” Unfortunately today with the drug cartels, this type of story is much more common.

I strongly recommend “A Dangerous Harbor.” By the time I finished the book, my wanderlust was in full throttle. I was drawn to the sense of adventure and I admired the strong female lead. Best of all, the ending, which I won’t give away, was extremely satisfying.

Five stars out of five.

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In accordance with FTC guidelines for reviewers, I would like to clarify that this book was provided to me by the author free of charge.  I am not compensated by the author or publisher for my review.  All they expect is an honest review of the work.