The Blue by Lucy Clarke - A Tense and Suspenseful Novel with the Exotic Backdrop of the Pacific Ocean

I loved The Sea Sisters and A Single Breath both by Lucy Clarke.
In the first, set in Bali, Katie is trying to unravel the truth about her sister's death, and in the second, Eva is finding out about the life of Jackson, her husband who's drowned, back where he used to live in Tasmania. You can read my reviews here and here. Therefore, as I liked them so much, I couldn't wait to read The Blue, set on a boat of that name sailing from the Philippines via Palau to New Zealand.
As in Lucy Clarke's first two books, The Blue starts off with a death. This time it's one of the travellers on the boat, whose body is floating in the sea.
The first two books explored the relationships between sisters and between husband and wife; this one explores and tests the lifelong friendship between Lana and Kitty.
It's told from Lana's point of view: 'Then' and 'Now', using the past and present tenses to easily identify when the action is taking place. It also beautifully encapsulates the wide ocean, and the confines of the small yacht with the six wanderers/adventurers on board; some sailing to something, some sailing away.

The crew are: Aaron, from New Zealand, who owns the boat; Denny also from New Zealand; the Canadian girl, Shell; Heinrich, the German; Joseph, the loner whom they'd picked up on Christmas Eve after they'd found him sleeping rough on a beach; and Lana and Kitty who'd decided to come to the Philippines on the spin of a globe.
There is obviously the mystery to solve of the drowned person, but also the reasons why each crew member is sailing and the complex relationships between each one which affect the outcome of the story.
I loved this tense and suspenseful novel with the exotic backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.
Lucy is now working on her, as yet untitled, fourth book which is due for release in Spring 2017, I can't wait!

Sailing to the South Seas with Pippi Longstocking

I always like to think that I'm a bit like Joanna Lumley: it was a childhood book about a little penguin who wanted to see the Northern Lights that made her long to visit Norway and see them for herself.
For me, it was reading Pippi Longstocking in the South Seas by Astrid Lindgren one rainy day in the school library that made me wish I could sail south to those mysterious islands in the sun.
Of course, I took the book with me, and found the world of friendly people, white coral beaches, black pearls, and tropical rainstorms that I had longed for: the endless Pacific Ocean, tiny green islands surrounded by impossible blue coral reefs, hermit crabs in miniscule red-spotted shells and fish of all shapes and sizes.
All because of a book in the library on a rainy afternoon.
Have you ever been drawn to a place by a favourite childhood book?