One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Murder on the Mauretania by Conrad Allen

This is the second adventure with George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield aboard a classic ocean liner. And it’s one of my favorite of their adventures. Mostly because of a central character — the mystery is solved with the aide of the ship’s mascot, Bobo, a black cat.

Fortunately, books and movies have editors, so if a seemingly minor detail is important enough to mention in the narrative, you can be pretty sure it will be important to the story later. Because Bobo is introduced in the first chapter, I am pretty sure that he is going to play a very important role. And he does. Saying any more would be spoiling the book for other readers.

My reading companion and I have already read the entire series, but both of us noticed during this re-read that we had forgotten the murderers in the books, though we remembered many of the supporting characters. The books definitely stand up to re-reading.

This one does not have the descriptions of the ship’s facilities the way Murder on the Lusitania did, but there is still an excellent sense of setting. I have taken several cruises, so I have a fair idea of life on board, but my cruises have been in the era of cruising for pleasure not transportation, and none of them have been on classed lines. Even though we prefer to cruise in Ocean-View cabins on lower decks, they are not classified as “steerage” or “third-class” and there is no passenger accessible area that is off limits to any passenger. The food and service is the same in the Main Dining Room or the Lido Buffet for all passengers, regardless of the cabin category in which they are sailing. I’m not sure, but I would hazard that the accommodations on board today’s cruise ships are closer to the Second Class accommodation on the classic ocean liners, though I have no real basis for comparison other than pictures and fictional descriptions. I did miss the lavish description from the first adventure aboard the Lusitania.

Overall this is a better mystery, though there are fewer red herrings and false starts to the investigation. I found the structure of watching the crime unfold, then then playing along as the detectives investigate, to be more engaging than coming in after the crime has been committed and working back. It’s more like watching a television mystery. And I find knowing details of the crime the detectives do not makes for a better read. But that’s my opinion.

George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield do not disappoint. It’s a fun adventure on a classic ocean liner, made even better by Bobo (though I’m not sure Bobo would approve of that name for himself).

One Bear’s Opinion: Four Grapefruit Cosmo Mocktails in the Ocean Bar with a plate of hot hors d’oeuvres

Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver