One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Murder on the Oceanic by Conrad Allen

This is the seventh classic cruise liner mystery with George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield. For this cruise, the detectives are working for the White Star Line (of Titanic fame) and they are back traversing the trans-Atlantic route.

This adventure differs from the previous six, not only because of the line they are sailing on, but also in that the author has decided to bring real famous people in as characters. On this cruise, George & Genevieve must protect J.P. Morgan. The real people as characters do give a sense of authentic history to the story, but I am beginning to think it’s a literary device that has become overused. Though I understand that Morgan really did travel back and forth across the Atlantic regularly, and, at the time (1910), sailing was the only viable option to make the journey.

The character of J.P. Morgan was pompous, acerbic, demanding, annoying and generally not a nice person. I understand that was the character of the real J.P. Morgan as well, but I did not like him as a character in this book. My Dad would probably say to me “you’re not supposed to like him,” and that may be true, but he did detract from my enjoyment of the book. Of course, he was central to the story; why would an author got to the trouble of featuring a real person if that person was not a central character to the plot? As a result, there was more of J.P. Morgan and his body guard than I would have preferred in the book.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book. I really enjoy the way the team sails on all the classic ocean-cruising lines. Though again, I wish the book had deck plans or reference maps for the reader. I find it harder to picture the layout of these classic ocean going vessels than I thought it would be, especially given that I have been on so many cruise vacations.

The mystery was interesting, and the author does a great job of weaving in many red herrings and sending renders, and his detectives, down the wrong path. These will never be great literature, but then they are not trying to be. I think they are trying to be a fun way to spend some time, an enjoyable adventure with friends. And that is exactly what they are.

One Bear’s Opinion: Four Glasses of White Wine and a plate of cheese & crackers to share with good friends

Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver