Murder on the Lusitania [Hardcover]

Conrad Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

September 1907. George Porter Dillman sets sail from Liverpool on the New York-bound Lusitania for its maiden voyage. Hired by the ship's captain to pose as a passenger, George is in fact sailing the high seas as a private detective for the Cunard Line. While on board, he expects only to deal with petty crimes--some random vandalism and a scuffle or two in the bar, most likely. But then the ship's blueprints are stolen from the chief engineer's room and a man is killed in his cabin.

The murder victim is Henry Barcroft, a grating, nosy journalist who'd been covering the maiden voyage for a wire service and making a nuisance of himself among the other passengers. No one would be sorry to see him go, and George Dillman soon discovers that several on board even stand to gain from Barcroft's demise. Working quickly to solve the crime, George makes an unusual and spirited friend, Genevieve Masefield, and the two uncover secrets about their fellow travelers that prove explosive.

Conrad Allen has created a perfect blend of history, romance, and suspense. By turns delightful and gripping, Murder on the Lusitania beautifully evokes the Gilded Age and introduces us to two of the most remarkable sleuths in crime fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Allen kicks off a projected series of mysteries set on famous ocean liners with this well-crafted high society whodunit. Suave, smart and handsome, George Porter Dillman seems to be the perfect man for his job as the Cunard Line's private detective. Posing as a first-class passenger on the Lusitania's 1907 maiden voyage, he ingratiates himself with ship's surgeon Lionel Osborne, flirts mildly with young Violet Rymer, assists the troubled American Ellen Tolley, befriends the adventurous Genevieve Masefield and keeps an eye on potential card sharks and con men. Meanwhile, pushy journalist Henry Bancroft tries hard to scoop his rivals, and the aristocrats who populate the book's margins pursue their various schemes. It's not long before Dillman discovers difficult puzzles to solve. Someone has snatched the secret diagrams that explain the Lusitania's wiring, and someone--the same culprit?--has stolen a Stradivarius from world-famous violinist Itzak Weiss. When Dillman discovers Bancroft murdered by a grisly blow to the head, only he can find the real killer. Allen won't win awards for his prose ("Having been given so little in the way of evidence, he now felt that he had far too much and it was causing confusion"). He will, however, please some fans of historical drawing-room murder, especially the Anglophiles. With little violence, much description of jewelry, some intrigue and plenty of stiff upper lips, Allen's confection may overcome its predictable elements to find warm admirers. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The year is 1907, and Cunard Line's gleaming luxury liner Lusitania is about to set forth on her maiden voyage, which the British hope will shatter the North Atlantic speed record and provide bragging rights over the Germans. To make certain everything remains swell for the swells in first class, Cunard has yacht-builder-turned-actor-turned-detective George Porter Dillman, a Yank, planted among them. The passenger list is a who's who of the usual suspects, including sporty spinster sisters, some rich folks whose daughter loves a glib Irishman who loves her money, a father-daughter team who are not what they appear to be, a pushy journalist, and a beautiful woman on the make for a nobleman with a beautiful bankroll. Besides the murder in the title, there is enough grand larceny to keep Dillman busy and enough of everything else to keep readers entertained. Allen's writing style harks back to the classic English mysteries of the first half of this century--and that's pretty good harking. Budd Arthur

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 266 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312241143
• ISBN-13: 978-0312241148
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic murder mystery, December 10, 1999

By 

Roger Long "longrush" (Port Clinton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder on the Lusitania (Hardcover)

If you are a murder-mystery fan, it does not get any better than "Murder on the Lusitania." The atmosphere, characters, plot, denouement are all just perfect. Supposedly the author has written other mysteries under a pseudonym. Does anyone know the name of his other mysteries? I would read them all. Usually I have figured out the plot about half way through a mystery. I'm not unique. Most readers of mysteries can do the same. But this time I was wonderully misdirected. As the pace picked up about half way through, I found myself enjoying the tale immensely and hoping beyond hope that the writer wasn't going to screw up the ending. He didn't. Thank you, Mr. Allen. And Bravo!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good mystery with a fantastic setting, September 4, 2006

By 

B. Larson (Palatine, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder on the Lusitania (Hardcover)

I picked up Conrad Allen's Murder on the Lusitania on a whim and I was not disappointed. The setting is fantastic with Allen's descriptions of life aboard the maiden voyage of the Lusitania, and the characters are just as fascinating. Following a large contingent of first class passengers we meet The Rymers, the Tolley's and a pushy journalist Bancroft; we learn what the good life aboard a luxury liner is all about.

Following the Ship's detective, George Porter Dillman, who is posing as a first class passenger, we first meet all of the relevant parties, and learn about them prior to the crime of (as the title states) murder. There are so many red herrings and twists that this one will keep you guessing until the end.

I'm glad I picked up this book and I am sure that you will enjoy it as well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining, splendid little mystery..., January 8, 2001

By 

Robert Wade - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder on the Lusitania (Mass Market Paperback)

Attracted by the cover and the setting of one of the great passenger ships of yesteryear, this was my first Conrad Allen mystery. It's a pleasure to report that the book fulfilled my hopes for a diversionary, well-written and entertaining mystery. The protagonist, American George Dillman, operating as an undercover detective on the Lusitania for the Cunard Line, is a sophisticated, cool and interesting customer. Faced with a murder and the disappearance of ship's blueprints, Dillan does as good a job keeping everyone in the dark as to whom he really is as the villain does in hiding his identity. The individual portraits he paints of the cast of characters make up a varied group of distinct types of human beings, one of whom is an extremely obnoxious journalist. (As a lawyer, I enjoyed that.) The ship-board atmosphere, with its references to the turn-of-the-century British/German rivalry for supremacy on the high seas, is well-drawn--one certainly feels at times that that the good old days of travel are really gone. (After all, there's little opportunity on a jet plane for the leisure, luxury and romance of the sort possible on the great old ocean liners.) And, I particularly enjoyed his portrayals of the available young women on board and the cat & mouse games played between the sexes--Allen creates images in your mind of some very attractive and appealing young ladies, so much so that I found myself wishing I were a bachelor again and could be there to join in the pursuit.

Best of all, the ending wasn't a disappointment.

A most pleasant read--next I'll try "Murder on the Mauritania".