Customer Reviews

Murder on the Marmora: A Mystery

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After sailing on the maiden voyages of the Lusitania and Mauretania for the Cunard Shipping Company as in-house detectives, George Dillman and Genevieve now work for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. They are sailing on the Marmora from England to Australia with a stop in Egypt. The purser on the ship Brian Kilhendry makes it clear to the duo that he has no use for them and thinks they are not needed as there is never crime on his ship.

Shortly after he makes that proclamation, a woman sailing alone is robbed of her jewelry and money while she is out of the cabin. Other robberies follow and the victims are all women traveling without a man to protect them. While the two detectives are trying to help the victims, a man is murdered but nothing is missing from the room. The man was very well liked leaving Dillman and Genevieve desperate to find the criminals even if it puts them in danger.

Anyone who loves to sail the seven seas will want to read MURDER ON THE MARMORA, a picturesque who-done-it that will make readers want to go on a cruise. Although much of the book is concentrated on the mystery, Genevieve is kept busy trying to evade her ex-fiancé on board with his new bride and Dillman is trying to discourage a young woman from chasing after him. The surprise ending is just the icing on the cake for one of Conrad Allen's best voyage mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

After several voyages with the famous Cunard line, cruise ship detectives George Dillman and Genevieve Masefield take a job with a competitor--P&O in a cruise from England to Australia by way of Egypt and the Suez Canal. Unlike their experience with Cunard, however, they find the Pursor unhelpful and even antagonistic. He assures them that his nose for trouble is all that is needed to keep his ship clean. Unfortunately, several robberies prove him wrong. When one of their suspects is murdered, Genevieve and George know that they need to move quickly in able to prove their worth, but the crimes are so skillful, without any evidence of tampering with the cabin locks, that they realize they are dealing with a professional.

George and Genevieve work together to determine who could have known about any valuables hidden in cabins, clear alibis, and deal with the personalities on board the ship--a difficulty compounded by Genevieve's ex-fiance now on board as a newlywed but still interested in Genevieve, and the young woman who quickly falls for George.

MURDER ON THE MARMORA is the fifth in author Conrad Allen's George Dillman/Genevieve Masefield historical mystery series and the strongest to date. Allen added more dimension to his characters while maintaining the entertaining mystery and strong period atmosphere of his earlier mysteries. Allen sets his stories in the glory days of the cruise industry before World War I--a period when manners mattered, dress was formal, and progress seemed certain.

I'm afraid the Dillman/Masefield series is getting very repetitious, and this novel is a good example. The protagonists investigate thefts and a murder on a voyage from England to Egypt and wrap things up before the vessel reaches Port Said. However, it's the same cast of shipboard characters with diferent names, and not much new happens, although the author tries to introduce variation by adding a purser who is hostile to the detectives and the appearance of Genevieve's former fiance, a creep if ever there was one. There are lots of red herrings, and, as it turns out, two sets of villains, but one has the nagging sense of having read it all before. Maybe there's just nothing left to do to liven things up on board. Pirates??

This is the fifth in the Shipboard Mystery series featuring a pair of detectives working on luxury liners during the years before WWI. The ships themselves are real liners, the reader is given a brief history of the featured ship at the end of the story.

As this novel opens it is December 1908 and, taking a break from their usual trans-Atlantic assignments for the Cunard line George Porter Dillman and his colleague Genevieve Masefield are on loan to the P & O line, taking the smaller Marmora, to Australia with stopping in Marseilles and Cairo along the way. The P & O line had requested the extra security because the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their daughters are on this voyage but other problems began to appear almost before the ship left port. First Genevieve discovered her former fiance and his bride were on board, then a series of thefts occurred followed by a murder. Little did the two realize just how busy this trip would be, or where their investigations would lead.

This is a charming series of cozies, and like most of this genre the attraction is the overall story arc of the relationship between George and Genevieve. For maximum enjoyment these stories should be read in order as much as possible. The individual mysteries in this one, like the rest of the series, are mildly challenging at most although there might be a twist or two to surprise the reader. These are lovely little diversions to while away a few hours, perhaps to take on a cruise.

Murder on the Marmora, brings us back in time to a point where travel on the ocean was the only way to get to where you were going, and the most luxury that you could find anywhere. These ships were also a great place for the criminal element.

In this story we follow George Dillman and Genevieve Masefield as they track down confidence men and more sinister characters. Like the title suggests there is a murder on board and it is up to Dillman and Masefield to solve the crime.

With great detail, many characters are brought into the story, and fans of Allen will delight in meeting Genevieve's former fiancée. The characters and settings are rich in detail, and the mystery will keep you turning the pages.

Again Conrad Allen scores a touchdown with Murder on the Marmora.

Murder on the Marmora is the fifth fictional voyage of George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield, and I found it to be the most enjoyable.

The Marmora is a P & O (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) ship on which Dillman and Masefield are playing their familiar roles as undercover detectives. The ship doesn't provide any of the glamour that helped make the earlier books about the Lusitania and the Mauretania interesting. That lack is filled in by the novelty of minor Royals, the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their children, on board with the usual bevy of Royal watchers and hangers-on. The ship is also off to exotic Egypt and contains some rare artifacts.

Relations are tougher though on the detectives. The purser was once turned down by Cunard and holds a grudge against anyone who has worked for that luxury line. The purser likes Americans even less so Dillman takes his lumps in this new relationship.

Once on board, there's the usual crime spree that this series always features along with a quick death as the title suggests. From there, the detectives wander around not learning very much until just at the end of the book.

One of the most interesting of the subplots brings Genevieve Masefield into the company of her ex-fiancé. I rated the book as the best in the series due to the benefits of that subplot. Otherwise, I would have found this book to be an undistinguished three star effort.

Bon voyage!