His mission is to mingle among the passengers keeping a watch out for petty criminals (pickpockets and thieves) and professional gamblers who might be working the passengers.Īt first things go much as Dillman and the Cunard expect. He is traveling as a first-class passenger, with the other passengers unaware of his true role.

He has been hired by the Cunard to operate undercover among the passengers aboard Lusitania during its 1907 maiden voyage. Marston, like Allen, is a pen name used by author Keith Miles, the one he most commonly uses.ĭillman’s role is revealed gradually. “Murder on the Lusitania,” by Edward Marston, rereleases the book. It was the first of eight mysteries featuring detectives George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield aboard various Atlantic liners in the years prior to World War I. It featured a murder aboard RMS Lusitania during its maiden voyage. In 1999, published under the pen name Conrad Allen, a mystery was released. Book Review A Mystery Series Opening on a Maiden Voyageĭecem“Murder on the Lusitania,” by Edward Marston, Allison & Busby, 2021, 288 pages, $12.95 (paperback), $5.99 (ebook) You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contain ideas worth reading. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. 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.Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. 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.Ĭonrad Allen has created a perfect blend of history, romance, and suspense. 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. 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. But then the ship’s blueprints are stolen from the chief engineer’s room and a man is killed in his cabin. While on board, he expects only to deal with petty crimes–some random vandalism and a scuffle or two in the bar, most likely.

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. George Porter Dillman sets sail from Liverpool on the New York-bound Lusitania for its maiden voyage.

Murder on the Lusitania by Conrad Allen