Murder on the Oceanic

The offbeat series set at the beginning of the previous century and featuring a pair of shipboard detectives continues with its seventh installment. The format remains unchanged: George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield are working onboard an ocean liner, posing as a couple of eligible singles (in fact they're happily married) while they search for foul play. The characters they encounter are the usual assortment of upper-class snobs and suspicious hangers-on. And the setting continues to move from one ritzy ocean liner to another. And yet, like any episode of Murder, She Wrote, it all feels different from the stories that preceded it. Allen really is a master of the escapist mystery, and his secret appears to be this: the books revel in their frothiness. Everything is just a little more Technicolor than real life--the characters just that little bit stuffier, or seedier, or more disreputable than actual human beings. We all know this stuff wouldn't really happen, that a pair of detectives wouldn't find murder onboard every ship on which they sail, but who cares? It's smooth sailing for this likable series, with no final port in sight. --David Pitt Copyright 2006 Booklist

In Conrad Allen's charming seventh shipboard historical, Murder on the Oceanic: A Mystery Featuring George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield, the sleuthing husband-and-wife team investigate the murder of J.P. Morgan's bodyguard as well as the theft of art treasures the great financier is transporting from Europe to New York. Allen (Murder on the Lusitania, etc.) supplies the usual colorful supporting cast, from a truculent artist who paints nudes to a dissolute rake who hounds Genevieve. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Mysteries can be set anywhere and at any time, but Allen's are distinctive for taking place not on land but on water: specifically, on the great ocean liners that plowed the waves at the beginning of the last century. In his latest (following Murder on the Marmora), ship detectives (and husband-and-wife) George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield are aboard the Oceanic with an interesting set of passengers that includes effervescent young Blanche and her stiff fiancé; the roué chasing both Blanche and Genevieve, who like George is working undercover; a satyric French painter traveling with both his artist wife and his model/mistress; and J.P. Morgan. But it's hardly smooth sailing; several important artworks are lifted from Morgan's stateroom, and his bodyguard is brutally murdered. George and Genevieve must work their way delicately through the list of suspects to arrive at a nicely surprising ending. No blood-and-guts thriller, this work is consistent with the series in its light charm; these are definitely cozies afloat. For most collections, especially where other books in the series have been popular.--Barbara Hoffert,Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

J.P. Morgan's newest art treasures fall victim to a shipboard heist. Everyone from the lowliest steward to the usually unflappable purser hopes to catch the eye of White Star line nabob J.P. Morgan when he boards the Oceanic at Cherbourg. Against all advice, the irascible banker festoons his stateroom with his new French purchases, including a Renoir, a Manet and a handsomely illustrated Book of Hours. His own security man, Howard Riedel, will oversee their safety. All goes well until Riedel has his throat slit and the art goes missing. Whodunit? Shipboard detectives George Porter Dillman and his wife Genevieve Masefield (Murder on the Salsette, 2005, etc.) skulk among the first-class passengers to find out. Poor, luscious Genevieve is hampered by the attentions of a roué and sidetracked by some less consequential thefts--diamond earbobs, a gold bracelet, a man's billfold. And one member of an artistic mènage-à-trois sidles up to George and distracts him. Still, the pair manage to sort out the various felonies and return all belongings to the interested parties before the ship docks in New York. Continuing in his locked-stateroom tradition, Allen savors the opulence of the early-20th century, romance on the high seas and a cast of impeccably gowned and bejeweled suspects. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The offbeat series set at the beginning of the previous century and featuring a pair of shipboard detectives continues with its seventh installment. The format remains unchanged: George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield are working onboard an ocean liner, posing as a couple of eligible singles (in fact they're happily married) while they search for foul play. The characters they encounter are the usual assortment of upper-class snobs and suspicious hangers-on. And the setting continues to move from one ritzy ocean liner to another. And yet, like any episode of Murder, She Wrote, it all feels different from the stories that preceded it. Allen really is a master of the escapist mystery, and his secret appears to be this: the books revel in their frothiness. Everything is just a little more Technicolor than real life--the characters just that little bit stuffier, or seedier, or more disreputable than actual human beings. We all know this stuff wouldn't really happen, that a pair of detectives wouldn't find murder onboard every ship on which they sail, but who cares? It's smooth sailing for this likable series, with no final port in sight. ((Reviewed January 1 & 15, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.

Mysteries can be set anywhere and at any time, but Allen's are distinctive for taking place not on land but on water: specifically, on the great ocean liners that plowed the waves at the beginning of the last century. In his latest (following Murder on the Marmora ), ship detectives (and husband-and-wife) George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield are aboard the Oceanic with an interesting set of passengers that includes effervescent young Blanche and her stiff fiancé; the roué chasing both Blanche and Genevieve, who like George is working undercover; a satyric French painter traveling with both his artist wife and his model/mistress; and J.P. Morgan. But it's hardly smooth sailing; several important artworks are lifted from Morgan's stateroom, and his bodyguard is brutally murdered. George and Genevieve must work their way delicately through the list of suspects to arrive at a nicely surprising ending. No blood-and-guts thriller, this work is consistent with the series in its light charm; these are definitely cozies afloat. For most collections, especially where other books in the series have been popular.--Barbara Hoffert,Library Journal

In Conrad Allen's charming seventh shipboard historical, Murder on the Oceanic: A Mystery Featuring George Porter Dillman and Genevieve Masefield, the sleuthing husband-and-wife team investigate the murder of J.P. Morgan's bodyguard as well as the theft of art treasures the great financier is transporting from Europe to New York. Allen (Murder on the Lusitania, etc.) supplies the usual colorful supporting cast, from a truculent artist who paints nudes to a dissolute rake who hounds Genevieve. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.