Murder on the Lusitania

by Conrad Allen

Book Overview

A maritime mystery from Edward Marston, author of the bestselling Railway Detective series. September 1907. George Dillman sets sail from Liverpool to New York on the Lusitania's maiden voyage. Posing... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312975716
• ISBN13: 9780312975715
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.0" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Lets go cruising

In this debut novel of a series based on famous ocean liners, it is 1907 and former Pinkerton detective George Porter Dillman is on the maiden voyage of the latest star of the Cunard line. He has been hired to be an undercover security agent for the line, keeping the passengers, particularly the ultra wealthy First Class passengers safe from card sharks, pickpockets, petty thefts and con artists while on board. Dillman has been alerted to the presence of an infamous card shark on the passenger list but other persons of interest also catch his eye. On the voyage Dillman manages to not only keep the card shark in line, (with some help from an unexpected source) but also aids a love struck heiress, thwarts a con artist, stops a saboteur, solves a murder and several thefts and acquires a partner. Not bad for a near record crossing. These are the golden days of ocean liners. The world war was only in the overactive imaginations of politicians and writers. Society was divided into distinct classes, and most definitely did not mingle. Ladies traveled with maids to tend their elaborate wardrobes and did not even discuss the possibility of getting the vote. Everyone, at least those in First Class, dressed for dinner after which the gentlemen retired for port, cigars and cards. The settings of the ocean liners leads to cozy mysteries in the tradition of the classic country house tales of Christie and Sayers. Dillman is an interesting detective, full of charm and clever tricks to stay ahead of the bad guys, and with his new partner, promises to be rival some of the great detective duos. This reader can't wait to board the Mauretania, the second book in the series.

Very good mystery with a fantastic setting

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.

Veddy Briddish

It's 1907 and the 1st sailing of the Lucy. It is nice to read a new book that is not filled with vulgarities. The author has the period down pat and fortunately there is a second book out and a third in the works. Sit back in a deck chair on the Boat Deck, wrap yourself in a wooly blanket and enjoy the trip..It is nice to read something set in the period prior to the War to End all Wars. HAH!

An entertaining, splendid little mystery...

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".

Classic murder mystery

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!