by Max Allan Collins.
Paperback (4.2×6.7 inches). 243 pages. 2002.
Murder mysteries are not my usual form of novel, but as this involved the Lusitania, I thought I’d give it a try. He also wrote Road to Perdition and I liked the Tom Hanks movie.
The ship itself receives considerable attention as our two heroes, S.S. Van Dine, aka Willard Wright, a journalist undercover to see if the ship is carrying munitions, and the gorgeous Pinkerton agent and ship detective Philomina Vance, try to figure out who murdered possible German saboteurs.
It’s a “closed room” mystery — in that all the suspects are confined to one location. Agatha Christie, said a BBC documentary, was the master of that particular mystery. Collins has a bit of a more complicated closed room, i.e. the entire ship.
It’s an easy enough read as our heroes move among the upper crust of society on the way to Britain. It’s not exactly my fiction genre, but it was a pleasant enough distraction as I awaited the U-boat.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
