Well, damn. Perhaps George Dillman and Genevieve Masefield shouldn't have temporarily forsaken the Cunard Line for broader shipping alternatives, because the absence of the general air of elegance and finesse on the Minnesota in comparison to the ships of the two prequels was quite keenly felt. Whereas the setting upon the luxurious Mauretania in the previous book was a highlight, the Minnesota lacked atmosphere - there was barely any sense that we were even at sea and the setting felt incidental to the crimes that took place. This wasn't helped by Genevieve's first impression of heavy disappointment when she first laid eyes upon the Minnesota; as one of our protagonists, her reactions very much drive those of the readers. George Dillman wasn't afforded the same level of power as ship's detective on the Minnesota compared to the Mauretania either (strangely enough, since he's actually friends with the Minnesota's purser), and it increased the feeling of dissatisfaction.This feeling extends to the hastily-plotted mystery and supporting characters, who were high in number but shallow in depth. Considering a point was made at the start of the book that this voyage would take George and Genevieve to Japan and China and that the ship's population has a large number of Asian travellers, I would have expected to see more of them, but ultimately we only got to meet one Chinese couple and one Japanese couple, both of whom remained peripheral to the story. There were a few likeable characters like Fay Brinkley and Maxine Gilpatrick, but I was baffled at how little purpose they served to the mystery in the end. The mystery itself didn't tie together very well - the actual murder felt neglected in favour of the smuggling subplot and much of the "solving" of it relied on George and Genevieve not-so-subtly pumping information out of passengers. I was pretty much waiting for something to go wrong.On the upside, the smaller quarters upon the Minnesota meant that George and Genevieve were able to work much closer together this time. There's also a bit more development of their relationship with the introduction of romantic conflict to spice things up (and now I actually feel like they're a real couple) and more details revealed about George's past. I'd commented previously that I liked George but felt like he remained very distant because we had so little chance to see him as anything other than a calm and collected professional, so a small chink in the armour was a welcome change.
Ship detectives Genevieve Masefield and George Porter Dillman have left Cunard for a while, and embark on a new high seas adventure. This time they are sailing on the steamship Minnesota, built in 1904 for the Great Northern Steamship Company. The Minnesota was different than the Cunard line in that it was actually a freighter that took paying customers. Anyway, Masefield and Dillman are off to China and Japan, and have been brought on board because of the possibility of smuggling. However, it's more than smuggling that causes them trouble -- a murder quickly sends them into action in their undercover capacity. The idea of detectives at sea on true-life, historical ships is a good one. However, in this particular installment of the series, there's a bit too much fluff (describing in detail the ladies' fashions, the interior of the ship, and as usual, listing every man who's infatuated with Genevieve Masefield) and not enough meat to the mystery. I'll put this one into the "it's fun to read" category, but it's not a truly serious mystery. If you like series mysteries or you enjoy something different in the historical mystery zone, then you'd probably be okay with it. If you want something more serious, then this one may not be the book you're looking for. Overall, it's fluffy but there's enough of a mystery to hold your interest.
