The American Revolutionary War series, featuring Captain Jamie Skoyles, set during the American Revolutionary War: [16] September 1907. George Dillman sets sail from Liverpool to New York on the Lusitania's maiden voyage. Posing as a passenger, Dillman is in fact an undercover detective hired by the Cunard Line to keep an eye out for petty crimes. But after some uneventful days aboard, the ship’s blueprints are stolen and then a body is found. When one of the guests on board is murdered, George and the staff on board have their hands full dealing with the situation. To avoid panic and damaging rumours for Cunard, George counsels they keep the murder quiet while investigating. George questions and searches, and gradually Genevieve becomes involved, too, though mostly peripherally till the violent confrontation at the end. If you're interested in historical mysteries, or if you're following the series you may like it; however, you really want to start with book one in the series so you're not confused about the relationship between Dillman and Masefield. This started off with two interesting twists for me - our two detectives, who’ve always worked on luxurious Cunard vessels making Atlantic crossings, are now on the P & O liner Marmora - still luxurious, but making stops in Marseille, Egypt, and finally, Australia. EDIT: this is only the fifth book, sorry! There are more books in the series

A good, old-fashioned mystery set on the maiden voyage of the famous Lusitania from England to New York in 1907, Murder on the Lusitania certainly doesn't disappoint. Speaking of changes, we have a break in pattern elsewhere on the Marmora - no more Mr. Nice Purser. Brian Kilhendry is frankly an arrogant, self-absorbed and racist little man, and it was as unpleasant to read about him as it must’ve been for George to have to work with him. While his bullheaded insistence on obstructing George and Genevieve made my blood boil, it did make him a far more memorable character than the other nice Cunard pursers, who all seem to blend into one in my mind. And it certainly did make the mystery that much more challenging to solve, which was fun.

Publication Order of Action Scene Books

Edward Marston is the pseudonym used by the famous British author Keith Miles for writing mystery and historical fiction novels. Edward also writes under his original name sometimes. Other than these names, he has also written novels featuring ship’s detectives under other pseudonyms Conrad Allen and Martin Inigo. Edward is particularly known for writing the mystery novels set in the time of Elizabeth theater. Among the all the novel series’ written by him, the most famous ones include The Railway Detective series, the Bracewell series, the Domesday series, the Christopher Redmayne series and the Home Front Detective series. The Domesday series is the one for which author Edward Marston is well known. Apart from the mysteries, he also likes to write novels based on the Biography and Children’s genres. Edward was born in the year 1940 in Wales, United Kingdom and was also brought up there. He completed his studies from the Oxford University in Modern History and began working as a lecturer in the same college. He taught Modern History to the students of the Oxford College for a period of three years before going on to become a full time writer, mostly as a freelancer. Freeman, Pam (June 2002). "An interview with Keith Miles". Shropshire Council. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012 . Retrieved 14 December 2010. I liked the stronger focus on George and Genevieve this time around, with fewer unnecessary side jaunts following unpleasant or irrelevant supporting characters. This, plus the smaller size of the Marmora, allowed them to work in closer proximity and I actually felt like they were a pair, despite them continuing to work separately undercover. The Restoration series, featuring architect Christopher Redmayne and Constable Jonathan Bale, set in 1660s/70s London:

The action - a murder, assorted burglaries, a financial scam - takes place during the England to Egypt leg of the voyage. I enjoyed this mystery. The pacing is good, and the text flowed well. I liked George and Genevieve, and found the historical details about the Lusitania interesting. There are also several subplots concerning some of the characters in First Class, giving us a nice choice amongst the passengers to point to as a possible murderer. Marston began his Restoration series in 1999 featuring architect/detective Christopher Redmayne and the puritan Constable Jonathan Bale. Six books were written in this series, with the last one, The Painted Lady, released in 2007. In the "Captain Rawson" series, Marston has written about a soldier and spy operating during the military campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough.

History of the CWA". The Crime Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010 . Retrieved 14 December 2010. The Elizabethan Theatre series, featuring Nicholas Bracewell, stage manager (and amateur detective) for one of Elizabethan London leading theatrical companies: This was okay for a first in a series, read with the Reading the Detectives group. Dillman is an appealing detective, and I thought it was an interesting premise to have the former Pinkerton agent, now a plainclothes detective for the Cunard Line, undercover as a first class passenger on the maiden voyage of the Lusitania. For Marston fans I would say read this for the sake of completeness, but I would point anyone looking for a really good historical mystery story to one of Marston's other series'.