good cozy, not one of his most likable characters ( )

This is the third of the author's "disaster mystery" series I have read, in which a real life famous amateur sleuth investigates murder against a slightly fictionalised version of a famous disaster scenario. The sleuth this time is the little known Willard Huntington Wright, who wrote under the pseudonym SS Van Dine (which makes him sound like a Dutch steamship!). He investigates murder, theft and German saboteurs aboard the famous liner, sank by German torpedo(es) in May 1915 (in reality he wasn't on the Lusitania's last voyage, though he did travel on it a few months earlier). I didn't particularly care for Van Dine, who came across as more two dimensional than Jacques Futrelle in The Titanic Murders, and the fictional Pinkerton detective Philomena Vance seemed an unlikely figure. The plot was mediocre, and the actual sinking took place in a rather matter of fact way in the last chapter. The real ship took only 18 minutes to sink (compared to the Titanic's 2 hours 40 mins - erroneously stated as 4 hours in a footnote in this novel) and there is controversy over the second explosion that sank the ship - was it a second torpedo or an internal explosion and if so caused by what? ( )

murder mystery set aboard the Lusitania during her final voyage. Collins mixes historical facts of the voyage and sinking into his story. Journalist Willard Wright, A.K.A S.S. Van Dine is pressed into service to determine what role "Lucy" might play in the war. Engaging story, quick, fun read. ( )