Murder on the Minneapolis

At the start of Davison’s so-so whodunit set in the early 20th century, governess Flora Maguire and her 13-year-old charge, Edward, Viscount Trent, board the SS Minneapolis in New York City. Flora is taking Eddy home to England while his parents tour America. The first night at sea, Flora meets an attractive man, Bunny Harrington, and on the second day, she’s the first to spot a corpse on deck. Frank Parnell’s body bears a large bruise and a deep gash on the back of his head, but Flora alertly notices that there’s no blood beneath him. Despite this, the ship’s doctor and captain quickly dismiss her suspicions of foul play. Flora’s relationship with Bunny offers few surprises, and for a woman familiar with Freud, she’s implausibly slow to recognize what she feels toward him. Davison (Trencarrow Secret) also fails to evoke the claustrophobia other ship-based murder mysteries have mustered. (Nov.)