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The Review

Murder on the Marmora

by Conrad Allen

Murder on the Marmora

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Murder on the Marmora is the entry where Conrad Allen takes the Dillman and Masefield series off Cunard for the first time and onto the P&O Marmora, on a passage to Bombay. The change of company makes more difference than I expected; the P&O eastern-route passengers are a different mix, the ship has a different sense of itself, and Allen leans into the texture.

The case involves a card-sharp ring on board and a death that may or may not have been the result of a cheating exposure. The investigation moves at the series' usual relaxed pace. The closing chapters land in the place you expect and with a piece of misdirection that is fair.

Three stars. The series remains comfortable rather than urgent. Recommended after one or two earlier entries.

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