Murder on a trans-oceanic voyage? Magic probably involved? Somewhat sheltered aristocratic girl and a an actress teaming up (in more ways than one)? Sounds like a fine Galentine’s read to me.
I have to admit, I liked the first volume of this series, but didn’t totally love it. I almost liked this one better; strange as it sounds, it’s almost more realistic, in spite of the ghosts and magic that crop up off and on the entire time. I think the predetermined timeframe of there’s only 6 days to solve the murder because there’s only 6 days of the journey, and that provides a better reason for the romantic timeline being so condensed helped the story in a lot of ways. Maud is Sir Robin’s little sister and she has mostly a couple of cameos in the first novel, which is more Robin’s and his eventual partner’s story; this is her story. I have to admit, I didn’t remember much about her since she has a small role in the first novel and the same goes for Lord Hawthorne, but I think that might actually have helped with this story, that those two key characters were more or less blank slates, but still connected. The connection is useful because it’s clear from the beginning that the murder Maud is investigating is related to the mysteries (and previous murders and dastardly deeds) that started with Robin and Edwin; thanks to the ghost mentioned earlier, we get some good backstory on how a lot of that might have started, but it’s not actually all that necessary to have read the first book (or having done so a long time ago) to follow.
Violet, the actress who Maud recruits to her cause, as it turns out also has a connection to the previous part of the story, and she’s not too happy when she finds out about that. Violet is one of those characters who you know (and she does too deep down) that she’s probably playing a bit of a character most of the time since her cheerful and repeated openness about seeking out her own ruination (both professionally and personally) screams “distraction, much!?” That said, she and Maud are actually a pretty good pair together since they balance each other as well as force each other to be a bit more honest about themselves with themselves. The personal side does feel a little rushed but it works since it’s on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean for about a week. Spending time together before going further isn’t as much a priority as it otherwise should be.
I have to admit, neither Violet nor Maud by themselves were that interesting to me, but together and as a part of the team they put together (there’s pornography involved, and it’s actually funny how that works out) is where everyone gets a chance to be interesting. The mystery they have to work out is also pretty well paced except that things do (again) feel a little rushed towards the end, and this time that works out a little less well than some of the other cases of less development. It’s not really spoilers to say that Maud has to confront both the word and action of “f*ck” and her conclusion about that is genuinely a pretty good line.
Overall, I was a little surprised that this story grew on me as quickly as it did considering the first one was kind of blah in some ways. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the whole gang is gathered, at least they’d better gather, to finally see the questions about The Last Contract finally settled.