First published 1983
Walter Baranov flees England with his lover Lydia after murdering his wife in 1921. Aboard the luxury liner Mauretania, he assumes the identity of Inspector Dew, the celebrated detective who captured the infamous Dr. Crippen. Walter believes this disguise will protect him during the Atlantic crossing. His plan works until a passenger turns up dead. The ship's captain, recognizing the famous inspector's name, asks Walter to lead the murder investigation. Now Walter must solve a real crime while hiding his own guilty past. He faces an impossible choice: expose himself as a fraud and murderer, or somehow play detective convincingly enough to fool everyone aboard. As the investigation deepens, Walter discovers that maintaining his false identity becomes more dangerous than the original deception. The closer he gets to solving the shipboard murder, the more likely someone will uncover his true nature.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, Mauretania
Period: 1921
251 pages · Paperback · Random House UK
Content warnings: murder