Murder Most Posh (Mrs. Xavier Stayton, #2) by Robert Colton

I'm enjoying this historical mystery series. In this one we follow Mrs. Stayton (I still rather think of her as a younger Miss Marple though) and her companion Lucy as they board a Titanic-like ship in the late twenties, departing England and going to America, where Mrs. X (Stayton) plans to confront a literary agent who for reasons unknown rejected her first mystery novel.

And it wouldn't be a Mrs. X book without a murder.

Think Clue but on a ship.

We know the weapon was a scarf...but was it Mr. Farquhar, with the scarf, in room B1, or Simone Wainwright with the scarf in B25? Gerald maybe, on the promenade?

The murder occurs a bit late and from that point on it's very climatic and then it's like reading a tennis match with the whodunit changing every other page, but this was done in an exciting way. Like I said, Clue.

And I was chuckling from the very first page, with her letter to the Red Star Line. What a terrific way to start a story!

The cast of characters, though unlikable, is very entertaining. There's a woman and her husband who survived the sinking of Tatiana due to her incredible grip. There's a crabby Russian countess. There's adultery, foot fetish...each page contains a surprise.

And I never figured it all out, not until Mrs. X was laying out some clues. That's when I pieced it together.

I really like these stories, the writing style, the bits of humor, all of it. I look forward to the next one. My only quibble would have to be that Mrs. X is far too perfect and nice, to the point it's not really believable. We are told one too many times how unselfish she is, like when she hands off her dresses and jewels and enjoys that fact her companions are getting all the attention. That happens like twice. Does this lady ever do anything not perfect?

Regardless, I recommend these light, fun mysteries.

I bought this on Amazon.