Jim and Diana are traveling to England on an ocean liner in 1894. Jim is a former military man and is now a detective. On the first night, while battling sea sicknesses, Jim meets a fellow military man who is now a Spanish diplomat. The next day, he receives a note from the Spanish diplomat asking for his help. But, before he can meet with him, the diplomat is found murdered.

The captain of the ship enlists Jim to investigate the murder. Assisted by Diane, Jim sets out to solve the murder. Due to the heated political situation in Europe, it is essential that Jim solves the murder before the ship docks in a week.

I have to admit, this novel got a little slow for me in the middle. Jim analyses who the suspects are...over and over again. Once he seems to have solved the murder, he begins questioning himself. Sure enough, that suspect is dismissed and Jim is back to the drawing board. I feel like this one could have been shortened by about a hundred pages with more decisiveness and less repetition..

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
This is the third book in this series. I have read the first one, but not the second one. This story takes place in 1894 on a transatlantic crossing from America to Britain. On the voyage a murder occurs, and James O'Trey is enlisted to find out who the murderer is. This book had some good parts, but it just failed to grab me. It was hard to get to know the characters or to feel anything for them. The plot seemed to drag in places, and I found my attention wandering. It was a good mystery but seemed to need a little warmth to bring the reader into the story.

Set in 1894 newly married husband and wife Captain Jim Agnihotri and Lady Diana Framji are on a transatlantic cruise to England when a Spanish diplomat is murdered. Since Jim is an investigator, the captain asks him to take charge of the case. The couple are fans of Sherlock Holmes mysteries and from time to time muse about what Sherlock would have done or thought. This is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie mystery such as Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express, but in this case there are 1,000 passengers aboard the ship, 99.9% of whom have no connection to each other. It just didn't work for me.

This is the third book in a series - I might have liked it better if I read the first two as they apparently provide the backstory to the main characters, and in fact I had both those books on my "want to read" list on Goodreads, but I just wasn't invested in them or the victim(s).

I do appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy, but would caution readers to start with Nev March's earlier books in the series. Murder in Old Bombay introduces Jim and wife Diana, and then in Peril at the Exposition the couple move to the US and subsequently investigate a murder at the World's Fair in Chicago.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. As a fan of the previous books in the series, I was happy to learn more about what happened with the characters. Being an avid cruiser, I enjoyed reading about luxury transatlantic cruising around the turn of the century. This book was mostly from the point of view of the husband, Jim, as he became involved with investigating the murder of another passenger on the ship as well as other incidents during the crossing. It was interesting to see the difficulty Jim faced when evidence pointed in a direction contrary to Jim's instincts. There were many red herrings and many suspects. I enjoyed learning more about the historical events of Spain, England, the US and Cuba at that time, as well as issues with class, race, and feminism. I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

This is apparently the third installment of a series involving Captain James O’Trey and his wife Lady Diana, married just two years. Now, it is 1894, and they are on a transatlantic voyage from America to Britain.

On their first night on board, Jim meets an older Spanish gentleman who sends him a note the next day requesting an urgent meeting. But when Jim tries to find him, he discovers that the man, Don Juan Nepomuceno, has been murdered.

The captain of the ship, upon discovering Jim is a detective, asks him to lead the investigation to find the killer before they dock in Liverpool in six days. The Don was a high-level government figure in Spain - governor of Bilbao - and “the unofficial Spanish ambassador to the United States.” The captain inferred the murder could have diplomatic consequences, so solving the crime is of utmost importance.

The task is a daunting one: there are 945 people aboard the ship, including crew. Moreover, Jim is plagued by bouts of seasickness. He has Diana, however, who knows her way around the upper classes and is curious and clever. Those skills are much needed, since not only did the Don have secrets, but so did many of the passengers and crew.

The plot unfolds in a rather Sherlock Holmesian manner, but I thought the writing was a bit stiff, the plot a bit contrived, and the characters not all that compelling. Still, it wasn’t a bad effort, and ably evoked the class relationships and political machinations of the times.

The Spanish Diplomat’s Secret by Nev March

Thank you to St. Martin’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advance readers copy of this book.

An 1894 transatlantic steamship trip is the background for this third outing for the appealing couple of Lady Diana and Captain Jim. The beautiful, intelligent, and kind Parsi from Bombay, and the strong but sweet illegitimate half English/half Indian army officer-cum-private detective, are traveling from their recently adopted home in Boston to London for Jim’s work.

While the first book in the series, “Murder in Old Bombay,” was clever and well-written, this third in the series suffers from many confusing and unnecessary or misleading events and descriptions.

The book opens with an unknown narrator “upchucking” his meal over the rails of the Cunard steamship. The narrator turns out to be Jim (it was Diana in the second book), and physical discomfort comes up more than necessary in the ensuing pages.

Some of the descriptions, especially about time, are quite confusing. Events are associated with lunch and dinner, but seem to be in the wrong order: Jim and Diana go to lunch in the main dining room, and Jim says “Evening…” to some guests. But it is indeed lunchtime, and dinner comes later. Or it isn’t clear if something happens the day after the murder or two days later, nor how long they are on the ship.

The murder mystery revolves around a Spanish diplomat, apparently seeking funds to secure the position for the current, under-age King of Spain. Much is made of the politics involved, which is neither clear nor interesting.

There are varied characters, some well-written and some not so much. We hear a great deal about the Captain’s changes in face color, and a woman with four young children is described as “an old lady.” Red herrings abound, with many suspicions around ladies dressed in black and others dressed in white.

At least the cause for Diana's emotional distress and distance from Jim are finally explained, and the theme of her wanting meaningful work is introduced. I expected to enjoy this book, but with reluctance, I feel it is not on the same level as the first one in the series, and I hope the fourth (which is hinted at) will be more carefully written and edited.

The Spanish Diplomat’s Secret is an historical cozy mystery, reminiscent of an Agatha Christie locked room murder. It’s the third in the James Agnihotri series but works fine as a stand-alone.
It’s 1894 and Jim and his wife, Diana, are sailing to England on a luxury liner. The second day at sea brings the murder of a Spanish gentleman and Jim is asked to conduct the investigation.
March does a good job of providing a detailed setting, true to the period. The book is also a throwback in terms of its pacing, which moved at a languid pace and became almost torpid in the middle. Jim seems to spend a lot of time ruminating over what he’s learned about each character. March offers up plenty of false leads and red herrings. The pace did pick up for the last quarter and I became totally engaged at that point. I figured out the murderer before Jim did, but that’s not saying much.
March spends a fair amount of time fleshing out both Jim and Diana. But Diana for some reason felt especially two dimensional here.
This was decent entertainment but a little too tepid for my taste.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Disclaimer: I did not read the first 2 books in thia series, but it wounded lile something i would enjoy
This book has a great premise ~ murder mystery on the sea? Sign me up! However, this book was tough for me to read. The writing felt a little too robotic and disjointed. I found myself having to re read paragraphs because the topic would change midway through and I thought I missed something. I think if the writing was cleaned up and more emotion was added to the characters, this would be a lot more enjoyable.

A private detective is tasked with solving the murder of a Spanish diplomat on an Atlantic crossing in order to avoid an international incident.

This is a fine example of a shipboard mystery. The entire ship is explored, from the first class amenities to the boiler room, as well as the routines and superstitions of the sailors. The historical event at the heart of the mystery also involved a ship – the capture of an American blockade runner in Cuba by the Spanish. It was interesting to learn about this tragedy, and it tied in nicely to the motivation behind the crime.

I had read the first in this series but not the second, and I was able to follow along well enough with some recaps. The detective’s wife provides some insights and even a heroic rescue. There’s a personal issue where her reasoning seems out of character, even for the time period, but that is a minor quibble.

Good choice for those seeking a mystery with a lesser-known historical backdrop.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

This book was not for me. While I enjoyed the historical aspects, I found the continuous rehashing of events via conversation to be tedious and the story slow-going. None of the characters came alive, and eventually I lost interest in the story because so much was speculation and review. I slogged through to the end, but it was not enjoyable. I really didn’t care who killed the Spanish diplomat, I had no allegiance to any of the characters, and my main interest was not giving up.

"The Spanish Diplomat's Secret" was a good addition to the series. The murder mystery takes place on a passenger ship traveling from New York City to Liverpool. A Spanish diplomat is murdered on board the ship in a vicious and personal manner. The story is set at a time when there is a lot of internal tension in Spain, as well as tension between Spain and Great Britain. Therefore, the death of a Spanish official on a British ocean liner is an international incident in the making. Detective James O'Trey, who had been hoping for an uneventful crossing, is tasked with finding the murderer before the ship reaches England.

As the title indicates the Spanish diplomat had his secrets, some of which were known by others on the ship, including a particularly nasty incident twenty years earlier. However, there are numerous other secrets between various members of the crew or passengers, and the efforts to keep these secrets result in people being less than candid with James, creating more opportunities for mischief and misfortune, and delaying finding the killer. If the nature of the situation and behavior of other passengers was not enough for James to contend with, there are two sources of distraction. First, there is tension with his wife, Diana, who seems upset with him, but James does not know why and fumbles efforts to repair relations. Second, James is prone to seasickness, which the author utilizes effectively to keep James off balance both literally and figuratively.

At several points in the story, Diana plays a critical role in solving the murder mystery. However, I would have liked her to take a more prominent role, even if only in an unofficial capacity. The identity of the murderer is both surprising and not surprising (as there are various clues that suggest the person as a plausible suspect). The author is very creative in the manner in which the murder was committed, the murderer escaped detection, and then managed to hide themselves on the ship and avoid discovery until it was almost too late to stop them, narrowly missing out on making a successful escape.

Name of Book: A Different Kind of Gone
Series: Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mystery #3gnihotri series,
Author: Nev Marsh
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: September 12, 2023
My Rating: 3.4 Stars!
Pages: 320

The summer of 1894 Captain Jim Agnihotri and his wife Lady Diana Framji are on a luxury cruise liner on their way to Liverpool for a job.
The first night on the ship Jim gets sea sick and while returning his dinner to the sea, an elegant gentleman helps him to a deck chair to recover. They start to chat and find they served in the military and talk about things soldiers face after returning home.

The next afternoon Jim receives a note from the same man asking for Jim to see him immediately. When Jim nears the gentleman’s cabin he finds he has been murdered.

This story was a sandwich read for me. Started out good but the middle wasn’t as tasty as I had hoped but then picked at the end. However, I more than likely will read next in this series.
Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 12, 2023.

historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, class-consciousness, murder, murder-investigation, interrogation, relationship-issues, 1890s, liner, lies, secrets, private-investigators, suspense, riveting, mixed marriage*****

I absolutely loved the first two in this series, so don't expect an unbiased review.
Lady Diana gave up all that to marry her beloved army officer turned private investigator (because he is of British/Indian lineage). They have settled in America to negate the kind of prejudice they had faced in their birth countries but are now sailing the Cunard Line to Liverpool. Not a good time for Captain Jim who is cursed with mal de mer. And then, a Spanish nobleman is garroted and the ship's captain wants Jim to solve the murder before they dock in a week. It is sort of a closed circle mystery but it is also a daunting investigation. Excellent sleuthing with a side order of marital misunderstanding. I loved it.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

The third installment in the series finds Jim and Diana on a transatlantic cruise from America to Britain. Married 2 years ago, they are still in love but Jim still worries about the differences in the status as Diana is much more at home with the educated upper classes. Because of this, and Jim’s serious seasickness, Diana moves more comfortably on the ocean liner. Early in the voyage, Jim is on deck trying to recover from nausea and is approached by a Spanish Don whom he and Diana had seen getting on the ship with his entourage. The Don speaks cryptically and disappears. Jim doesn’t think much of the encounter until he receives a note from the Don asking him to dee him urgently. By the time Jim reaches the Don, he’s been murdered….strangled in front of a mirror so the killer could watch the victim die. Because Jim is a detective, the ship’s captain asks him to find the killer before they arrive in England. we find out the the Don is a high level diplomat and a cousin to the Spanish King. He was in America to negotiate something on behalf of his country to sure up defenses against rebels who would like to overthrow the Spanish king who is only a boy. During this time, anarchists are active in many countries and have recently assassinated or attempted to assassinate several world leaders. There’s a lot of paranoia by the other passengers and the ship’s captain is very concerned about the negative. Attention that the murder will bring to the Cunard Line. Jim and Diana investigate and there are a lot of red herrings as they are under time pressure to solve the case.
While both have become naturalized American citizens, they seems to me to still be characters of Indian under British occupation….Indian but with the manners and sensibilities of the English. They are compelling and complex characters the will, hopefully, be around for future books.

I very much enjoyed the first in this series when I read it earlier this year. The main character, Jim Agnihotri, is a mixed-race former soldier, now working as a private detective. The first book was set in Bombay in the late 1800's and the sense of place was key to the story. This third episode is set on a ship, as Jim and his Indian wife Diana are heading to England to meet up with Diana's brother. While Nev March captures the feeling of a luxury liner beautifully, and uses the many physical and social levels of the ship very well, I missed that sense of the location almost becoming a character. There are lots of engaging characters, a highly twisty mystery, and much political intrigue here. You may want to occasionally shout at Jim about why his wife is struggling at times, but he eventually figures it out, along with the mystery. A solid entry in this series, but not as deeply engaging as the first volume, for me. September 12 is the book birthday for this one. 4 stars. Thanks to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the e-arc.

Locked room murders, death on the high seas and too many secrets abound in this story. For those who like to keep guessing, this book will be their cup of tea. An enjoyable read with an interesting ending. obviously, there is a continuing storyline with the detective who can keep investigating crimes every where he goes but this case will haunt his dreams for some time to come.

Nev March has written another compelling mystery featuring James O'Trey and his wife, Diana. The Spanish diplomat turns up dead on the ship Jim and Diana are taking back to England. Even though the killer must be on the ship as well, that doesn't make him or her any easier to find.

March's characters are well-fleshed out and seem like people a person might meet. And even though Jim is the detective, Diana makes vital contributions to their investigations.

All three of the James O'Trey mysteries are set in the late 19th century. Each has been in a different setting: India, the United States, and the Atlantic Ocean. The plots are twisty and enjoyable.

I'm looking forward to seeing where they go next.

Fantastic Who-done-it historically accurate and based on the old time Sherlock stories. This is the third in a series and features
Captain Jim and his wife Diana as they are on board to cruise to England from America in the late 1800's Jim is worried that there is an issue between he and Diana and hope the cruise will help. Before the end of the first day, and elderly ex military man that Jim meets is murdered in a seemingly locked room situation. The boat captain begs Jim to assist and we are off!

Plenty of information about the times and tons of interesting characters. There is no need to read the first two in the series - but book one includes a lot of detail regarding Jim and his wife's class differences and Indian heritage and is incredibly interesting. If you are hoping for a cruise, a cozy historical mystery or are just a fan of the old time detective days, The Spanish Diplomat's Secret is for you! #Matador #Thespanishdiplomatssecret
#NevMarch #StMartinsPress

I love a locked room murder mystery! This goes one step further by being on a ship, so you have very limited suspects and they are all contained. All ship mysteries have whispers of ghosts and vengeful spirits, and this one is no different. Ships have their own superstitions and customs, and they always add to the danger. When a high ranking Spaniard is found killed in a locked room, Jim is asked for assistance to ensure impartiality. Then other things happen: a woman overboard thought to be a suicide, a locked-room assault, theft of a treasure chest. The crimes are likely to be linked because coincidence is too much to ask for. Jim's wife Diana also has a keen eye for detail and proves a worthy sidekick. The clues are all there, and I was able to put a lot of it together before the ship docked. There were still surprises as the picture came all together in the end. Entertaining mystery with engaging characters!

I enjoyed this mystery! It had lots of twists and turns. The setting on the ship was well depicted and the characters were interesting.