A wealthy businessman and his daughter are killed during a power outage in the middle of the crowded smoking-room aboard the Meganaut, a transatlantic liner bound for Cherbourg from New York. No one seems to know what happened or how the bizarre murders could have occurred—especially after the most obvious suspect is ultimately cleared of all involvement. The ship’s captain calls upon the assistance of four eminent psychologists who are on their way to a professional conference in London to help him analyze the minds of various suspects and try to identify the guilty person.

The four psychologists are the “sleuths” starring in this cruise ship whodunit, but they aren’t very good at sleuthing. Most of their theories are proven incorrect, and the psychological tests they conduct and their analyses of their suspects’ neuroses fall pitifully short of providing any tangible proof of guilt. Their elaborate discussions of psychology are long-winded and become tedious for the reader. The actions and conversations of the four psychologists go a long way to allowing the reader to realize what is actually going on, but they themselves aren’t even mildly competent sleuths. They really only succeed in convincing their readers that psychology is a pastiche of hot air quackery.

The captain is an especially annoying character. He leans toward the stupid side and blusters around like a confused bully. His insistence that he is the ‘be all and end all’ law and order on his ship gets boring. And his constant threats to the criminal suspects on board are absurd. The fact that he actually has one suspect roughed up in order to get a signed confession out of him is too over the top. And his physical intimidation of one suspect (an attorney, no less) in order to force him to answer questions against his will is offensive (and unrealistic).

The killer, the motive, and the real identities of the characters are easy to ferret out. It is not difficult to figure out the who and the why very early on. The how is a little more convoluted, but really doesn’t maintain the interest of the reader as the story progresses.

One character is just senseless. This character knows the identity of the killer, but stubbornly refuses to identify the culprit—for no clear or rational reason. This character impedes the investigation throughout the narrative and is actually involved in crimes—including conspiracy and being a stowaway—but never faces any repercussions for the misdeeds committed. This irritating character’s actions are downright stupid and really bogged the book down quite a bit.

In spite of these problems, Obelists at Sea is an ok read. Overall, the story is engaging, and the cruise ship setting is fun. The writing is good, although the technical jargon does make it drag a bit at times. Obelists at Sea is a decent, mostly enjoyable way to pass the time. However, it wasn’t enjoyable enough that I would go out of my way to track down the additional titles in the series. ( )