THE SEA OF THE VANITIES

Beautiful seas hold hidden dangers for a variety of ship passengers in Kemp’s historical adventure novel.

In this companion book to her series of novels about immortal 18th-century magician Jonas Celwyn, the author introduces an engaging group of characters. Celwyn himself appears in a cameo at the beginning, pointing Richard Shaw, an investigator for Lloyd’s of London, toward a peculiar group of pirates. Shaw goes to Rio de Janeiro in 1851 to solve the mystery of why so many ships are disappearing in the southern hemisphere. He quickly does so, but becomes a prisoner on the Hussar, Capt. Peech’s pirate ship, which sails the Atlantic Ocean and terrorizes other vessels. In the Pacific, the American passenger ship Passat has as a passenger singer Cassandra Coulter, who’s fleeing a scandal. She develops an attraction to first officer Jack Browne. Another person onboard is psychic Christian Morse. It’s not all smooth sailing on the Passat, however: First, a passenger is murdered; then the ship faces unexpected troubles on All Hallows Eve and survivors struggle to stay alive. Later, as an American naval vessel hunts for the missing Passat, a showdown looms between the passenger ship and the Hussar, leading to a bizarre conclusion with mythological elements. Still, Kemp deserves credit for keeping readers off-balance. The novel often feels like a volume of maritime history with a little murder mystery thrown in, but the author shakes things up with mysterious and monstrous details; for example, her Cape of Good Hope is a magical and dangerous place. Kemp also presents a winning cast, led by Cass, her narrator aboard the Passat; standouts include alcoholic fellow passenger Mrs. Pentifax (“her words slurred together to keep from falling apart,” Cass observes) and stodgy Capt. McQuistan. As the body count rises, the murderer’s identity quickly becomes evident through a simple process of elimination, but that’s a minor quibble. Overall, Kemp successfully weaves together unusual elements into an enthralling yarn.

An often gripping novel whose fine characterization and supernatural aspects keep it afloat.