Kitty is relieved they have filled the position of Hotel Manager. Now she can focus on her upcoming wedding and her grandmother can step back from hotel duties as well. But before getting to her nuptials, she has to handle the details of a society birthday party which includes a champagne dinner on board a riverboat. Matt meanwhile is tracking a possible spy to figure out how secrets are being passed through the Naval College. When his quarry serves as a steward at the riverboat dinner and winds up dead, Kitty and Matt must figure out if a member of the birthday party is a murderer.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

I enjoy this series more with each new installment. Murder on Board is the 10th book in the Miss Underhay series by Helena Dixon. I started the series with book 4 but it isn't necessary to read the previous books to enjoy this one.

Matt and Kitty are great characters and I love seeing them work together. Kitty has proven herself and I'm glad she doesn't have to continually fight to be involved in the investigation.

I'm always suspicious when a new character is introduced in a cozy mystery who seems to be a bit too helpful and efficient. And so I was suspicious the whole time of the new Hotel Manager Cyril Lutterworth. He seemed too good at his job and immediately offered assistance even with things outside of his job description. You'll have to read the book to find out if I had good reason to be suspicious.

One of the reasons I like this series so much is that the area is large and includes a few different people so it doesn't seem ridiculous that dead bodies keep turning up. I also like that Inspector Greville is a competent police detective who values Matt and Kitty's contributions.

This is a fun book with a good mystery. If you are looking for a light read, then you should get this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Monday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/10/murder-on-board-by-helena-dixon-review.html

Helena Dixon's Murder on Board is book ten in her Miss Underhay Mystery series, but my fifth as I jumped into it at book five. Cozy mysteries are a definite favourite of mine and the 1930s setting adds to its allure. It's September 1934 and Sir Montague Hawkes, the chief constable, has booked the Dolphin Hotel for a no-expense-spared 21st birthday celebration for his daughter, Serafina. On the paddle steamer, the Kingswear Castle, there will be a river cruise on the River Dart and champagne supper. This will be followed by a ball at the hotel. A body is found aboard the Kingswear Castle and jewellery is stolen - a priceless diamond necklace - whilst the guests are at the Dolphin.

Kitty and her fiancé, Captain Matthew Bryant are great people and have a lovely relationship. In fact, all of the energetic and dynamic characters of this charming series make it a fitting choice. The mystery contains a generous pool of suspects and the novel sparkles with wit. I am thrilled that I have the first four books in the series to catch up on and I'm also happily anticipating the eleventh one, entitled Murder at the Charity Ball.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Bookouture via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC. I'm really loving this series! The characters are developing nicely and there isn't lots of repetition, which I find with our authors writing in this genre. Looking forward to the next instalment!

I really enjoyed this book. Kitty is helping her fiancé investigate both a murder and theft, while managing a seaside hotel and organising her wedding! I love the period setting (1934), and the lovely coastal descriptions: bracing walks and fish and chips. Although part of a series, this book can also be read as a stand alone. I’m already looking forward to the next in this series.

1934 Captain Matthew Bryant is on an undercover mission, watching a Gunther Freiburg, a German. But then he is found dead on board a boat hosting a 21st birthday party catered by the Dolphin Hotel. Inspector Grenville investigates with the help of Matthew and Kitty. But the case gets more complicated with a theft.
An entertaining historical cozy mystery with its likeable characters. Another well-written story is this enjoyable series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Murder on Board’ by Helena Dixon.

It’s always a happy day for me when a new Miss Kitty Underhay Mystery is published. This is Book 10 in Dixon’s series of historical cosy mysteries set in mid-1930s Devon. As usual, I combined reading with its unabridged audiobook edition for an immersive read.

While all of these mysteries can be read as stand-alones, it’s well worth reading in order to see how characters develop along with ongoing storylines such as Kitty’s relationship with Captain Mathew Bryant and their investigation into the fate of Kitty’s mother years previously.

So just a few details of the plot. September 1934. Sir Montague Hawkes, the chief constable, has booked the Dolphin Hotel for a lavish birthday celebration for his daughter, Serafina. There is to be a river cruise and champagne supper on the paddle steamer, the Kingswear Castle, followed by a ball at the hotel. A fair amount of planning and coordination is necessary to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Then there is a bold jewellery theft during the ball and a body is discovered on board the paddle steamer. Both crimes have happened at an event attended by many police officials. Are the crimes linked? As always there are plenty of suspects. In addition, Kitty is making preparations for an exciting life change.

‘Murder on Board’ was a charming mystery with plenty of period detail that kept me guessing as to whodunnit until the denunciation.

Highly recommended.

Exciting Mystery in Britain 1934
What an exciting book and satisfying mystery. While it helps to read the series in order, the author does a great job of helping a new reader catch up. In this episode, a murder occurs at a party that Kitty is responsible for. It is full of action with things popping out just when you thought it would slow down a bit. This author weaves a great story. It always seems to be historically accurate and socially correct. I can't wait for the next one!

Another good addition to this fun and charming series. Kitty and Matt are a great couple that have chemistry and still work together well to solve mystery. Add in the glamour of the 1930s and you have a cheerio good time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Kitty Underhay is looking forward to catering a birthday party for the Chief Constable’s daughter. She is celebrating her 21st birthday on a luxury paddle steamer. But when Kitty discovers that the man that her fiancé had been tailing, Gunther Freiburg, is found dead on the floor of the engine room, she knows the celebrations are over. She also knows that one of the party guests is responsible for Gunther’s death, and she must find out who killed him and why. As the birthday festivities continue with the candles on the cake, a diamond necklace is stolen right off the birthday girl’s neck. Mayhem on the steamer is in full swing and Kitty must solve the murder and catch a thief before the ship docks.

This wonderful whodunnit was so much fun. I love a great cozy mystery and the Kitty Underhay series never disappoints. The characters are always fun, and the super sleuthing is so entertaining. This story kept me guessing to the very end, and I was completely surprised by the ending. Mystery, romance and suspense, perfectly unfold within the pages. This fabulous series is a definite must read for all cozy mystery fans. This story can be read as a stand-alone, however I recommend the series in its entirety. Filled with wonderful characters and charming settings, this story is a favorite and I definitely recommend it.

Thank you Helena Dixon for such a wonderful and completely delightful mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.

Ten installments into the series, I’m reading these without even checking the synopsis first, so I was kinda hoping for Kitty and Matt to go on a cruise and investigate a murder onboard à la Death On The Nile, but nothing further! There’s no pleasure vacation for Kitty and Matt yet, but I still managed to enjoy this new adventure in the series quite a lot.

The Dolphin Hotel, with Kitty at the helm, is hosting the 21st birthday party for the Chief Constable’s daughter. Celebrations include dinner aboard a luxury paddle steamer, but they will be tarnished when one of the crew is found dead in the engine room. To complicate matters even more, Captain Bryant had orders to tail the dead man and a diamond necklace is snatched during the ball. Could both events be related? Sounds like the perfect case for our favorite couple of sleuths.

It’s always lovely returning to this series as the characters are absolutely delightful, from Kitty and Matt to every single one of the hotel’s employees. Kitty and Matt’s forecoming nuptials mean they have to find someone to manage the Dolphin Hotel once Kitty is a married woman, so that was the perfect excuse to introduce a new character that promises great moments. He brought a breath of fresh air to the hotel setting and the whole series. I’m curious to see how the series will evolve now, once they’re married and she’s not so involved with the hotel’s day to day life.

The mystery was a good one this time as well, as it had the locked room mystery vibes I like so much. It also had a bigger deal of action with Kitty finding herself in quite a tricky situation. The ending delivered some surprise that tied the current mystery with the background plot running throughout the series that I did now see coming at all!

It seems like, with the wedding approaching, the dynamics of the series will be changing pretty soon and I’m so excited to be there and see it happen. If you love historical cozy msyteries, you should be reading this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder on Board by Helena Dixon is a Miss Underhay and Captain Bryant mystery. The Dolphin is hosting the birthday party of the daughter of the local Chief Constable. His wife, Lady Jane, is a friend of Gram’s so double the reason for everything to go smoothly. There will be drinks for the family and close friends at the hotel, a ride up river on a paddle boat, then, dinner on the paddle board catered by the Dolphin, and then the ball at the Dolphin. Gram and Kitty had just hired a manager, looking forward to Kitty and Matt’s wedding and Kitty moving out of the hotel, and he has proven to be worth his weight in gold. Everything is going smoothly until Matt and the kitchen boy go to the boat to retrieve the dinnerware and find the dead body of the steward as well. The murderer had to be one of the guests. The captain had never gone below deck and the engine man had left after they docked, before dinner. Then during the ball, just after it had been presented, a priceless necklace given to the celebrant was stolen. Could things get worse?

This is a truly charming series, set in about 1953. Matt lost his wife and child in the London bombings and is determined not to lose Kitty, which is complicated by the fact that she wants to be involved in all of his investigations, including this one. Inspector Greville has requested that Matt assist on this one, primarily as a witness to the investigation since the crime involves the family of his boss. Possibly Scotland Yard will be pulled in, but not until after all the grunt work is done. The staff at the hotel remains static and Alice, a chamber maid and Kitty’s best friend, remains stubborn in her refusal to be the bridesmaid at Kitty’s wedding. The Matron of Honor will be Lucy, Kitty’s cousin, and a lady and Alice (and others) view her participation as inappropriate. This is such a mix of cultures. Much has changed in England since the war, but much has remained the same. This is an easy read. The characters are delightful and the mystery is a good one. Esther Hammett, Kitty’s nemesis, has resurfaced, so that is an additional worry. All in all, a terrific read!

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Murder on Board by Bookoutre, though Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Bookoutre #HelenaDixon #MurderOnBoard

It should have been a nice but busy dinner cruise for both Kitty and her fiancé Captain Matthew Bryant. While Kitty is catering the birthday party for the daughter of the Chief Constable, Matthew has been assigned to keep an eye on someone. Despite their assignments, Kitty and Matthew continue to discuss their upcoming nuptials.

Kitty and her grandmother had been advertising for a manager of their hotel, and wedding plans had been coming along nicely. However, while aboard the boat, the man Matthew had been tailing was found dead by Kitty, and it is clear he had been murdered. Even before the investigation can get fully underway, the guest of honor’s priceless necklace had been stolen. Murder and mayhem are nothing new to Kitty and Matthew and they immediately begin to look for answers.

This tenth installment of the Miss Underhay series was another enjoyable read in this delightful series. With their wedding coming up soon, Kitty and Matthew focus should’ve been on continuing to make plans. However, with Matthew often working with Scotland Yard and Kitty’s past experiences as a sharp-witted amateur detective, their focus shifts towards the sudden change of events. As per normal for the pair, more than one surprise is in store, and danger follows closely on their heels.

This book was very entertaining, as were the previous books in this series. It has been enjoyable to watch Kitty and Matthew's relationship blooming and it is nice to know they will soon marry. Helena Dixon has delivered yet another intriguing, fast-paced story. Factor in 1930s London and thereabouts, with characters that are very easy to like, excellent pacing and always a good mystery, Murder on Board comes highly recommended.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/k1K_H7CtHag

Kitty Underhay hopes for plain sailing as she caters a 21st birthday party for the Chief Constable’s daughter aboard a luxury paddle steamer. So her heart sinks when she learns that the man her fiancé Matthew Bryant has been tailing on orders from Whitehall, Gunther Freiburg, is aboard. And she’s even more horrified when Gunther is found dead in the engine room. One of the Chief Constable’s party must be responsible for his demise. And the evening is on course for further disaster. As the lights go out around the candlelit cake, a terrible scream rings out over the merry hubbub. A priceless diamond necklace has been snatched from around the birthday girl’s neck. With the local inspector in deep water having to investigate his own boss, Kitty and Matt dive in to help. Then when Kitty inadvertently eavesdrops she puts herself in mortal danger
This is the tenth outing for Kitty & it could easily be read on its own, However I love how the characters have developed over the series & how the different relationships have blossomed, especially Kitty & Matthew, whose wedding is fast approaching. There’s a new manager appointed at The Dolphin. There are plenty of twists & turns before all is revealed, Kitty always seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time & this time she’s in extreme danger. A well written, easy to read entertaining cosy mystery with strong characters & a well paced story – I devoured it in an evening
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I was excited to see the latest instalment of this series on Netgalley and even more so when I was granted an ARC.
I really enjoyed returning to the world of Miss Kitty and het fiancé Matt in lovely Devon.
This time, they are organising a grand party for a 21-birthday of an heiress. On the night in question, not one, but two crimes are committed and Kitty and Matt are at the centre of the solution.

Although I knew rather quickly who had done ‘it’, I still liked reading this story and I will definitely pick up the next one in this series.

I received a copy of this title from the publisher, but all thoughts/opinions expressed are my own. 3 and 1/3 stars rounded to 3. Murder on Board is the tenth title in the long running Miss Underhay mystery series. While readers could start here without having read previous books, they will have missed out on the development of Kitty and Matt's relationship as well as the overarching mystery involving the death of Kitty's mother. As Kitty and Matt's wedding day draws nearer, Kitty and her grandmother have decided to hire a manager to run the day-to-day operations of the Dolphin hotel once Kitty marries as her grandmother is getting too old to do it all herself and Kitty's interests lay in a different direction. In addition to hiring a manager, the hotel is putting on a big party for Sir Montague's daughter's twenty-first birthday. In addition to the actual ball, the hotel will be providing food for a supper during a sunset cruise and accommodations for the immediate family at the hotel.

While the dinner goes well, when the boat docks and Kitty is gathering the dishes, a body is found. The victim is a suspected German spy that Matt had been tasked with keeping an eye on; military secrets are at risk raising the stakes. Before the night ends, an expensive necklace that is passed from eldest daughter to eldest daughter in the Montague family goes missing before being found a short while later. Unfortunately, the next day it is discovered that the necklace was switched for a fake meaning that the real one is missing.

As always, the mystery has a decent number of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I read this series as much for the characters as for the mystery. Matt and Kitty continue to move closer to their wedding day and Matt is drawn a little bit deeper into the interwar period of hostilities that exist behind the scenes between Great Britian and Germany. There are also developments in the long running storyline that began with the mystery of Kitty's mother's death for those that are eager to see what happens next. I enjoy this series and am hoping that the next book or two will be the one featuring Matt and Kitty's wedding.

Travelling to the Dolphin Hotel and meeting Kitty and Matt it's always entertaining and enjoyable.
This book is full of twists and tense moments. There's a lot going on: new person working for the Dolphin, a big birthday party that will be a sort of ordeal, spies, murder.
I enjoyed it and I was on the edge when reading some parts. Kitty and Matt are great couple of detectives and their wedding in the near future will surely be a game changer.
I think this is a good novel but there's more to come. I read it in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it even if I guessed the culprit the solution surprised me as there were much more.
The mystery is solid, the characters fleshed out. This is a mystery featuring a limited number of suspects and it won't be easy to discover all the secrets.
I can't wait for the next story, this one is highly recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture for this ARC, all opinions are mine

It is with trepidation that I read book ten in this series, because I know at some point it has to come to an end and actually for Kitty in this book it could come sooner than we think.

Planning for her wedding underway, Kitty thinks she has found her new manager, Mr Lutterworth for the Dolphin Hotel, as she knows once she is married things will be different and her grandmother is also wanting to step back. He certainly has a baptism of fire, as a body turns up on the paddle steamer that was used to host a dinner party before the main event being held in the hotel.

The body is someone Kitty’s fiancé has been watching for his government contacts.

The party is the daughter of the Chief Constable.

The suspects can only be those that were on the boat, so Inspector Greville, has to investigate his boss and associates.

Then a diamond necklace goes missing for a short space of time.

It is going to be a tough case to tackle for the Inspector so he relies on Kitty and Matt to help. Of course that is going to put one of them in danger and the new manager finds himself searching the local area for his new boss pretty quickly. What sort of place has he come to work at ?

The sort of place, where all walks of life come to stay and pass through and with the wonderful kindness of Alice, Kitty’s Maid. Her Sister Dolly who helps in the office, the Night Porter and of course Bernice the skittish dog it makes for an interesting start for Mr Lutterworth. But if you have been with the series from the beginning then it is just par for the course for these two delightful characters.

This series goes from strength to strength, the introduction of characters along the way, means it can move off in different directions but without losing sight of the main focus – murder mystery. Cosy crime seems a misnomer, they are simply cracking good stories that serve to escape from the realities of life with for me a great big dollop of history thrown in for good measure.

I look forward to as many more as the author wishes to write.

This one is a case of you cannot judge a book by its cover. Having read the nine previous books I know Kitty and Matthew well, and I assumed they were pictured here going on some kind of cruise. Well there is a cruise and there is a murder, but our two main characters certainly do not get the opportunity to wear sailing costume and travel anywhere at all.

Despite this small disappointment I actually enjoyed the book very much indeed. Kitty's hotel hosts a special function which includes dinner on a luxury paddle steamer. A death occurs, rapidly followed by the theft of a very precious diamond necklace, and Kitty and Matt are on the case. Kitty manages to end up in real danger but luckily Bernie the Cocker Spaniel is a hero.

A new character is introduced when Cyril Lutterworth is employed as Manager of the hotel. Kitty and Matt's wedding is fast approaching and this should enable the author to send her characters on a decent honeymoon. Maybe they will be able to go on a real cruise! Anyway it was all good fun and I am looking forward to the wedding!

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Owners of the Dolphin hotel, Kitty Underhay and her grandmother, were preparing for an elaborate 21st birthday party for the Chief Constable's daughter at their hotel which included a dinner cruise on a paddle steamer for the family, followed by speeches and dancing in the Dolphin. They'd also recently hired a new manager for the hotel as Kitty and her intended, Captain Matthew Bryant, were marrying on Christmas Eve which wasn't far away. When the paddle steamer returned to the dock, it was discovered one of the crew was dead, bludgeoned to death.

To make matters worse, when the lights went out later in the evening there was a piercing scream and the priceless necklace which had just been placed around the birthday girl's neck, was gone. Was it two separate incidents, or were they connected? Matt and Inspector Greville were investigating both incidents, with Kitty helping out. But would they discover who the killer was before worse happened?

Murder on Board is the 10th in the Miss Underhay series by Helena Dixon and it was another excellent addition to the series! Lots of fun and entertainment throughout the book, with dastardly deeds peppering the pages. I'm looking forward to #11 already. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book kept me investigating till the end with a lively mix of a theft of a priceless necklace, a murder on board

the Kingswear Castle and a good dose of espionage. Set in Torbay in 1934, we meet our sleuth, bride-to-be Kitty

Underhay as she endeavours to solve two crimes and keep out of trouble.. This is an atmospheric book with many

suspects and red herrings to work through.. A very enjoyable book