Quick read (ha) but enjoyable. Amity and Benedict meet in difficult circumstances . . . he's dying of a bullet wound inflicted by some unknown assailant. Amity takes him back to their ship and saves his life. Ben heads off to California as she returns to London, where gossip about their on-board relationship puts Amity in danger. While Amity saves herself from that peril, the gossip and the need to protect Amity forces Ben to propose an engagement. Together, with the help of Amity's sister, Penny, Ben's uncle, and an inspector from Scotland Yard, they solve both the mystery of who wants to harm Amity and who shot Ben.