It’s 1909. Meet Connie Carew, a clever young girl and  to-be anthropologist, on the Princess May, a ship heading for New York. Being 1^st class, you would expect all to be perfect – but everything is far from that.

Mysterious incidents are occurring – a famous ballerina’s deckchair has been sawn through – a rich woman is locked in a dark cupboard, and the accidents keep on happening. At the scene of all these accidents is a strange black oil. With ghostly figure being spotted by other passengers, and a trip that turns from calm to chaos, it’s up to Connie to find out what’s happening, no matter what the risks…

Connie is an admirable, engaging and thought-provoking character – although her main flaw ( personally ) is that, for a budding anthropologist, she takes very little interest in how other people live, e.g. the bell boys who have to work night and day for very little pay – she shows no sympathy or understanding of their life.

This was an awesome book, which kept me happily reading whilst on a long train journey, as it kept me gripped, right from the start to the end!