Murder on the Atlantic

The maiden voyage of ``the most expensive ocean liner ever built'' provides the glitzy backdrop for Allen's (Murder in Vegas) latest wisecracking whodunit featuring himself and his wife, Jayne Meadows. Also aboard are a walk-on cast of droppable names and additional celebrities thinly disguised as fictional characters (e.g., Princess Mudgie, an appealing mix of Di and Fergie). The Atlantis is owned by the wealthy Wilmingtons, whose entire business empire will sink if this risky attempt to restore ``old-fashioned, luxury sea travel between America and Europe'' fails. And well it may, given the assorted murders that occur (by skeet shotgun, drowning, ice pick and poisoned Courvoisier); a frantic search for a secret cargo of ``shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles''; and a fierce storm that knocks out the ship's power. Through it all, Steve not only has the hard-pressed passengers laughing but also solves the murders. Although the Allens keep the sea-breezy plot whipping along for a time, by journey's end, most readers will gratefully debark. (Sept.)