Danube Stations
J. D. Mallinson
It was a hot July during the time of the cold war and those who were able to went on vacation. Inspector George Mason of Scotland Yard was pushed onto vacation by his boss because it was felt that he needed a complete rest from his usual course of duties. Mason left London by boat train to journey to Vienna; from whence he would join the Orsova for a two-week cruise of the Danube. During this trip he would have nothing more strenuous to do than visit several European capitols.
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| Budapest |
After embarking he found that there was a small group of Brits on board along with the citizens of many of the central European countries. This pleased him since there some pretty girls in the group, which would make a vacation more enjoyable. He intended to avoid most groups as a whole and he wanted to explore for himself so he had purchased a Bannerman’s Guide. Bannerman’s was a more esoteric travel guide than most and he was surprised to find that two other members of the British group had similar copies.
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| Belgrade |
The first port of call was Budapest, Hungary. In was in this beautiful city that both his travel guide and one other were stolen. Mason did not want to see coincidences where there were none, but this was pretty odd. It was also odd that in Belgrade, the capitol of Yugoslavia Mason ran into the same person who stole his Bannerman’s and Mason knew there was a game afoot.
This was a fast paced mystery, quite fun and very interesting. There was a nicely done travelogue along with the plot. I had to consult my Google more than once to see some of the sights that George Mason was seeing because Mallinson made it so evocative.
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| Bucharest |
I liked this story. It was not at all deep, but perfect for a hot July day where one is traveling or just daydreaming about a cruise along the Danube.
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