Glatzer, Hal The Last Full Measure.

Issued only in paperback; Glatzer's conceit for this novel is that it was written by an American mystery writer named Hannah Dobryn shortly after World War 2 as one of Dobryn's "Katy Green" mysteries. In late Nov. 1941, swing musician (and sometime amateur detective) Kathy Green joins an all-girl band featured aboard Matson Line's LURLINE en route to Honolulu. Murder, hidden treasure and supposed Japanese espionage plots dominate the westbound LURLINE voyage to the islands. And while war jitters are noticeable in Hawaii during the LURLINE's Honolulu short layover, it's on the ship's Dec. 5th homeward bound voyage to San Francisco that Glatzer pulls out all the stops. Two days into the trip (on Dec. 7, 1941, naturally) a Fifth Columnist attempts to sabotage the LURLINE by blowing up a bomb in the ship's cargo hold. Disaster is averted, however, thanks to amateur detective Green and the ship, loaded beyond capacity with a complement of military families being evacuated from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland, stays on course for the safety of San Francisco. All along the way author Glatzer had been gleefully tossing out red herrings, nearly all of which seem to implicate Japanese-Americans in a variety of espionage plots, so it does come as a surprise to learn that the real Fifth Columnist is a slightly demented Caucasian who just also happens to be the LURLINE's ship doctor. Though the novel isn't really all that exciting, Glatzer has certainly done his homework on Matson Lines and on the LURLINE as he successfully conjures up sea life aboard a liner in the Hawaiian trade. Also of note: the novel's chapter headings are enlivened by period Matson advertisements and LURLINE postcards.