Murder on Deck!

 Murder on Deck!: Shipboard & Shoreline Mystery Stories (1998) by Rosemary Herbert

Well, to start, I just have to get something off my chest--if you're going to give your collection the primary title of "Murder on Deck!" then it seems to me all the stories ought to take place on a water vessel of some sort. Extending it to shoreline--or even in one case to a hotel on a beach (and nobody even goes on the beach in the story)--makes it seem like you were desperate for material. Surely to goodness there are plenty of mysteries that take place on the water. Oh--and "murder" that kind of implies that somebody dies. Right? Not necessarily.

Okay. Now that I've said my piece about that. I do have to admit that the story that takes place in a hotel--"Invitation from the Sea"--is a good one. Very nice closed circle feel and I liked the hook. I did guess what the little twist at the end would be (though I didn't get everything 100% correct). But that didn't ruin it. Other good stories include "The Mackenzie Case," "Where Is Thy Sting?," "The Theft of the Bingo Card," and "With a Little Help from My Friends."

The Gabriel Garcia Marquez story does very little for me. It's one long five-page sentence--making it very difficult to concentrate on. And, as far as I can tell, not only does it not contain murder or mayhem, it's not much of a mystery. The last story is probably good noir for those who like noir--but I found it to be a quite depressing little tale to end the collection on. 

However, this collection which ranges from the early Holmes story to stories written in the 1990s expressly for the anthology contains more really good stories than not and I am glad to have read them. ★★★ and 3/4...almost a full four.

"The Gloria Scott" ("The Adventure of the Gloria Scott") by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Holmes shares his earliest case with Watson--in which he helps his closest friend at college get to the bottom of what has terrified the man's father. (one natural)

"The Ship's Run" by M. McDonnell Bodkin: Set on the Titanic (and written before the actual ill-fated maiden voyage). An undercover detective finds an interesting way to rout a couple of gambling con men.

"The Mackenzie Case" by Viola Brothers Shore: When Mr. Mackenzie's secretary disappears overboard--an apparent suicide, Gwynn Leith (Mrs. Keats) suggests that perhaps it was murder. But why would someone want to murder their secretary? Gwynn then suggests that they're asking the wrong question. (one drowned; two auto accident)

"Problem at Sea" by Agatha Christie: In one of his rare voyages aboard ship (he hates traveling by boat...), Poirot solves the murder of a wealthy woman in her locked (from the inside) stateroom. (one stabbed; two auto accident; one heart attack)

"Sail" by Lester Dent: Oscar Sail, hard-boiled detective, is on the trail of missing jewelry and tangles with a few characters also on the same trail. (two stabbed)

"Hand upon the Waters" by William Faulkner: A Mississippi lawyer investigates a recent death and finds a plot full of money and back-stabbing. (two drowned)

"The Boat Race Murder" by David Winser: Centered on the Oxford-Cambridge boat race. Who killed the man lined up to lead the Oxford rowing team in the big race? (one poisoned)

"The Adventure of the Murdered Ship" by Ellery Queen: A war-time radio play featuring Ellery in a mystery to emphasize the "loose lips sink ships." (three in combat)

"Two Bodies on a Barge" by Georges Simenon: Maigret takes a murder that looks to be plain sailing and turns it on its head. (two hanged)

"Invisible Hands" by John Dickson Carr: An impossible crime by the master--how could a woman be strangled in the middle of a beach with only her own footprints leading to the scene of the crime? (one strangled)

"The Sailing Club" by David Ely: What do successful business men do when they no longer get quite the same thrill out of closing a successful deal? They hope to be elected to the elite Sailing Club.  A nice boat trip will certainly get the ol' blood flowing.  Somebody's blood anyway.

"Honeymoon Cruise" by Richard Deming: Dan Jackson gets more than he bargained for when he signs on as navigator and cook for an heiress's honeymoon cruise. (one drowned)

"The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A young boy watches what seems to be a ghost ship crash on the rocks one day in March. A year later he sees the same thing....and tries to get the village to believe it.

"Invitation from the Sea" by Saho Sasazawa: Five strangers are invited to a seaside hotel by someone who signs themselves as "The Sea." One of the guests, a journalist, works to figure out the connection between those in the party--and why they've been invited. (one fell from height

"Where Is Thy Sting?" by Peter Lovesey: A con man tries to take advantage of a couple on the Australian shore who are dealing with the husband's recovery from a stroke. (one stung)

"The Theft of the Bingo Card" by Edward D. Hoch: Nick Velvet and his wife go on a cruise where she believes he'll be free from people wanting him to steal things. Then someone asks him to steal a bingo card. (two poisoned)

"Rumpole at Sea" by John Mortimer: She Who Must Be Obeyed convinces Rumpole to go on a second honeymoon as an escape from the halls of justice. But the honeymoon cruise finds Rumpole and a despised judge who is also on board looking into the supposed disappearance of a fellow passenger. (one stabbed)

"Oh, Who Hath Done the Deed?" by Susan Moody: When a man witnesses the near drowning of a young boy and learns later the boy did drown in a swimming accident, he thinks he knows who did it. But does he? (two drowned)

"The Man Who Rowed for the Shore" by Catherine Aird: An inverted mystery where the only question is will Norman get away with the murder of his wife? Not if the tide has anything to say about it. (one poisoned)

"Messing About in Boats" by Janwillem van de Wetering: Inspector Saito has to use a play within a play to catch a murderer. (one drowned; one poisoned)

"With a Little Help from My Friends" by Martin Edwards: A recent obituary causes Harry Devlin to dig into a wartime shipboard death. (one hit on head; one drowned; two natural)

"Ferry Noir" by Chris Rippen: A man who has gotten in over his head in some kind of nefarious doings, thinks he can escape by the night ferry from Denmark to England. (two in explosion)

First line (1st story): "I have some papers here," said my friend Sherlock Holmes as we sat one winter's night on either side of the fire, "which I really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over."

Last line (last story): Then a sweeping blaze rolled out which lifted and then sucked him down and crushed him.