S.S. Murder by Q.Patrick

 

Publication Date:

January 1, 1933

Genre:

Cozy Mystery

Length:

223 pages

Series: No

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

It’s homicide on the high seas in this mystery by the Edgar Award winning author who wrote the Peter Duluth Mysteries as Patrick Quentin.

Cub reporter Mary Llewellyn is on a soothing sea cruise to help her recover after a minor operation. Her fellow passengers are pleasant enough, gathering to play a friendly game of bridge to pass the time. But the game turns considerably less so when a wealthy businessman samples a cocktail—and ends up dead at the table.  

The news that someone on board dumped a fatal dose of strychnine into the man’s drink sends a ripple of panic through the voyagers. All too soon, it becomes clear that the murder was not an isolated incident when another passenger is shoved overboard during a storm. 

Determined to stop a murderer, Mary decides to do some snooping above and below deck to get to the truth. If she doesn’t figure out the mystery of the seagoing slayer, she might not make it back to land alive.  

My Thoughts

I had heard of the Peter Duluth mysteries but this book was entirely unknown to me when I saw it. It's a stand alone mystery and so you won't miss anything if you read this one only.  The setting drew me in and the cover. I love all things set on the ocean. When I did a little research this is a combination of several people writing these different books. It was a bit confusing so I consulted with Fantastic Fiction's website to get the authors names all correct with the different books. Anyway, this one written by "Q Patrick" seems to be one of just a handful under this pseudonym. 

It started off strong and interesting. The main character, Mary Llewellyn is writing to her fiance in a journal about the events on the ship. She is recovering from surgery and headed home to be married to Davy, and as two murders unfold and the investigation begins she recounts all that involves her and the passengers she has come to know. I liked the style of writing in the diary format and it made her personality come to life. Throughout the book I didn't tire of that. 

What became obvious though as I continued reading was the content was redundant. Especially as we delve further into the case the author seemed to recycle the same thoughts and ideas from Mary and the Detective, Daniels, who are trying to find out the answers. Mary works alongside a new friend, Adam, and their interaction is cute and playfully flirtatious despite Mary's being engaged. Side stories like these and Detective Daniels love interest take up several pages that just seem added for extra background but really don't add to the story. 

The ending was very Agatha Christie like with the gathering of suspects and reveal and I liked that. It was not a terrible book by any means and you can tell the authors thought out the plot with twists and turns. It's just there wasn't enough there and I figured out who did it before hand. It really wasn't that difficult. 

I probably won't read another book by these authors for awhile but I always try to give a second try if they are halfway decent stories. I enjoyed Mary's character but from what I researched there isn't another book with her as the focus. Still, It was nice to read a completely new book that was not part of a series which is something I don't do often. It just isn't one I absolutely loved enough to be super excited about.