Reviews

Jackson builds motivation for murder by portraying the dastardly deeds of a handsome-but cruel and philandering-yacht owner who hosts a small group of travelers near Martinique in 1900. Moody and abrupt, the man inspires murderous hatred in at least one of his invited companions, including a jealous son, a young and beautiful second wife, a corrupt doctor, a treasure hunter, series sleuthing amateur Abigail Danforth, her stubborn "spinster" companion, and a mysterious stowaway. This transparent plot, coupled with pasteboard characters, inchoate dialog, and overwrought melodrama, will tax even the most undemanding reader.

Abigail Patience Danforth, first encountered in Diamond Head, finds herself involved in another murder in this somewhat stilted mystery set at the turn of the century. The wealthy young woman, determined to follow in the footsteps of her fictional hero, Sherlock Holmes, eschews the usual pursuits of women of her time and class, refusing to seek marriage or even flirt. Accepting the invitation of millionaire Malcolm Tibault to sail on his yacht from Panama to New Orleans, she and her companion, Maude Cunningham, join the other guests, including the famed Houdini, among whom an aura of tension prevails. Tibault's second wife, Ariadne, had been the love of his son, Peter, whose friend Jeramy Singleton is on board to mount a secret treasure-hunting expedition. Tibault, a notorious womanizer, casts his eye on the susceptible Maud before he dies mysteriously. The captain's decision to bury the body at sea sorely tests Abigail's deductive abilities. While the tale is effective as a mystery, much of the characterization is too broad to sustain credibility. (Sept.)