I read this book for Mount
TBR Reading Challenge 2019.
Down Among the
Dead Men aka The Sunken Sailor –
Patricia Moyes
This 1961 mystery was the second novel starring series
hero Henry Tibbett, a Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard and his wife Emmy. By
chance they meet a couple whose hobby is sailing so they go on a short vacation
with them on England’s East Coast. The hamlet is rather haunted by a recent death
and a jewel robbery from the local baronet’s mansion. Two additional killings
occur, thus causing Henry to forget his vacation and put on his deer-stalking hat.
When I read stories in which things nautical loom large,
I rather bleep over the maritime mumbo-jumbo of tides and sails. Moyes needs
the reader to understand a few technicalities of sailing to understand the
unfolding of the plot. So at the beginning careful attention to new terminology
and concepts on the part of the reader will pay rewards. But patience, more
than usual for a mystery, is called for. Moyes later was more effective – i.e.,
less demanding of the reader - in setting her Tibbett stories in specialized
settings such as the
world of fashion, a
movie set, and an
old air base as substitute for a country house,.
The various characters are smart, articulate, and amusing. Moyes was
a cozy-writing traditionalist so she is careful with little details that add up
to big reveals. Motive is usually love or money or avoidance of shame and
embarrassment. She is rather retro in
attitude. For example, Henry confidently asserts that no woman keeps a secret indefinitely,
with no spirited opposition from any of his female listeners or caveats about
how gossipy men can be. This is worth reading for true fans of Moyes, but for
novices the later ones, such as the late career Night
Ferry to Death, are better.
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