Murder on "B" Deck

11 March 2022

Vincent Starrett (Author)

With an Introduction by Otto Penzler

Description

A 1920s cruise ship is destined for destruction in this cozy mystery by the author of The Great Hotel Murder.

For the passengers aboard the Latakia, the transatlantic journey from New York to Cherbourg promises weeks of rest and relaxation, no matter what class of ticket they have. But after an Italian baroness is found strangled in her cabin, the situation on board becomes more tense. The main suspect soon goes overboard, creating more questions than answers: Did a guilty conscience spur a suicidal act, or was he a witness silenced by the true killer, still at large on the luxury liner. 

Enter former intelligence officer Walter Ghost, tapped by the ship’s captain to play detective and solve the murder. He’s joined by his friend Dunsten Mollock, a novelist whose experience with mystery stories gives him helpful insights into the case. With clues including an amateur film, a doll, and a card from Memphis, Tennessee, it seems the duo have plenty to work with. But will they be able to solve the crime before word of the murder makes it into the steamship’s rumor mill, surely sending any guilty persons even deeper into hiding?

Originally published in 1929 and out of print for nearly a century, Murder on “B” Deck is a puzzling-yet-humorous whodunnit set in the Golden Age of transatlantic travel.

Includes discussion guide questions for use in book clubs.

Reviews

"Starrett makes the most of the setting and populates it with an array of potential suspects. This definitely merits being labeled an American Mystery classic." — Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW

"Starrett was a Holmes expert, and this first of three Walter Ghost novels, published in 1929, delivers a frothy and thoroughly entertaining spin on the theme of a big-brained amateur sleuth and his admiring sidekick. Ghost is more William Powell than Basil Rathbone, but that's hardly a bad thing, especially aboard a luxury liner. Another winner from the American Mystery Classics series." — Booklist

Also By: Vincent Starrett View all by author...

  • Dead Man Inside

    Vincent Starrett, Otto Penzler

    Paperback, 2023

    A wealthy dilettante is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for theatrics in this cosy mystery by the author of Murder on “B” Deck
  • Dead Man Inside

    Vincent Starrett, Otto Penzler

    Hardback, 2023

    A wealthy dilettante is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for theatrics in this cozy mystery by the author of Murder on “B” Deck.

  • The Great Hotel Murder

    Vincent Starrett, Lyndsay Faye

    Paperback, 2020

  • The Great Hotel Murder

    Vincent Starrett, Lyndsay Faye

    Hardback, 2020

    In a grand Chicago hotel, a mysterious death sets a puzzling whodunnit in motion

Also By: Otto Penzler View all by author...

Paperback

9781613162798

135 x 206 mm • 235 pages

£8.99

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