Midnight Sailing

Hilda Hughes #1

by Susan Hufford

She was a prisoner on a voyage into terror with the Devil at the helm-as the sunlit ocean grew dark with evil.

Genres: Gothic, Horror, Gothic Romance, Classics

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Actress and singer; appeared in the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, 1970-72, with various theatrical touring companies, and on television. Married for many years to daytime television star Michael Zaslow, who died of ALS in 1998. The author of eight gothic or romantic suspense novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Series character Hilda Hughes, a professor of literature at the University of Michigan, appears in at least five of them.

Reviews

[Adrian Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this makes a change. In this story we have the classic lovely young heiress who has lost both parents and gained immense wealth, but instead of finding herself in deadly peril inside a remote and sinister mansion, she’s in peril on board a remote and sinister cruise ship!

This change of location works pretty well, as first of all she can’t leave at will, and for once she has a perfect excuse for doing nothing except come down (or in this case, up) to delicious meals, tangle with grumpy servants, and engage in some light shopping- all perfectly reasonable this time, because she’s on holiday. The author describes the setting well and there's a lot going on. Does someone get pushed over the side? What do you think...? The boat even makes a couple of stops on route to add variety.

I will say, though, that the climax is incredibly rushed, being crammed into barely more than the final three pages of the book. But hey - it wasn’t boring.

[dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

thrilling, fast paced, well written novel. the atmosphere was very well done, the characters felt real. probably the best gothic i've read in a while. definitely going to have to try and find the other hilda hughes books by this author - she was such an enjoyable and intelligent main character to follow.

[Carrie Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

without a doubt, one of the scariest books i ever read. beautifully written, thrilling novella.

[Nattie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried for over two weeks to read this book, I really did not want to throw in the towel. It had to be done though, the story just dragged on and on and nothing was happening.

The cruiseship aspects were enticing, as they usually are, but I can't say the same for the rest.