The Sunken Sailor

by Elizabeth Foxwell (Editor)

Fourteen masters of the mystery and suspense genre--including Jan Burke, Carolyn Hart, Simon Brett, and Edward Marston--each contribute an individual chapter to a round robin mystery about a weekend house party in a small English village that is turned upside down by murder. Reprint.

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kathy Sebesta]

This has to be one of the very worst boox I've ever read. It's one of those mysteries where noted writers write a chapter, leaving a cliffhanger for the next author to deal with, who then does the same thing to the next author. These are good writers, and I've read some of this sort of story before without being displeased. However, The Sunken Sailor is just plain awful.

Having read every word, I still have no good idea who is who and what their real role is. And the prime villain is someone who disappeared early and entirely from the book and who really had no good reason for being cast in that role. The mop up chapter was as inexplicable as the rest.

[Conni Harness]

Was really interesting in the beginning. Enjoyable as the chapters took on new directions. However, starting at chapter 12, the book turned into slap stick boredom. Pass on this one. We can only hope they never make this into a movie!

[Paul Bolton]

A truly awful book (sorry to all those involved). There is a line in the authors notes which reads: "...she is overjoyed to have contributed a chapter to this masterpiece...". Well it should be ashamed of itself and be sectioned under the trade description act. The first couple of chapter's are ok and then it goes downhill from there. It got to the point where it was so stupid it really did not matter what the next author wrote next. If someone wrote that actually all of the characters were French-speaking androids sent from the future then it would not disrupt the storyline.

Also, if like me you read reviews like this (and I'm not alone) and think that it cannot be that bad.....it was and it is, save yourself, move on.

[David]

What a hoot!

The author of each chapter seems to be deliberately trying to - and succeeding in - turning the clues provided in previous chapters on their head, adding ever more ludicrous but fun complications to the story in the hope, presumably, of stumping the author of subsequent chapters.

For the reader it is incredibly enjoyable with every single trope of the detective novel - particularly those of the golden age of pulp fiction - used as some point or another.

Highly recommended. It is just fun from start to finish.

[ArtemisKate]

Ugh. At first I liked the idea of a round robin murder mystery. One author writing a chapter, sending it in the mail to the next author and so on. But every chapter had a different writing style and every author had to add their twist to the plot which in the end made the plot and characters so convoluted - to me - that I stopped reading at the middle of the second to last chapter. It had gotten so out of control that I was lost and frustrated and wanted a book that had a beautifully paced plot line with twists and turns that were created by one mind...on to a Ruth Galloway mystery...YAY!

[Kay]

Short storied didn't hold my interest.

[Larraine]

not my style

[Ayah Ristin]

Gripping until the last half of the authors decided to ruin the efforts of the first half. Such a crappy crappy ending! First good chapters were just wasted. It could have been such a great mystery novel if the playful authors didn't decide to put ridiculous characters and events that would just never make sense in the story. The last chapters were so shitty to the point that it was infuriating and offensive. If I were one of the authors who knew that they contribute a good chapter, I'd really be mad at the ones who ruined the book.

Well, if it was intended to be just a hilarious nonsense, then it wasn't made for readers like me.

[Timothy Tobolski]

This is the type of anthology I've been wanting someone(s) to write for years: a round-robin mystery where each contributor adds a complete chapter in the form of a short story that adds to the overall story. A sci-fi series did this exact format some twenty-odd years ago and I loved the hell out of it. This one promises the same satisfaction, particularly with the use of English authors and settings.

[Jenny Smith]

I'm sure it was fun to write, but the many authors almost seemed to be competing to muddle the story. Not only did the entire writing style change by chapter but also character personalities as well. Led to a completely unbelievable resolution. Good idea...poor execution.

[Karen]

Frankly, this was awful. You want to avoid this one.

[Ayny]

awful
good premise, however, this is a jumbled lot of over a dozen stories that were not interesting enough to finish.

[Kate]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Lisa]

Quite fun, I hadn't read a multi-author mystery in some time.