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Masters and Green #26
Plain Sailing
Masters and Green just wanted a holiday. But murders do not wait.
Masters and Green are on holiday at a small village near Durham when they are called out to a murder investigation at a seaside resort not far away. It appears that the son of an Essex police colleague has been found dead in his boat. Before long, Masters and Green are joined by their trusty assistants, WDS Tippen and DS Berger, much to the hilarious despair of their wives, who had hoped for a week’s peace.
It turns out that the body had been found in a locked room, so a member of the yacht club must be responsible. Masters and Green expose many an adulterous scandal on the way to the truth…
Plain Sailing is a tense and intriguing police procedural that will satisfy fans of Stuart Macbride and James Patterson.
Douglas Clark was born in Lincolnshire, 1919. He served in the Royal Horse Artillery in the 7th Armoured Division. Later he served in Amphibious Warfare until, on leaving the army in 1962, he joined the staff of a pharmaceutical company. He wrote over 20 crime novels and a number of plays for BBC radio. Plain Sailing is the next installment in the acclaimed Masters and Green series.
Masters and Green are on holiday at a small village near Durham when they are called out to a murder investigation at a seaside resort not far away. It appears that the son of an Essex police colleague has been found dead in his boat. Before long, Masters and Green are joined by their trusty assistants, WDS Tippen and DS Berger, much to the hilarious despair of their wives, who had hoped for a week’s peace.
It turns out that the body had been found in a locked room, so a member of the yacht club must be responsible. Masters and Green expose many an adulterous scandal on the way to the truth…
Plain Sailing is a tense and intriguing police procedural that will satisfy fans of Stuart Macbride and James Patterson.
Douglas Clark was born in Lincolnshire, 1919. He served in the Royal Horse Artillery in the 7th Armoured Division. Later he served in Amphibious Warfare until, on leaving the army in 1962, he joined the staff of a pharmaceutical company. He wrote over 20 crime novels and a number of plays for BBC radio. Plain Sailing is the next installment in the acclaimed Masters and Green series.
- GenresMystery
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1987
42 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Clark
121 books19 followersDouglas Malcolm Jackson Clark was a British author.
He was also known by the pseudonyms James Ditton and Peter Hosier.
He was also known by the pseudonyms James Ditton and Peter Hosier.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 30, 2014
Detective Superintendent George Masters and DCI Bill Green of Scotland Yard are off to a small seaside town near Durham expecting to enjoy a well-deserved holiday with their wives. But true to detective fiction standards (busman's holiday and all that)--after enjoying a few days of pure holiday they are called upon to investigate the sudden death of an Essex police colleague's son. This is more than just a murder of one of their own's own as it were. Masters and his team had worked closely with DCI Matthew Cleveland on a case the previous November...so this one is even more personal.
Cleveland's son James was at the seaside resort to take part in a week of sailboat racing and collapsed while more than two miles out to sea. The difficulty with the investigation is that James was poisoned--and with such a fast-acting agent that he must have swallowed or come in contact with it mere minutes before the collapse. The obvious suspect is the other man in the boat...the only one close enough to James during the relevant time period. But Masters and Green know better than to settle for obvious, especially when the obvious just doesn't seem to fit.
Their investigations lead them to an examination of the other members of the sailing circle and soon everyone on the team from assistants, Detective Sergeants Tippen and Berger, to their own wives are ferreting out motives for murder. But whose murder? And the question that remains even after the motive and intended victim are sorted is....how was the poison administered? Once Masters and Green figure that out all that remains is to set a trap to catch the poisoner.
Even twenty-six stories into the Masters and Green series, Douglas Clark manages to serve up a darn good police procedural. The focus this time, as mentioned, is on how. Not that the who and why are so very obvious--but the real puzzle at the end of the day is how was James Cleveland poisoned? He didn't eat or drink anything directly before the collapse and tests show that the poison was ingested. It takes some pretty careful observation on George Masters' part to find the solution.
As I've mentioned before, I always enjoy the camaraderie and rapport of Masters' team. Even though younger member come and go (as they receive well-earned promotions), each new member fits in well without being a cookie-cutter underling just filling in a position. Each character is well-defined and brings something different to the mix. It was also nice to see the wives doing a bit of undercover work--even though Wanda Masters insists that she won't "spy" on these people. What Masters wants is her and Doris Green's impressions--just a general feel of the climate amongst the racing crown. And those impressions prove very useful as well. Three & 3/4 stars.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Cleveland's son James was at the seaside resort to take part in a week of sailboat racing and collapsed while more than two miles out to sea. The difficulty with the investigation is that James was poisoned--and with such a fast-acting agent that he must have swallowed or come in contact with it mere minutes before the collapse. The obvious suspect is the other man in the boat...the only one close enough to James during the relevant time period. But Masters and Green know better than to settle for obvious, especially when the obvious just doesn't seem to fit.
Their investigations lead them to an examination of the other members of the sailing circle and soon everyone on the team from assistants, Detective Sergeants Tippen and Berger, to their own wives are ferreting out motives for murder. But whose murder? And the question that remains even after the motive and intended victim are sorted is....how was the poison administered? Once Masters and Green figure that out all that remains is to set a trap to catch the poisoner.
Even twenty-six stories into the Masters and Green series, Douglas Clark manages to serve up a darn good police procedural. The focus this time, as mentioned, is on how. Not that the who and why are so very obvious--but the real puzzle at the end of the day is how was James Cleveland poisoned? He didn't eat or drink anything directly before the collapse and tests show that the poison was ingested. It takes some pretty careful observation on George Masters' part to find the solution.
As I've mentioned before, I always enjoy the camaraderie and rapport of Masters' team. Even though younger member come and go (as they receive well-earned promotions), each new member fits in well without being a cookie-cutter underling just filling in a position. Each character is well-defined and brings something different to the mix. It was also nice to see the wives doing a bit of undercover work--even though Wanda Masters insists that she won't "spy" on these people. What Masters wants is her and Doris Green's impressions--just a general feel of the climate amongst the racing crown. And those impressions prove very useful as well. Three & 3/4 stars.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
August 7, 2021
A solid mystery. There's a lot about sailing here but you don't need to know anything to follow along and it doesn't drown out the story either. I'm just not sure I would want to go on vacation with basically my boss.
October 20, 2020
Interestin plot. More than I wanted to know about sailing.
March 6, 2025
While on holiday Masters and Green are drawn into an investigation of murder. The male died on a boat with only one other occupant.
An enjoyable modern mystery
Originally published in 1987
An enjoyable modern mystery
Originally published in 1987
March 1, 2020
Excellent
DCS Cleveland's son James has been poisoned with cyanide whilst sailing at a yachting regatta. DCS Masters and DCI Green are on holiday with their respective wives just a few miles away in a holiday cottage and are called upon to investigate. They have to discover the who, why and when before the yachting regatta finishes at the end of the week and the sailors disperse throughout the UK and further afield. No easy task for the team.
DCS Cleveland's son James has been poisoned with cyanide whilst sailing at a yachting regatta. DCS Masters and DCI Green are on holiday with their respective wives just a few miles away in a holiday cottage and are called upon to investigate. They have to discover the who, why and when before the yachting regatta finishes at the end of the week and the sailors disperse throughout the UK and further afield. No easy task for the team.
November 25, 2013
Two Scotland Yard inspectors are called off holiday when the son of a colleague is poisoned. The problem is that the fast-acting poison was administered to the lad in the middle of a boat race, surrounded by empty ocean, with no trace of any murder weapon and no one who could have given him the poison. Except for the "locked room" aspect of the story, this is a village cozy, with the usual steady pacing, long buried hatreds, and duplicitous characters. It is made an even more interesting read by the inclusion of the police inspectors' wives, who are not merely ornamental.
April 29, 2012
Wouldn't recommend this.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews