The Sunken Sailor

by Elizabeth Foxwell (Editor), Anne Perry (Introduction)

During a weekend house party in a proper English village, a body is discovered at the bottom of a pond tied to a submerged statue of Neptune.

And the weekend has only just begun.

So has this ingenious mystery-a literary game of round robin in which fourteen master crime writers have each contributed a chapter of their own. What they deliver is a wildly entertaining whodunit with as many dizzying twists, turnabouts, double-crosses, and divergent styles as there are solutions and suspects.

Featuring the bestselling and multiple award-winning talents of:

Simon Brett
Jan Burke
Dorothy Cannell
Maragaret Coel
Deborah Crombie
Eileen Dreyer
Carolyn Hart
Edward Marston
Francine Mathews
Sharan Newman
Alexandra Ripley
Walter Satterthwait
Sarah Smith
Carolyn Whe

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kathy Sebesta · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Short storied didn't hold my interest.

[Larraine · Rating 1 out of 5]

not my style

[Ayah Ristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

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