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Wiki Coffin Mysteries #5
The Beckoning Ice
It is February 1839, and the ships of the United States Exploring Expedition are thrashing about dreaded Cape Horn, on their way to a rendezvous at Orange Harbor, Tierra del Fuego, on a crazy mission to be the first to find Antarctica. A sealing schooner hails the brig Swallow with a strange tale of a murdered corpse on an iceberg--surely a case for Wiki Coffin, half-Maori, half-Yankee "linguister," who is the representative of American law and order with the fleet.
But circumstances are against him. As Wiki has been banished from the Swallow to the Peacock, where he is forced to battle racism in the wardroom, and vengeful sealers on the decks, the puzzle is surely too much even for this experienced sleuth. Then Wiki is tested even further when he uncovers a brutal murder on board. To solve this double mystery, Wiki is forced to make a dangerous voyage to the utmost fringes of the beckoning ice.
But circumstances are against him. As Wiki has been banished from the Swallow to the Peacock, where he is forced to battle racism in the wardroom, and vengeful sealers on the decks, the puzzle is surely too much even for this experienced sleuth. Then Wiki is tested even further when he uncovers a brutal murder on board. To solve this double mystery, Wiki is forced to make a dangerous voyage to the utmost fringes of the beckoning ice.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2012
About the author
Joan Druett
54 books190 followersBack in the year 1984, on the picture-poster tropical island of Rarotonga, I literally fell into whaling history when I tumbled into a grave. A great tree had been felled by a recent hurricane, exposing a gravestone that had been hidden for more than one and a half centuries. It was the memorial to a young whaling wife, who had sailed with her husband on the New Bedford ship Harrison in the year 1845. And so my fascination with maritime history was triggered ... resulting in 18 books (so far). The latest—number nineteen—is a biography of a truly extraordinary man, Tupaia, star navigator and creator of amazing art.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 24, 2020
In February of 1839, the US Exploring Expedition is approaching Cape Horn. While many of the sailors are looking forward to their first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, Wiki Coffin has other concerns. A crewman on the ship he is currently on has slit his own throat. It was well known that Midshipman Dove was unhappy with the life of a sailor, but Wiki doesn’t believe he committed suicide, and he soon begins to find evidence to back up his theory. But who committed the crime?
It’s been several years since I read the previous book in the series, but it didn’t take me long to slip back in Wiki’s world. The author does a fantastic job of bringing life on the sea in the 1830’s and the expedition to life, and she’s made me curious to learn more about what really happened during the voyage in real life. Unfortunately, her love of all things nautical did slow down the mystery at times, but after reading the previous books, I was still interested to know what was happening to the ships that I didn’t mind too much. And it was never long before Wiki was back to working on the mystery. There are a lot of characters, but they are developed enough to help us remember who they are, and we get little reminders as well when they step on page. If the subject at all interests you, I definitely recommend you check out this series.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
It’s been several years since I read the previous book in the series, but it didn’t take me long to slip back in Wiki’s world. The author does a fantastic job of bringing life on the sea in the 1830’s and the expedition to life, and she’s made me curious to learn more about what really happened during the voyage in real life. Unfortunately, her love of all things nautical did slow down the mystery at times, but after reading the previous books, I was still interested to know what was happening to the ships that I didn’t mind too much. And it was never long before Wiki was back to working on the mystery. There are a lot of characters, but they are developed enough to help us remember who they are, and we get little reminders as well when they step on page. If the subject at all interests you, I definitely recommend you check out this series.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
July 29, 2021
The Beckoning Ice by Joan Druett is the 5th book of the Wiki Coffin mystery series set on the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842. Wiki Coffin is half American, half Maori, officially on the ship as the "linguister", since he speaks many South Seas languages. Just a few officers know Wiki was deputized by the sheriff in Virginia just as the expedition embarked, to solve a crime. Wiki has in fact solved several crimes already, as the expedition continues.
It's really important to read the series in order, especially for this installment, to understand the nature of the expedition, the ships of the fleet, the officers and their political squabbles, the loyalties forged. Wiki faces deadly threats on this leg of the voyage yet again, perhaps even more so than when he solved previous murders.
The story begins with a sealing crew departing the far South Atlantic, fully laden from a successful hunt. In a whiteout storm condition they narrowly miss an iceberg, spotting a corpse frozen to a cliff. When the sealer encounters the ships of the US Exploring Expedition, the captain reports the corpse, and Wiki records the location of the iceberg. Mutinous crew members of USEE (formerly a sealer crew) notice the sealer is heavy with cargo, and assume Wiki noted the location of the tremendous hunt. From that point, Wiki is in mortal danger, attacked numerous times.
When midshipman Valentine dies, Wiki believes it was no accident. The victim had lent money to almost everyone on board. Wiki finds 'chits' (IOUs) naming officers; puzzles over several misspelled names. Likewise when an officer drowns, Wiki knows it was no accident. In the water attempting to rescue the officer, Wiki was attacked, almost drowned as well.
Wiki of course solves all the mysteries, but not before being abandoned on an island to perish. He learns much more of the relationships between the expedition officers, that motivate their crimes.
This is the last book of the series (right now), but the expedition is not over yet! I hope more of Wiki's adventures will be chronicled as USEE heads north in this exciting, educational series.
It's really important to read the series in order, especially for this installment, to understand the nature of the expedition, the ships of the fleet, the officers and their political squabbles, the loyalties forged. Wiki faces deadly threats on this leg of the voyage yet again, perhaps even more so than when he solved previous murders.
The story begins with a sealing crew departing the far South Atlantic, fully laden from a successful hunt. In a whiteout storm condition they narrowly miss an iceberg, spotting a corpse frozen to a cliff. When the sealer encounters the ships of the US Exploring Expedition, the captain reports the corpse, and Wiki records the location of the iceberg. Mutinous crew members of USEE (formerly a sealer crew) notice the sealer is heavy with cargo, and assume Wiki noted the location of the tremendous hunt. From that point, Wiki is in mortal danger, attacked numerous times.
When midshipman Valentine dies, Wiki believes it was no accident. The victim had lent money to almost everyone on board. Wiki finds 'chits' (IOUs) naming officers; puzzles over several misspelled names. Likewise when an officer drowns, Wiki knows it was no accident. In the water attempting to rescue the officer, Wiki was attacked, almost drowned as well.
Wiki of course solves all the mysteries, but not before being abandoned on an island to perish. He learns much more of the relationships between the expedition officers, that motivate their crimes.
This is the last book of the series (right now), but the expedition is not over yet! I hope more of Wiki's adventures will be chronicled as USEE heads north in this exciting, educational series.
December 14, 2012
Joan Druett’s The Beckoning Ice, the fifth in her series of Wiki Coffin nautical mysteries, begins in 1839, on the sealer Betsey of Stonington, homeward bound from “a short but very profitable season far south of Cape Horn.” The schooner is very nearly wrecked on a massive iceberg, which looms suddenly out of the fog. The terror of nearly hitting the ice island is only made worse by the corpse of a man, apparently bludgeoned to dead, frozen on a ledge on the face of the ice.
The Betsey later crosses the course of the small flotilla of ships, brigs and schooners of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, a joint naval and scientific venture sent to chart the Pacific to help promote American trade. When the sealers report the apparent murder, Wiki Coffin is called to investigate, which will not be immediately easy to do, as the expedition is bound for Orange harbor in Tierra del Fuego. Soon Wiki will also have to investigate the suspicious suicide of a young naval lieutenant as well as avoiding several attempts on his own life. While performing his other duties and coping with bigotry and misunderstanding in the small fleet, Wiki must untangle the skein of secrets and alliances that result in the death of the young officer while evading the determined killers that threaten his own survival.
I am of the opinion that a murder mystery is only as good as the detective created to solve it. Joan Druett has created a marvelous detective in Wiki Coffin. The son of a wealthy ship’s captain and a Maori women from the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, he serves as the expedition’s “linguister,” which is to say a translator and language specialist. He was also duly deputized by the sheriff of Portsmouth, Virginia as an agent of law for the expedition. He the classic man of several worlds, able to understand both cultures yet as an outsider often capable of seeing what others do not.
Druett’s choice of the U.S. Exploring Expedition is also inspired. The expedition was rife with conflicts between and amongst the naval officers and the “scientifics,” the civilian scientists brought along to make observations and to record expedition data. Jealousy, paranoia, ambition and the clash of egos provides the perfect backdrop for murder and intrigue. Druett based a number of her characters and some of the plot conflicts on the historical records and diaries kept during the expedition.
The Beckoning Ice is part nautical adventure, part murder mystery, and part thriller, as well as thoroughly researched historical fiction. A multi-award winning nautical historian and novelist, Joan Druett brings a historian’s eye for detail and a novelists imagination, sense of character, plot and pacing to the novel. The tension only keeps building and the actions never waivers. The Beckoning Ice is a marvelous read. Highly recommended.
The Betsey later crosses the course of the small flotilla of ships, brigs and schooners of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, a joint naval and scientific venture sent to chart the Pacific to help promote American trade. When the sealers report the apparent murder, Wiki Coffin is called to investigate, which will not be immediately easy to do, as the expedition is bound for Orange harbor in Tierra del Fuego. Soon Wiki will also have to investigate the suspicious suicide of a young naval lieutenant as well as avoiding several attempts on his own life. While performing his other duties and coping with bigotry and misunderstanding in the small fleet, Wiki must untangle the skein of secrets and alliances that result in the death of the young officer while evading the determined killers that threaten his own survival.
I am of the opinion that a murder mystery is only as good as the detective created to solve it. Joan Druett has created a marvelous detective in Wiki Coffin. The son of a wealthy ship’s captain and a Maori women from the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, he serves as the expedition’s “linguister,” which is to say a translator and language specialist. He was also duly deputized by the sheriff of Portsmouth, Virginia as an agent of law for the expedition. He the classic man of several worlds, able to understand both cultures yet as an outsider often capable of seeing what others do not.
Druett’s choice of the U.S. Exploring Expedition is also inspired. The expedition was rife with conflicts between and amongst the naval officers and the “scientifics,” the civilian scientists brought along to make observations and to record expedition data. Jealousy, paranoia, ambition and the clash of egos provides the perfect backdrop for murder and intrigue. Druett based a number of her characters and some of the plot conflicts on the historical records and diaries kept during the expedition.
The Beckoning Ice is part nautical adventure, part murder mystery, and part thriller, as well as thoroughly researched historical fiction. A multi-award winning nautical historian and novelist, Joan Druett brings a historian’s eye for detail and a novelists imagination, sense of character, plot and pacing to the novel. The tension only keeps building and the actions never waivers. The Beckoning Ice is a marvelous read. Highly recommended.
June 7, 2013
The Beckoning Ice is the 5th adventure in the Wiki Coffin Mysteries. While it's possible to read this book alone, I recommend you immerse yourself in Wiki's world from Book One: A Watery Grave.
All detectives have some motivator that makes them uniquely qualified: Wiki's upbringing has made him an observer simply to survive. Born in the Bay of Islands to a Yankee captain and a Maori woman, he knows two worlds. When his otherwise childless father decides to make Wiki his heir, he plucks Wiki from his island home, and sets his New England wife to raise him. Wiki is always a man of two worlds, facing prejudice and outright hostility from the whites he lives with. Yet, he has such a character that he is made a sheriff before he joins the United States Exploring Expedition - a real American scientific voyage consisting of several ships. He is also made a scribe and "linguister"- since he learns new languages easily.
Alas, when you put a bunch of "scientifics," professional seamen, Navy-types and sealers together, mayhem is apt to happen... and so it does around Wiki. When a body is spotted on an iceberg, Wiki is assigned the task of investigating it... even though the fleet isn't near this particular point. But the murdered man and his location become more and more important as a murder occurs right on board... and then another, and another. As happens frequently, Wiki himself is the target of several attacks.
What makes these books particularly fascinating, of course, are the maritime details. Joan Druett is a maritime historian. My own interest in her work started when I read She Captains, a book about women captains and pirates. Druett uses her non-fiction research to inform every inch of these mysteries. If you are easily made seasick, these may not be the books for you! She describes the closeness and smells of the cabins, the meals they eat, the ropes they climb, the complex politics of the times and this fleet. You are very much there in the moment, including some of the slang they used. It is artfully - yet unobtrusively - done.
Every time I finish a Wiki mystery, I always wish I could sit down with a tankard of grog and talk to him. What a fascinating mind Druett has given him!
Click the buy button. You'll enjoy this book!
All detectives have some motivator that makes them uniquely qualified: Wiki's upbringing has made him an observer simply to survive. Born in the Bay of Islands to a Yankee captain and a Maori woman, he knows two worlds. When his otherwise childless father decides to make Wiki his heir, he plucks Wiki from his island home, and sets his New England wife to raise him. Wiki is always a man of two worlds, facing prejudice and outright hostility from the whites he lives with. Yet, he has such a character that he is made a sheriff before he joins the United States Exploring Expedition - a real American scientific voyage consisting of several ships. He is also made a scribe and "linguister"- since he learns new languages easily.
Alas, when you put a bunch of "scientifics," professional seamen, Navy-types and sealers together, mayhem is apt to happen... and so it does around Wiki. When a body is spotted on an iceberg, Wiki is assigned the task of investigating it... even though the fleet isn't near this particular point. But the murdered man and his location become more and more important as a murder occurs right on board... and then another, and another. As happens frequently, Wiki himself is the target of several attacks.
What makes these books particularly fascinating, of course, are the maritime details. Joan Druett is a maritime historian. My own interest in her work started when I read She Captains, a book about women captains and pirates. Druett uses her non-fiction research to inform every inch of these mysteries. If you are easily made seasick, these may not be the books for you! She describes the closeness and smells of the cabins, the meals they eat, the ropes they climb, the complex politics of the times and this fleet. You are very much there in the moment, including some of the slang they used. It is artfully - yet unobtrusively - done.
Every time I finish a Wiki mystery, I always wish I could sit down with a tankard of grog and talk to him. What a fascinating mind Druett has given him!
Click the buy button. You'll enjoy this book!
June 10, 2014
Having never heard of the Wiki Coffin series before, THE BECKONING ICE was an opportunity to read some historical crime fiction from New Zealand that doesn't come along all that often. Part Maori, part American, Wiki is on board the United States Exploring Expedition when a very odd murder is reported.
Reading this book it becomes very obvious that this is an area of history and naval events that the author knows a lot about. The book starts out in a very strong way with the sighting of a possible murder victim, and events that transpire once it is reported to the Expeditionary fleet. After such a strong commencement, the story does get a little less focused, with Wiki transferred between ships in the Fleet, and eventually, another suspect death and that investigation.
Along the way there is much racism encountered, an arrangement undertaken with another Maori crew member, and encounters with a group of sealers bent on discovery of a secret they believe Wiki's investigation has unearthed.
Reader's of historical crime fiction will be used to being launched into times or places that are nothing like our present. THE BECKONING ICE, and the whole of this series it seems, takes that even further in employing such an unusual setting, time, point in history and central character. It is a lot to take in first time out, and as a result you might find yourself involved in some fairly heavy lifting getting everything lined up and understood. There are also some points where, it seems by design, plot and advancement are subsumed by character and sense of place / time. Which will make this a perfect read for some, and not for others.
Having come to the series fresh at book 5, the detail did slightly overwhelm and the various character back-stories, and interplay and politics get very complicated. It seemed to be suggesting that it could be a series that's better to start at the beginning.
Having said that, it's certainly a most unusual scenario, and definitely should be on the radar of fans of historical crime fiction.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
Reading this book it becomes very obvious that this is an area of history and naval events that the author knows a lot about. The book starts out in a very strong way with the sighting of a possible murder victim, and events that transpire once it is reported to the Expeditionary fleet. After such a strong commencement, the story does get a little less focused, with Wiki transferred between ships in the Fleet, and eventually, another suspect death and that investigation.
Along the way there is much racism encountered, an arrangement undertaken with another Maori crew member, and encounters with a group of sealers bent on discovery of a secret they believe Wiki's investigation has unearthed.
Reader's of historical crime fiction will be used to being launched into times or places that are nothing like our present. THE BECKONING ICE, and the whole of this series it seems, takes that even further in employing such an unusual setting, time, point in history and central character. It is a lot to take in first time out, and as a result you might find yourself involved in some fairly heavy lifting getting everything lined up and understood. There are also some points where, it seems by design, plot and advancement are subsumed by character and sense of place / time. Which will make this a perfect read for some, and not for others.
Having come to the series fresh at book 5, the detail did slightly overwhelm and the various character back-stories, and interplay and politics get very complicated. It seemed to be suggesting that it could be a series that's better to start at the beginning.
Having said that, it's certainly a most unusual scenario, and definitely should be on the radar of fans of historical crime fiction.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
November 16, 2014
Wiki Coffin is still with the US Exploring Expedition, sailing south in the Atlantic Ocean heading for Cape Horn - a most dangerous stretch of water for any boat - heading for the Pacific.
The fleet encounter a sealer returning to the eastern US seaboard, whose captain reports the discovery of a body on an iceberg they passed, clearly murdered from the wounds that could be seen as they slipped past in the murky fog. As a sworn sheriff's deputy Wiki is included in the small party to which the tale is told, to be investigated by him as the opportunity arises.
But others have their own ideas, including the rescued sealers on board wanting to know where that other boat had been so they too can profit from the riches to be found. And others have their own ideas about where the fleet should be heading.
Wiki once again finds his life - and the lives of others - put at risk with no help to be found outside of the fleet, and must save himself if he can.
This is the fifth book in the Wiki Coffin series, and I am still enjoying it - and wishing there was more, but at this point in time I see no sign of a sixth title.
I recommend reading this series in order as they progress in time, and sometimes less than a day has passed between the end of one book and the start of the next.
The fleet encounter a sealer returning to the eastern US seaboard, whose captain reports the discovery of a body on an iceberg they passed, clearly murdered from the wounds that could be seen as they slipped past in the murky fog. As a sworn sheriff's deputy Wiki is included in the small party to which the tale is told, to be investigated by him as the opportunity arises.
But others have their own ideas, including the rescued sealers on board wanting to know where that other boat had been so they too can profit from the riches to be found. And others have their own ideas about where the fleet should be heading.
Wiki once again finds his life - and the lives of others - put at risk with no help to be found outside of the fleet, and must save himself if he can.
This is the fifth book in the Wiki Coffin series, and I am still enjoying it - and wishing there was more, but at this point in time I see no sign of a sixth title.
I recommend reading this series in order as they progress in time, and sometimes less than a day has passed between the end of one book and the start of the next.
January 1, 2014
Half Maori half white detective Wiki Coffin is a terrific character. He uses an outsider’s power of observation in dealing with his shipmates, the officers, and scientific gentleman of the United States Exploring Expedition, coupled with the wisdom of his native New Zealand to uncover motives. This fifth Wiki Coffin mystery follows the U.S. Exploring Expedition ships to Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego, in a story rich in incident and historical detail. Deputized in Portsmouth, Virginia Wiki must investigate a corpse floating on an ice island and the bloody death of a young midshipman, while navigating the politics and prejudices of the exploring fleet.
An involving mystery set in the world of the nineteenth century nascent United States navy, even the ebook version of The Beckoning Ice includes Ron Druett’s unique and superb ship illustrations at the start of every chapter. Highly recommended and an excellent value.
An involving mystery set in the world of the nineteenth century nascent United States navy, even the ebook version of The Beckoning Ice includes Ron Druett’s unique and superb ship illustrations at the start of every chapter. Highly recommended and an excellent value.
October 10, 2013
My first Wiki Coffin mystery but not my last. Joan may well have invented a genre. I never imagined I would like a mystery set in the Age of Sail but Wiki is a very realistic character. I'll be reading more!
August 18, 2013
A solid, interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews