The Sunken Sailor

by Patricia Moyes

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication April 2, 2026

About the author

Moyes was born in Dublin on 19 January 1923 and was educated at Overstone girls' school in Northampton. She joined the WAAF in 1939. In 1946 Peter Ustinov hired her as technical assistant on his film School for Secrets. She became his personal assistant for the next eight years. In 1960 she wrote the screenplay for the film School for Scoundrels starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, and Alastair Sim. She married photographer John Moyes in 1951; they divorced in 1959. She later married James Haszard, a linguist at the International Monetary Fund in The Hague. She died at her home on the island of Virgin Gorda (British Virgin Islands) on 2 August 2000.

Her mystery novels feature C.I.D. Inspector Henry Tibbett. One of them, Who Saw Her Die (Many Deadly Returns in the US) was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1971. She also wrote several juveniles and short stories.

Series:
* Inspector Henry Tibbett Mystery

Reviews

[Balthazarinblue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Inspector Tibbet is destined to never have a relaxing holiday. This time, he and Emmy are boating with friends in the picturesque town of Berrybridge. There's a local pub, a crotchety harbour master, and a lone lord of the manor rubbing elbows with the common folk. Things are a little subdued, though, as the locals and the London set alike are still coming to terms with a senseless death the year prior. The more Tibbet hears, the more he begins to suspect it was no accident in the fog. Someone is determined to keep that case from being solved, even if they must kill again to do so.

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as Dead Men Don't Ski but I did still enjoy it quite a bit. I simply enjoy reading about people falling over in the snow more than the fine details differentiating a jib from a spinnaker. If you're more into sailing than me, you'll probably adore this! The case itself kept my attention and had a satisfying range of potential motives: is it a love affair gone wrong? a heist interrupted? bad blood between family? I definitely suspected everyone at one point or another!