What’s not to love about this book, a murder on a cruise ship to New York, set in the 1920’s with all the glam that came from that era….

Diamonds, champagne, and complicated relationships….

This is a great read, loads of fun, with more and more information revealed as the plot goes on.

Who did it?!!!

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
This novel is set aboard a cruise ship The Endeavour as it makes its way from Southampton to New York. On board are 2 000 passengers and crew. When they are four days out from New York an elderly gentleman is discovered at the foot of some stairs. It has been a wet night and he has no coat. Is it a terrible accident or something more sinister?
The Captain of the ship is eagerly anticipating his retirement as soon as the ship docks in Southampton and would therefore like this little problem to be dealt with as unobtrusively as possible. On board however is a detective from Scotland Yard, James Temple, who is keen to investigate what he perceives to be a crime. He is an irascible man who is determined to have his way against the Captain’s wishes. So in order to keep a watchful eye upon him the Captain allocates Timothy Birch one of his officers to accompany him as he conducts his investigation.

Birch obviously carries a great burden with him. He plays endlessly with a piece of yellow ribbon and reflects upon the fact that his wife will not see him. He has had leave from the ship for a year to deal with his personal problems but is obviously still plagued by them.
This is obviously a twist on the locked room mystery as the culprit, if there is one, is obviously still aboard the ship and Temple and Birch only have four days to root them out from amongst the 2 000 people aboard.

The storyline ensures that the reader pursues the story to its conclusion but it did flag for me a little in the middle. The twist at the end is unexpected but when you think back there were clues to it earlier on in the novel. I could not say I was completely gripped but I did want to know how the story concluded. A good premise but it did not quite match up to my expectations.
I would like to thank the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review. If it was possible to award 3 and a half stars I would do so.

A transatlantic ship with over two-thousand passengers onboard carries the secret of an old gentleman's death from Southampton to New York. At first, his death is dismissed by the captain as an accident, but James Temple, a persistent Scotland Yard detective, is permitted to investigate - as long as he is accompanied everywhere by the ship's officer, Mr Birch. A thorough inquiry follows, witnesses are pursued and interviewed, and slowly a picture of art theft and high-society indiscretions begins to be painted.
Tom Hindle's writing has been compared to Agatha Christie and indeed it has the elements of classic detective narrative and plotting. The partnership between James Temple and Timothy Birch is particularly vibrant and really benefits the story. Both characters are complex, each man harbouring his own secrets. The underlying tragedy of Birch's missing daughter adds extra emotional depth to Birch's narrative (the story is told from his point of view).
More deaths and further complications abound but the investigation ploughs on to the final unmasking of the killer. However it isn't the identity of the killer that provides the ultimate, most unexpected twist to this tale. It is something entirely different. I did not see it coming and I must admit that it was quite a shock. I shouldn't even intimate at what it is as that would spoil your pleasure of reading this book and getting to that earth-shattering denouement in your own time.

If you are looking for a thrilling and twisty novel with Agatha Christie vibes, then I highly recommend A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle.

There are murders, secrets, and theft. All the action happens on board of the Endeavour during its voyage from Southampton to New York. The time is November 1924, and the protagonist is Timothy Birch, a ship’s officer.

Timothy Birch is a complex and engaging character who carries a great guilt. After the end of the war, he found a job on the Endeavour, against his wife’s wishes as it keeps him away from his family for weeks, and it is during one of his absences that he suffered a great loss. Burdened by guilt and distress, Timothy focuses on his job and he is headed to New York to meet a friend who could help him. However, the crossing is far from peaceful when a man is found dead. The captain of the ship declares it an accident and is ready to forget all about it. However, a persistent and tenacious Scotland Yard detective, James Temple, is convinced that the man was murdered and insists on investigating. The captain accepts on the condition that Timothy will shadow him, so as not to cause too much disruption among the passengers.

As Temple and Birch investigate, we travel around the ship, which the author describes in precise details, from first class to the crew area, we slowly uncover the real reason behind Temple’s persistence in investigating the murder, and we are immersed in a world of art and priceless paintings, theft, and the wealthy’s private affairs.

I had a bit of a slow start, but then I found myself immersed in the story which is entertaining and suspenseful and there is a final twist that it was so unexpected that I gasped in surprise. All in all, a fantastic atmospheric debut novel!

A stunning cover design drew me in to this homage to the golden age of mystery but sadly I found it overall a lacklustre experience. Which was a big disappointment as I had hoped for something to get lost in with the intriguing description. Partly the issue seemed to stem from the main characters that despite all the attempts to make them seem vivid and captivating, they felt very one dimensional and therefore clichéd riddled. I was struggling to have any real interest in the crime or the players when the twist at the end reared it’s head and piqued my curiosity. But sadly it was too late to give it a more generous rating.

Unfortunately, this was more of a let-down than a thrilling read for this reader.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was fairly entertaining although it did seem to drag in parts. My main issue was that I did not relate to the main character/narrator, in fact I found him annoying, and this impacted on my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

A Fatal Crossing is set aboard the Endeavor, sailing from the UK to New York in 1924. There is an unexplained death of an older gentleman on the voyage and a very valuable painting is stolen from a cabin around the same time. Mr Temple, a detective from Scotland Yard, just happens to be on the ship and wishes to investigate the death , especially when it is found that the dead passenger was travelling under a pseudonym and was actually an art dealer. The ship's officer, Tim Birch, is assigned by the captain to accompany Temple in his investigations but is constantly thwarted as Temple does not want to be trailed and is a thoroughly unlikeable character, This didn't help my enjoyment of the book as normally you want to be in sympathy with at least one character in a book but it was tricky in this book to find any likeable characters.

I struggled to finish this book as I found the pace slow. I got to a point where I almost gave up about 60% in but decided to plod on as I did want to know the ending. I then got a little lost as it seemed like the ten or so characters we met in addition to Temple and Birch had all got connections to others in the group and I was struggling to remember who had met who just when. This may be because my concentration was not great as I was finding the story drawn out and dull.

Other reviewers mention liking the end but I was left a little non-plussed as it was rushed and there was also another mystery, around the character of Birch, that wasn't addressed by the ending,

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an exciting old fashioned police procedural story, onboard a passenger ship, sailing from England to New York. A passenger is found at the bottom of some stairs outside in the pouring rain!!
A detective who happens to be on board ship, demands that the captain allows him to look into why he's at the bottom of the stairs, dead!! He ends up with one of the captain's officers, to 'shadow him' which means he's going to help him, much to the detectives disgust!!
This was such a complicated, exciting story!! So much going on, it kept my interest and excitement going all the time!!
And what an ending!! I wasn't expecting that!!!!!!!
Absolutely brilliant!!

This was a great historical murder mystery. Set on an ocean liner which gave the suitable tension of an enclosed are for a small number of suspects. Lean writing which kept up the tension and had me reading into the night. The characters were all flawed in some way, so not easy to empathise with, this was quite a dark novel, definitely not cosy. The ending was stunning and had me completely suprised, something that does not happen very often!

This was a complicated story that had me involved from the beginning. Different background to the story using a Liner crossing the Atlantic to New York. Several deaths occur during the crossing and there happens to be a Scotland Yard detective aboard! With the help of a ships officer he attempts to solve the thefts of some paintings and the resulting deaths. The conclusion was something else, totally unexpected.

Set in 1924 and written as a pastiche, this story will inevitably be compared to Agatha Christie, although there are many other writers less well known who stand as better comparators. The story unfolds on a steam passenger ship travelling from Southampton to New York. An elderly passenger is found dead at the foot of a companionway and is assumed to have slipped. However, a Scotland Yard detective, Temple, asks the Captain to treat it as suspicious and, accompanied by a ship’s officer, Tim Birch, is given permission to investigate. Temple, secretive, and irascible, is on his way to represent the Yard in a criminal case, but appears to have no connection with the dead man, directly or indirectly. So what is driving him? Birch is estranged from his wife because he was away at sea when their daughter disappeared. He is also troubled by a bullet wound to the shoulder which he received during the Great War and which would have cost him his life if he hadn’t been rescued by a young American soldier called Raymond. He constantly fondles a yellow ribbon which he believes belonged to the daughter and which he received from Raymond who claims that his millionaire father can find the girl. It quickly becomes clear that there are a number of suspects on board all travelling to the NY Art Fair to sell or buy, all connected to the dead man, and all having had various entanglements with each other. And then a valuable painting is stolen.
Crime novels set on ship’s are not uncommon (although Christie really only wrote one such) and this book is a good example of the whodunnit, with a reasonable plot and a fair number of false trails. Motivations, especially those of the two main characters, are not as clear as they could be; more moulded to fit the plot rather than the plot arising from them. As a pastiche it is a bit clumsy, inclined towards safe cliché, so didn’t feel particularly authentic. Although there are several deaths none of them are gory, so it is clearly qualifies as a cosy crime story; until the last chapter when there is a major twist which will, undoubtedly polarise readers.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

It kind of annoys me when lots of books are toughted as 'christiesque' are they trying to piggy back on Christie's name by doing this or just trying to give the book a classic feel? Present the book on it's own merrits and this book in itself has many.

All that aside, A Fatal Crossing is an enjoyable book, it has all the ingredients for a good crime novel , it's clever and i do like all the period details.
This is essentially a locked room novel, as the charecters are all at sea aboard the Endevour, a ship sailing to New York form Southampton.

The cover, was the first thing that drew me in, the design is appealing and the tag line ' A ship full of suspects, Two detectives and one killer' along with the aforementioned cover was akin to a donkey being led by a carrot!

At nearly 500 it is not a short book, it could have perhaps been scaled down a little, but that is my own opinion, as not a fan of big books.

I have pre ordered myself a copy of this book, so it can go into my burgeoning personal library for future reference and at some point a re read.
Thnak you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this proir to publication.

A really good whodunnit. Set on a transatlantic cruise in the early 1920's the story is told by ship's officer Birch. A body is found and a Scotland Yard detective Temple who is on the voyage suspects foul play. Temple and Birch have four days to investigate and discover who is the murderer before the ship docks and 2000 passengers get off in New York City. A fast paced thriller with many suspects all based around priceless art. So many secrets and back stories with twists along the way make for a great read. I loved the descriptions of the ship and could vividly imagine the grandness of first class to the bowels of third class.

Brilliant! A 'locked room' murder mystery that really delivers in terms of excellent plot, well-drawn characters and wonerful period setting, I loved it! An accomplished debut, it's gripping and so well told. It's all there for you to solve with a superb twist ending. One of a very few crime thrillers I've read recently that give off Christie vibes, and actually live up to them. Definitely an author to keep an eye on, highly recommend!

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

the synopsis of this book is what pulled me in, a bit like agatha christie, and i am partial to a good murder mystery, but i have to say this police officer is no Poirot, in fact i couldnt stand him or the officer from the ship, could not warm to them at all...

so for three quarters of the book i was struggling and then the last quarter wham i was hooked.. still didnt like those two characters but was caught up in the rest of the storyline and boy what a twist at the end, that i didnt see coming

there is a murder, several in fact and the twists and turns never stop coming and if you can get over the two characters i struggled with you will enjoy it...

This is an enjoyable read, but a little disappointing in places. A lot of reviews have mentioned that it’s similar to an Agatha Christie, but, other than the time setting, I wouldn’t say that this was the case. It’s more intricate and yet not so compelling as a Christie. I felt the secondary characters weren’t developed and I felt no connection to the main characters, even though I feel that was intended. The ending was a surprise, yet also unsatisfactory. I’m hoping there is a follow up as I feel cheated in not knowing what happened to the daughter.

OMG this period crime thriller kept me burning the midnight oil it got me so hooked.
Little slow to start but I began to get so intrigued in the complex plot of this book I literally couldn’t put it down.
People have likened it to an Agatha Christie novel but this book has more of an edge with so many incredible twists you just don’t know who’s done what.
The story takes place upon a luxury cruise ship called The Endeavour bound for New York.
An unknown gentleman is found dead in mysterious circumstances.
Quite by chance there is a policeman on board who demands to investigate the death properly. The Captain of the ship agrees to this but only if he is accompanied by a ships officer .
This is a very reluctant partnership as they are both keeping secrets about their past while trying to investigate the death.
All is not what it seems & the author keeps you guessing all the way through with all the twists & turns the story takes.
This is a very cleverly written story with some good characters & all the intrigue you could hope for.
I was taken aback by the ending & I really didn’t expect that.
I love it when a book can surprise me like that what a brilliant read.

This was really enjoyable to read about the cruises of the past and what they were like for the passengers and crew. This was a guess who done it that I didn't guess! Great characters that go really well together and keep the story alive for you. A good crime story for a winters night in front of the fire.

A murder mystery set on a transatlantic crossing, the author has written in the style of Agatha Christie. I found the narrative slow and lengthy and struggled to finish.

A Fatal Crossing is an intriguing, Agatha Christie style murder mystery set on board the luxury cruise liner Endeavour, travelling to New York in the winter of 1924. It opens with a death of an elderly man who appears to have fallen down a flight of stairs during a storm. Did he fall or was he pushed? Ship's officer Timothy Birch is tasked with assisting James Temple, a Scotland Yard detective who happens to be on board, with his investigation into the death. So begins the unravelling of a story which involves stolen paintings, long-standing grudges, and keeping up appearances. With only a few days to solve the crime before the ship docks in New York it is a race against time to discover the killer. It took me a little while to get into the story but then the pace quickens as we sail towards the end of the journey. This is a good, atmospheric story with lots of twists and turns and a real twist at the end.