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krobart's review against another edition
3.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/09/23/review-1397-deep-waters/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/09/23/review-1397-deep-waters/
annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Deep Waters is an anthology of 16 stories with a water theme. Released 3rd Sept 2019 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 352 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats. Editor Martin Edwards provides erudite, interesting commentary and an introduction for each of the stories.
The stories themselves are classic and varied. There's a canonical Holmes and Watson short, a Raffles story, as well as stories by luminaries of the genre including Edmund Crispin, Josephine Bell, C.S. Forester (Horatio Hornblower), and others. Honestly, the author list reads like a who's who of classic and golden age mystery fiction. The commentary and introduction are also top rate. I always learn something from Mr. Edwards' vast storehouse of mystery history; this time it was that E. W. Hornung (Raffles) was also Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's brother in law!
These are wonderful old stories. They mostly still play very well to a modern readership and all of these are worthy of preservation and publishing for new generations of mystery lovers.
Well done! Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Deep Waters is an anthology of 16 stories with a water theme. Released 3rd Sept 2019 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 352 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats. Editor Martin Edwards provides erudite, interesting commentary and an introduction for each of the stories.
The stories themselves are classic and varied. There's a canonical Holmes and Watson short, a Raffles story, as well as stories by luminaries of the genre including Edmund Crispin, Josephine Bell, C.S. Forester (Horatio Hornblower), and others. Honestly, the author list reads like a who's who of classic and golden age mystery fiction. The commentary and introduction are also top rate. I always learn something from Mr. Edwards' vast storehouse of mystery history; this time it was that E. W. Hornung (Raffles) was also Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's brother in law!
These are wonderful old stories. They mostly still play very well to a modern readership and all of these are worthy of preservation and publishing for new generations of mystery lovers.
Well done! Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
shanaqui's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Another fun theme and a varied collection! There's another Raffles story, though devoid of more character context I don't think it quite works out. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure there were any real stand-outs here; it's more of a curiosity than something I'll come back to, though I had fun in the reading of it.
All in all, not my favourite of the collections, but solid enough. If your interest is really good stories, it might not be for you -- but if your interest is in exploring more Golden Age crime stories, then as ever, it's a good choice.
All in all, not my favourite of the collections, but solid enough. If your interest is really good stories, it might not be for you -- but if your interest is in exploring more Golden Age crime stories, then as ever, it's a good choice.
backpackfullofbooks's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
fictionfan's review
4.0
Not waving, but drowning...
This new collection of vintage crime shorts from the British Library contains sixteen stories, all connected in some way to water – rivers, lakes, swimming pools, oceans. Martin Edwards suggests in his usual informative introduction that perhaps Britain’s view of itself as a maritime nation makes us particularly drawn to watery fiction of all kinds, so it’s not surprising that mystery writers got in on the act.
These collections are always variable, both in quality and in the reader’s reaction to the theme being used. This reader found this one particularly variable, partly because I felt some of the stories only made the cut because of their connection to water, but partly because I’m not a sailor and some of the stories use a fair amount of sailing terminology which always makes me lose interest. Sailors will, I’m sure, feel differently about these. Only a couple of the solutions rely on sailing specifics, though – the majority give us the usual mix of motive, clues and styles of detection. And, as always, the contributors range from the very well known writers, like Conan Doyle or Michael Innes, through newer favourites recently getting a revival via the BL and other publishers, like Edmund Crispin or Christopher St. John Sprigg, to writers new to me although they may be well known to vintage crime aficionados, such as James Pattinson and Andrew Garve.
In total, I gave eight of the stories either four or five stars, while the other eight ranged between 2½ and 3½. So no complete duds, but quite a few that were relatively weak, I felt. However, when they were good, they were very, very good, meaning that I found plenty to enjoy. The collection has a lot of stories that don’t stick rigidly to the traditional detective story format, which gives them a feeling of originality and allows for some great storytelling, including occasional touches of spookiness or horror.
So a mixed collection, but with plenty of good stuff in it that’s a little out of the ordinary run of mystery stories. Overall, I enjoyed the ones I enjoyed so much that they more than compensated for the ones I didn’t.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
This new collection of vintage crime shorts from the British Library contains sixteen stories, all connected in some way to water – rivers, lakes, swimming pools, oceans. Martin Edwards suggests in his usual informative introduction that perhaps Britain’s view of itself as a maritime nation makes us particularly drawn to watery fiction of all kinds, so it’s not surprising that mystery writers got in on the act.
These collections are always variable, both in quality and in the reader’s reaction to the theme being used. This reader found this one particularly variable, partly because I felt some of the stories only made the cut because of their connection to water, but partly because I’m not a sailor and some of the stories use a fair amount of sailing terminology which always makes me lose interest. Sailors will, I’m sure, feel differently about these. Only a couple of the solutions rely on sailing specifics, though – the majority give us the usual mix of motive, clues and styles of detection. And, as always, the contributors range from the very well known writers, like Conan Doyle or Michael Innes, through newer favourites recently getting a revival via the BL and other publishers, like Edmund Crispin or Christopher St. John Sprigg, to writers new to me although they may be well known to vintage crime aficionados, such as James Pattinson and Andrew Garve.
In total, I gave eight of the stories either four or five stars, while the other eight ranged between 2½ and 3½. So no complete duds, but quite a few that were relatively weak, I felt. However, when they were good, they were very, very good, meaning that I found plenty to enjoy. The collection has a lot of stories that don’t stick rigidly to the traditional detective story format, which gives them a feeling of originality and allows for some great storytelling, including occasional touches of spookiness or horror.
So a mixed collection, but with plenty of good stuff in it that’s a little out of the ordinary run of mystery stories. Overall, I enjoyed the ones I enjoyed so much that they more than compensated for the ones I didn’t.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
vsbedford's review against another edition
5.0
A stellar collection (absent a deeply ho-hum Sherlock Holmes story); was I super lost sometimes? For sure! There's some boat talk that was completely incomprehensible to me but it was few and far between, and fortunately none of the mysteries truly hinge on the reader's independent knowledge of knots and sails and barnacles. Truly, this series is a delight for Golden Age fans. A strong recommend.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
Deep Waters: Murder on the Waves (2019) edited by Martin Edwards contains a lovely set of water-related mysteries for the reader with a fondness for crime. Stories ranging from those from the pen of well-known authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edmund Crispin to the more obscure offerings of Gwyn Evans and Kem Bennett. Overall, a very strong showing with a wide range of liquid murderous methods. My favorites are "The Pool of Secrets," "Four Friends and Death," "The Turn of the Tide," and "The Queer Fish." ★★★★
"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes tells Dr. Watson about his first case. A nice literary tidbit, but it serves more to give background on Holmes and show the earliest use of his powers of observation than to serve up an actual mystery for Holmes to solve. There are few deductions on display--the answer to the puzzle is served up in a document from the father of Holmes's friend.
"The Eight-Mile Lock" by L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace: John Bell, who specializes in debunking the supposed supernatural, is taking a short holiday with his friends Lord and Lady Ridsdale aboard their house-boat on the Thames. While there, Lady Ridsdale's beautiful diamond bracelet disappears. But it isn't until Bell helps the local lock-keeper to get to the bottom of the ghostly cries for the locks to be open that the thief and the whereabouts of the bracelet are revealed.
"The Gift of the Emperor" by E. W. Hornung: The last of the Raffles stories. Our gentleman burglar decides to steal a pearl of great price and boards a German ship to do so. Will he succeed? Will he escape justice? And what of poor Bunny?
"Bullion!" by William Hope Hodgson: Strange deaths by "just sickening and going off" and mysterious late-night whisperings haunt a ship hauling cases of gold bullion. The second mate realizes just in time what it all means.
"The Echo of a Mutiny" by R. Austin Freeman: Two men who had previously been involved in a mutiny meet up for duty in a lighthouse. One of the men is killed and the other tries to cover his tracks--but when Dr. Thorndyke enters the case, his hopes for escape rapidly dwindle.
"The Pool of Secrets" by Gwyn Evans: features a murder that is supposed to be the work of the Silver Bride, the ghost of a woman who drowned herself in her wedding gown. Quentin Drex uses some unorthodox methods to get to the bottom of the mystery.
"Four Friends & Death" by Christopher St. John Sprigg: a short vignette about whether friendship can last when one of the four friends (alone together on a boat) falls down dead--from poison!
"The Turn of the Tide" by C. S. Forester: A murderous lawyer finds the answer to the problem of what to do with the corpse....with unexpected results!
"The Swimming Pool" by H. C. Bailey: Dr. Reggie Fortune is called in when an anonymous note says that Old Mr. Colburn's death wasn't as natural as it seemed. Fortune is disturbed by the disused swimming pool on the estate and soon has a headless corpse and a missing nurse on his hands.
"A Question of Timing" by Phyllis Bentley: Bentley begins her story with an interesting hook: "A month or so ago, one Thursday afternoon, I stopped a murder." And this short little story goes on to tell how Robert Beringer, a writer, did just that while out on a walk along the Thames. He saved a life and got the girl...all in an afternoon's walk.
"The Thimble River Mystery" by Josephine Bell: Bell's story could also have been titled "A Question of Timing"--because timing becomes very crucial to the solution of the murder. There is a limited window of time when the killer could have reached the boat to do the deed.
"Man Overboard" by Edmund Crispin: A blackmailer's stash helps Inspector Humbleby catch a killer--an American whose brother supposedly "accidentally" drowned.
"The Queer Fish" by Kem Bennett: Albert Pascoe, salmon poacher, is forced at gunpoint to give transport to two strangers who want to make landfall in France. He takes them for a ride all right...and gets a bit of a surprise for his trouble.
"The Man Who Was Drowned" by James Pattinson: A woman claims to have seen a man go overboard, but Barton Rice, friend of the ship's captain and something to do with Scotland Yard, immediately spots a few inconsistencies in her story. He decides to do a little investigating on his own.
"Seasprite" by Andrew Garve: A smuggler gets more than he bargained for when he takes on a new partner.
"Death by Water" by Michael Innes: Did Sir John Appleby's vague philosopher friend commit suicide or did someone help him to his death by water? A very fishy state of affairs with a very fishy little clue.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes tells Dr. Watson about his first case. A nice literary tidbit, but it serves more to give background on Holmes and show the earliest use of his powers of observation than to serve up an actual mystery for Holmes to solve. There are few deductions on display--the answer to the puzzle is served up in a document from the father of Holmes's friend.
"The Eight-Mile Lock" by L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace: John Bell, who specializes in debunking the supposed supernatural, is taking a short holiday with his friends Lord and Lady Ridsdale aboard their house-boat on the Thames. While there, Lady Ridsdale's beautiful diamond bracelet disappears. But it isn't until Bell helps the local lock-keeper to get to the bottom of the ghostly cries for the locks to be open that the thief and the whereabouts of the bracelet are revealed.
"The Gift of the Emperor" by E. W. Hornung: The last of the Raffles stories. Our gentleman burglar decides to steal a pearl of great price and boards a German ship to do so. Will he succeed? Will he escape justice? And what of poor Bunny?
"Bullion!" by William Hope Hodgson: Strange deaths by "just sickening and going off" and mysterious late-night whisperings haunt a ship hauling cases of gold bullion. The second mate realizes just in time what it all means.
"The Echo of a Mutiny" by R. Austin Freeman: Two men who had previously been involved in a mutiny meet up for duty in a lighthouse. One of the men is killed and the other tries to cover his tracks--but when Dr. Thorndyke enters the case, his hopes for escape rapidly dwindle.
"The Pool of Secrets" by Gwyn Evans: features a murder that is supposed to be the work of the Silver Bride, the ghost of a woman who drowned herself in her wedding gown. Quentin Drex uses some unorthodox methods to get to the bottom of the mystery.
"Four Friends & Death" by Christopher St. John Sprigg: a short vignette about whether friendship can last when one of the four friends (alone together on a boat) falls down dead--from poison!
"The Turn of the Tide" by C. S. Forester: A murderous lawyer finds the answer to the problem of what to do with the corpse....with unexpected results!
"The Swimming Pool" by H. C. Bailey: Dr. Reggie Fortune is called in when an anonymous note says that Old Mr. Colburn's death wasn't as natural as it seemed. Fortune is disturbed by the disused swimming pool on the estate and soon has a headless corpse and a missing nurse on his hands.
"A Question of Timing" by Phyllis Bentley: Bentley begins her story with an interesting hook: "A month or so ago, one Thursday afternoon, I stopped a murder." And this short little story goes on to tell how Robert Beringer, a writer, did just that while out on a walk along the Thames. He saved a life and got the girl...all in an afternoon's walk.
"The Thimble River Mystery" by Josephine Bell: Bell's story could also have been titled "A Question of Timing"--because timing becomes very crucial to the solution of the murder. There is a limited window of time when the killer could have reached the boat to do the deed.
"Man Overboard" by Edmund Crispin: A blackmailer's stash helps Inspector Humbleby catch a killer--an American whose brother supposedly "accidentally" drowned.
"The Queer Fish" by Kem Bennett: Albert Pascoe, salmon poacher, is forced at gunpoint to give transport to two strangers who want to make landfall in France. He takes them for a ride all right...and gets a bit of a surprise for his trouble.
"The Man Who Was Drowned" by James Pattinson: A woman claims to have seen a man go overboard, but Barton Rice, friend of the ship's captain and something to do with Scotland Yard, immediately spots a few inconsistencies in her story. He decides to do a little investigating on his own.
"Seasprite" by Andrew Garve: A smuggler gets more than he bargained for when he takes on a new partner.
"Death by Water" by Michael Innes: Did Sir John Appleby's vague philosopher friend commit suicide or did someone help him to his death by water? A very fishy state of affairs with a very fishy little clue.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a fan of British Library Crime Classic's books and I still have to find one that disappoint me.
This book was no exceptions.
All stories were well written and engrossing and I discovered new to me authors.
An entertaining and gripping read.
I look forward to reading another book in this collection.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
This book was no exceptions.
All stories were well written and engrossing and I discovered new to me authors.
An entertaining and gripping read.
I look forward to reading another book in this collection.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
vesper1931's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of sixteen stories all with a connection to water, published from the 1890s onwards. Displaying a vast range of different writing styles I did enjoy most of the stories, but the two I probably liked the most were Bullion and Seasprite.
A NetGalley Book
A NetGalley Book