The Pleasure Cruise Mystery (1933) by Robin Forsythe

⛴ Algernon Vereker is lucky to have Manuel Ricardo as his best friend. When Vereker's feeling down after bad criticism of his latest painting, Ricardo suggested a pleasure cruise holiday. Well, his suggestion is not fully unselfish, because he hoped Vereker would pay for his ticket as well!

⛴ Just when Vereker begins to feel bored on board the cruise, mysterious things happen. A woman called Beryl Mesado, his cabin neighbor, seems to avoid being seen in public. She makes an appearance at dinner, but it's quite a distance from Vereker's table, that he can't see her face. She wears a pale blue dress and a diamond necklace with butterfly clap. On board with this elusive woman is a maid/companion and the Colvins (sister and brother-in-law).

⛴ At his cabin Vereker hears conversation between Beryl and Colvin. Beryl insists that Colvin must do "the job" quickly despite of the "risks". At this Vereker's boredom vanishes, and his sleuthing mode is on!

⛴ On the fatal night, Vereker hears Beryl's exclaimation that Maureen's necklace is gone. Who's Maureen? Then a rattle sounds inside Vereker's cabin, which he can't find the source. At midnight, Ricardo wakes him up as he'd found a woman's body on the deck, wearing pale blue evening dress, but without the diamond necklace. Her knuckles were bruised inside her chamois gloves (which doesn't match her evening outfit), and Vereker notices that her shoes are of bigger sizes. The Colvins admit that Beryl had had bad heart condition, and that must have been the cause of her death. But was it?

⛴ Later on Vereker found the diamond necklace with butterfly clasp on his cabin! So, that's where the rattle sound came from! But Colvin said the missing necklace is of white and cinnamon diamonds. Are there two missing necklaces, then? And was it burglary and murder?

⛴ This is a very complex and complicated murder mystery. Besides the Colvins, the other suspects consist of Dias, an acquaintance of the family, and a wealthy young girl, a Miss Penteado, Ricardo's crush. The murder method is the most unusual I've ever known. It's like when Forsythe saw the device, he thought, "Ha! That can cause death if one isn't careful!", and used it for his next novel.

⛴ All in all, it's a fun read. I loved the holiday vibes onboard the cruiser. I also loved the witty banters between Vereker and Ricardo; and the mystery itself is really puzzling. The only setback is the redundancy whenever Vereker told Inspector Heather or Ricardo of how the case has been progressing, or their discussing over the solution. Other than that, it's a witty, highly entertaining mystery with unusual but ingenious plot. Many thanks to Dean Street Press for re-printing this Golden Age Mystery!

Rating: 4 / 5

This book counts for British Crime Classics Challenge 2023

For Bingo Card: Mystery Set on Boat/Ship
For Monthly Theme: Authors New to Me