A Fatal Crossing: Agatha Christie meets Titanic in this unputdownable mystery

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I was first drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover, it’s very in keeping with the story. Set in 1924 over a week long crossing from Southampton to New York, Tim Birch, the Ship’s Officer, finds himself assisting a Scotland Yard Detective in investigating the death of an elderly man on board. It’s generally believed to be an accident, but the detective thinks otherwise. They have four days to complete their investigations. Century has snapped up two more crime novels from Tom Hindle, whose debut, A Fatal Crossing, has just been crowned Waterstones Thriller of the Month for August. The ending I personally thought was absolutely ridiculous. I was actually quite annoyed that i’d read so much just get that ending. Not only that but it left a major unanswered question and made me dislike the main character even more than i thought possible. Temple is furious that he has to put up with Birch, and so begins their acrimonious partnership in which the pair have 4 days to find a killer, after which the liner arrives in New York, the passengers disembark, and there will be no chance of resolving the case. Birch is a traumatised man who served in the war, left with a bullet wound in his shoulder. His daughter, Amelia, has been missing for 2 years, and his marriage to Kate has fallen apart. He blames himself, he is a shadow of the man he used to be, putting his hopes in finding Amelia on the only person he has any faith in, American Raymond, clinging to a yellow ribbon belonging to Amelia as if his life depended on it. Virtually all the crew, with the exception of Wilson avoid Birch, he is incapable of maintaining any relationship. Temple is a man with his own demons and secrets, he refuses to divulge what police business has him travelling on the liner.

A very clever plot and a final twist which will delight Agatha Christie fans. You will love it!!!' Ragnar Jónasson The owner of Hamlet Hall has organised a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play. The plotting is clever and detailed – there’s even lots of recaps and explanations for those of us who need reminders to keep up! The disadvantage to this is that is does slow down the narrative a little at times (and it is quite a long book).

I was looking forward to reading The Murder game after reading the authors first novel The fatal crossing and enjoyed it. I guess I just wanted to know who the murderer was but guess what, it’s only been three weeks since I finished the book and I have already forgotten, lmao. I thought I would really enjoy this book, as the quote on the cover claims fans of Agatha Christie will like it. There is certainly plenty to like about "The Murder Game" and the influence of those aforementioned authors is plainly evident. There is a nice prologue to set the scene and introduce the key protagonists in true "Golden Age" mystery fashion. The setting, too, is very Christie-esque and I liked the way the author made use of a 1920s themed murder mystery game to create a mystery within a mystery. Not only did this allow homage to be paid to that classic era, but it also reminded me of the technique employed by Anthony Horowitz in his "Magpie Murders" and "Moonflower Murders" books. It won't escape fans of Horowitz that there is something of a "Midsomer Murders" feel to this story too.

For the above reasons, whilst I genuinely did enjoy the story and wanted to know how it ended, I do not think I would have persevered to the end had I not felt obliged to leave an informed review. With no phone signal and no way out of the house, the others are trapped with a killer in their midst.My favourite westward Atlantic crossing detective novel is Peter Lovesey's The Fake Inspector Dew (1981), but A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle is a first-rate addition to the corpus [...] A very good debut novel' The Critic This one couldn’t be more up my street if it tried – a 1920s setting, a murder mystery, a transatlantic crossing aboard a ship… it’s the ultimate in closed circle mysteries! I initially rated this three stars but I decided that a book that made me let out a groan [ frustrated, not sexual] loud enough to shake awake my co-workers at our late shift at the psych ward deserves two stars max. Thanks to Sarah Harwood for putting this book into my hands – I am grateful. As always, opinions are entirely my own.