The Titanic Murders: Rating: 4 stars

A mystery writer and his wife try to solve a murder on the Titanic’s first — and last — voyage.

Written by Max Allan Collins
Fiction · Mystery
Reviewed May 24, 2006

Writing a fictional mystery using nothing but real-life characters and fitting it into the framework of a genuine historical disaster must be a challenging exercise for a writer; Collins, fortunately, rises to the challenge quite well. The prose is above average, the characters well-drawn, the details accurate, the mystery itself… not terribly memorable, but again, it fits in well with the actual events of the voyage, so props to the author for that. Collins obviously did his homework, and it shows — perhaps a little too much; I could have done with fewer details on the ship and its circumstances and more on the characters. Overall, it’s a good, solid read, remarkably accurate and pleasantly readable; though the mystery falls a bit flat, the excellent characterization and poignancy of knowing that the death toll won’t stop with the murder victims makes it well worth the effort. I’d buy it — but then, I’m a Titanic buff. ;-)

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