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

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I thought I would really enjoy this book, as the quote on the cover claims fans of Agatha Christie will like it. It’s November 1924, when the ship Endeavour sets sail from Southampton for New York, with a total of 2000 passengers and crew. 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. The book is seton board the Endeavour, a cruise liner carrying passengers from Southampton to New York in the winter of 1924.When the body of a passenger is found on board the ship, Timothy Birch, an officer scarred by war and tragedy, and Scotland Yard inspector James Templework to solve the case, with 2,000 people on board and just days before they reach their destination. But at least, that made him have something in common with the other characters because they were just as flat. When I say flat, I mean Ewan-McGregor-in-Trainspotting-flat ( physically speaking!!). Birch is supposed to be more interesting because the reader learns early on that SOMETHING tragic happened in this past that he is still not over yet. All we know is that it’s a familial tragedy that makes him alienated from the rest of the crew, boohoo.

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. Set almost 100 years ago ( 1924), A Fatal Crossing deftly combines a sense of its period setting with the plot structure and dramatic devices that readers expect a century later. Totally. It was a tough process, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t ultimately enjoy it. And, of course, there’s no beating the feeling you get from knowing that the passion project you worked on at your kitchen table is about to be on shelves. After all this time, to think that folks are finally going to read it makes all those tough days seem worthwhile. With just days remaining until they reach New York, and even Temple's purpose on board the Endeavour proving increasingly suspicious, Birch's search for the culprit is fraught with danger. When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the bottom of a staircase, Tim believes it to be a terrible accident, but James Temple, a surly Scotland Yard detective, is suspicious right from the start, and he’s determined to investigate. The ship’s Captain isn’t happy about this, it wouldn’t do to have the passengers believing there’s a killer on board, but he allows Temple to proceed as long as Tim shadows him as he carries out his interviews. With Tim’s personal problems though, he’s possibly not strong enough mentally, to deal with the proceedings.It’s quite clear that on a ship you’re a captive audience, but imagine being on said ship with a killer on board! So A Fatal Crossing is lightweight and unconvincing, but sometimes charming. The ship, the Endeavour, has 2,000 people on board, but when a death is discovered, it is assumed to be an accident – an elderly man falling down a steep gangway and hitting his head. But James Temple, one of the passengers, pushes himself forward, claiming to be a Scotland Yard detective and saying it is murder. Temple is fantastically rude and arrogant to everyone he meets, including people he wants favours from, and while I’ve met many very rude successful people, this just doesn’t ring true. The ship’s captain, Captain McCrory, is on his last voyage, and is sublimely uninterested in the fact that there might be a murderer on board, both when Temple beards him in his cabin, and later when evidence mounts – and indeed when there is more violence. His attitude, too, is a bit hard to fathom – most ship’s captains in fact and fiction are all powerful and very concerned to maintain their authority, take all decisions and lead everything that’s going on. McCrory doesn’t seem to care less, but he does allocate a junior officer, Timothy Birch, a misfit with a big personal problem which gradually becomes clearer and more important to the story, to keep an eye on Temple and work with him as far as possible. What took the cake though was the ending. My initial review said that I gasped out loud – I did!!!!! – but upon reflection, I think it’s an utterly underserved plot twist meant to do nothing but that: induce gasps. I don’t want to compare it with GOTs “Red Wedding” because different things happen, but it was about as unexpected. I usually LOVE unexpected plot twists, I live for them in my murder mysteries, but this one was so out of the blue, so far-fetched, ungracious and ungrateful to everything that came prior that it felt wrong and unearned. It’s super hard to talk about it without spoiling anything but it’s basically meant to turn the whole novel on its head and make you see it in a different light. I just thought it was lazy writing to make an otherwise super dull plot and average novel more exciting. I mean, I’m 100% pro-choice, I just wish the author had chosen a different ending for this book. Century is publishing A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle, adebutbilled as a "smart, twisting, Golden Age-style crime novel"set aboard a cruise liner. When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the foot of a staircase, ship's officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare it a tragic accident. But James Temple, a strong-minded Scotland Yard inspector, is certain there is more to this misfortune than meets the eye.

The setting of the ship had such potential for a real air of mystery and suspense but I didn’t get a sense of this at all. With twist after gut-punching twist, A Fatal Crossing really is an ingenious thriller. Highly recommend' M. W. Craven When the body of an elderly passenger is found at the bottom of a flight of stairs on board the Endeavour - a liner sailing from Southampton to New York - ship’s officer Birch is tasked with assisting an onboard police officer with his investigation. So begins the unravelling of a story which involves stolen paintings, long-standing grudges, and keeping up appearances. Birch is an intriguing character. He's reeling from a recent family trauma, the details of which emerge over the course of the narrative, and his resulting taciturn introversion ostracises him from the majority of his fellow officers and crewmen aboard Endeavour. Nevertheless, he makes an intuitive and increasingly engaged associate for the acerbic Temple as together they view the body, search a cabin and interview several passengers who may have known the victim. I was first drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover, it’s very in keeping with the story.There were some incredible twists to the plot, none more than the final twist. I would never have seen that coming and I really didn't sense any foreshadowing even on reflection. Raymond maybe had me wondering at something but I wasn't sure what. The very first thing I noticed about this book was the author’s writing style. Calling it juvenile might go a bit too far but it was definitely too tame for my taste. Bland and boring, it was immediately forgettable and repetitive. It’s always “the ship stretches the best part of…” or “the best part of fifty thousand tons” or “the restaurant’s capacity to seat the best part of five hundred diners” or “the best part of an hour/minute”… Whatever happened, it’s a mystery that is supposed to keep readers guessing and hopefully continue reading which I did! I ate this up and I can’t even say why!! This may be a closed-circle mystery, but it wasn’t suspenseful even though they were all trapped on one ship. Birch and Temple spend their days interviewing other passengers, potential suspects and witnesses, going from one cabin to the next while the only thing Temple does is be angry and shout at people and Birch always calms everyone down. Slated for in February 2022, Arrow publishing director Emily Griffin acquired world rights, including audio, in the book from Harry Illingworth at DHH Literary Agency.