Ship Shapely: A Gil Yates Private Investigator Novel [Hardcover]

Alistair Boyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1999

It was a shapely crew of beautiful women that sailed the pacific with a skipper who took turns with them as bunkmates. But after the captain mysteriously disappears at sea the police declare it an accidental death. His widow wants the truth. Gil Yates digs into the crew's backgrounds: Was it the devout Christian whose morals were compromised? Or the devoted hippie who was carrying his child against his wishes? Or one of the other three beauties on board? All say they were sleeping when he disappeared. Gil jets from Honolulu to the backwoods of Tennessee to meet these sexy seductresses. But does the shapely crew want him to befall the same fate as their skipper? Can Gil's daughter, an eternal college student, help him solve the mystery? Ship Shapely features all the charm, wit and suspense that Boyle's fans have come to expect.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In his fifth mystery, eccentric private eye Gil Yates (Bluebeard's Last Stand) tries to find out which of five beautiful crew members did away with her ship's captain near Hawaii. A clever plot coupled with a lively protagonist.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gil Yates, nerdy palm-tree enthusiast by day but high-dollar PI by night, is retained to find a debauched captain who mysteriously vanished from his yacht in Hawaii more than a year ago. The perfunctory police investigation got nowhere, thanks largely to the uncooperative crew--five gorgeous women handpicked by the captain for a summer excursion. Now the deceased's widow--not buying the official determination of accidental death--wants some answers. Yates (the suave nighttime version, that is) is hardly displeased at the prospect of traveling to Hawaii to interrogate the comely crew, whose joint testimony is that they were sleeping when the captain apparently jumped ship. Could one of these beauties have done the dirty deed herself? With great wit and high style, Boyle offers a wonderfully comic, mixed metaphor^-spouting hero who combines awkward charm with cunning instinct--a mix of Austin Powers, James Bond, and Sam Spade. Fun reading. Mary Frances Wilkens

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Allen a Knoll Pubs; 1st edition (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888310995
• ISBN-13: 978-1888310993
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,744,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars This Book Has It All, March 5, 2009

By 

Athalia Stoneback (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ship Shapely: A Gil Yates Private Investigator Novel (Hardcover)

If you enjoy mystery stories, you should definitely check out Alistair Boyle's "Ship Shapely". Centered around the disappearance of a lecherous boat captain, about which his alleged widow wants to know who is responsible, this book has all of Boyle's elements: tenacity and attention to detail of the main character, subtle lessons about plants, in particular, cycads, and the main character's adorable mixed-up clichés (for example, "bringing home the bacon, lettuce and tomato," instead of just "bringing home the bacon (pa. 108)). In addition, Boyle's subtle British charm peeks through sometimes, such as referring to the boat captain as a "bounder and a rounder" (pa. 180) and "neither hither nor yon" (p. 12). Recommended also for readers college-age and older, anyone who's ever had a problem with a relationship, anyone who likes to see a female be a murderess for a change, anyone who likes plants, and anyone who's ever been on a cruise.

4.0 out of 5 stars Another triumph for Gil Yates, March 14, 2000

By 

Joanne Katz (Palos Verdes, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ship Shapely: A Gil Yates Private Investigator Novel (Hardcover)

I've read all of the Gil Yates books and this one was certainly up to par. It seems like with every new mystery, Gil's charm increases. Although it's not my favorite (The Unlucky Seven) I really enjoyed this book. I think the Gil Yates series is seriously underappreciated.