Customer Reviews

The Titanic Murders

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was immediatley drawn into the premise of this book simply because I have been a Titanic buff for over 15 years, and I was happy to discover it was not a love/class story. The author deftly moves us through richly detailed staterooms, meals, and accurate charcters down to the stewards. The attempt to make one feel as if they are on the ship and in the company of the cream of Edwardian society, while also weaving a tale of mystery and murder, is well achieved. I also love the idea of planting the seed of possible reality into the plot. The only drawback I could find was while I generally enjoyed the authenticity of the primary characters being real people, I was a bit put off by the fact that two most likely innocent men have been villianized in a work of fiction. This however detracts nothing from the book itself. Very convincing, and a great summer read. I am glad to have stumbled upon it.

Max Allan Collins makes history come to life and you find yourself thinking...."well, maybe"...

His meticilous research shows - you can picture the scenes and even the elaborate clothes. The plot is plausible (altho I agree with the reviewers that he shouldn't have used the names of actual people on the ship and made them the villians only because he could find nothing out about them) and of course, the ending no surprise.

Well worth your time for a quick read.

Hard-boiled fans know that when it comes to historical mysteries, Max Allan Collins' Nathan Heller novels are second to none. Now mystery fans who prefer the less-rugged mysteries of Agatha Christie and the like can sample Collins' phenomenal talent as well. By setting the story on the doomed ship, and using a cast comprised entirely of actual historical figures, Collins shows his flair for research and detail, while telling a gripping mystery that will have the reader turning pages breathlessly. Another Collins classic.

This is the type of mystery you hope to find between the covers of a book. Having been a amateur Titanic buff for years, I'm delighted with all the new books with the Titanic as a backdrop. This is one of the best. The writer has a wonderful grasp on what makes interesting characters and story-telling.

I enjoyed it from cover to cover.

Clearly he spent time on research because his details ring with authenticity.

Collins' best book to date.

MAX ALLAN COLLINS HAS WRITTEN ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVE MURDER MYSTERIES. OUR HERO, REAL LIFE PASSENGER JACQUES FUTRELLE MUST SOLVE HIS FINAL MYSTERY ABOARD SHIP. WHAT COLLINS DOES, AND HE SUCCEEDS, WHERE OTHER WRITERS FAIL, IS THAT HE INTEGRATES THE REAL PASSENGERS INTO THE MYSTERY. THERE ARE NO MADE UP CHARACTERS, THESE PEOPLE REALLY SAILED ON THE SHIP. SOMETIMES, BECAUSE THE AUTHOR BLENDS FACT WITH FICTION SO WELL, THE READER WILL BE LEFT WONDERING IF THIS INDEED HAPPENED. A MUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was a bigger fan of Mr. Collins when he wrote crime thrillers set in contemporary times (do yourself a favor and check your used book store for excellent titles like "No Cure For Death", "A Shroud For Aquarius", "Spree", and "Quarry"). For my money, no one portrayed normal people tentatively reaching out and forming connections- whether they were romantic, sexual, or just to ease oppressive loneliness- than Mr. Collins. And all this sensitively drawn character interaction took place amidst bang-up, engrossing thriller plots set in middle American locales we hadn't seen a million times before. But enough about the past; Mr. Collins now primarily devotes his time to historical mysteries, mainly his Nate Heller series that mixes real-life famous figures with his fictional characters. This clever novel, "The Titanic Murders", goes a step further: pretty much everyone in the novel is real, though of course the mystery story is fictional. Yes, we don't get the gritty realism of Collins' contemporary thrillers, but I have to say I enjoyed this speculative story about real-life mystery writer Jacques Futrelle and his final days on the Titanic. And although (like most of Collins' current historical fiction) the story is fanciful and larger than life, readers still get to enjoy glimpses of the old Collins in the form of understated, pleasing character interaction between Futrelle, his wife, and their traveling companions. I still rather see Collins write about his Nolan, Mallory, and Quarry characters, but I honestly did enjoy this well-researched, involving, and fast-paced thriller, which is a genuine cut above most of the "quickie" Titanic products that flooded the market after the success of the James Cameron film.

Collins uses a real passenger on the Titanic, Jacques Futrelle (author of the wonderful mystery short story "The Problem of Cell 13" [amongst others], and who was lost when the ship sank), as a detective investigating a crime on board the famous liner. Once you accept the premise, it's not too bad of a mystery novel.

That's pretty much how it goes... light murder-mystery fare set on the world's most famous doomed liner. OK for fans of the genre or die-hard TITANIC enthusiasts. Otherwise, skip it.

The anonymous caller clearly states that he has recently been inside the Titanic. However, it was the man's insistence that he saw two murdered corpses inside the deep freezer of the ship that had to happen before the Titanic grazed that fatal iceberg. Though doubting the account, Max, the author of historical mysteries, starts thinking about the possibilities. Especially intriguing is that the great mystery writer, Jacques "The Thinking Machine" Futrelle was a passenger. Max follows up his pondering by talking with Virginia Futrelle Raymond, the ninety-three years old daughter of Jacques.

Virginia corroborates the phone call by saying her mother, a survivor of the tragedy, swore two murders occurred and that her father, though originally only a passenger, was investigating them. Virginia's story fits comfortably with what historians agree as the facts. So begins the tale of two murders on board the Titanic before destiny ended its run.

Talk about Titanic nerve and guts. Only a historical mystery writer with the talent of Max Allan Collins would dare write a who-done-it, starring real persona (except perhaps Cameron and that couple) and events from the real Titanic. THE TITANIC MURDERS brilliantly works. The story line unfolds into a wonderful mystery being investigated by Mr. Futrelle, a superstar mystery writer of the period, who was one of many to die during the tragedy. The characters seem so genuine, especially their awe over the elegant surroundings. Historical detail makes this novel a winner as it's the research that makes the period come alive. The author of the renowned Heller series and the Ms. Tree comic book, Mr. Collins may have written his best novel to date.

Harriet Klausner

I really don't have any qualms with the execution of this story. The concept of having mystery writer Jacques Futrelle solve a murder aboard the Titanic before he himself met with death before the ship sank is a good one, and I have to also commend Collins for getting the atmosphere of the Titanic down to a T.

However, I have to confess I was deeply distressed to discover that the two villains of this piece, John Crafton and Hugh Rood, were not made up names used for the occasion but were in fact the names of very real people who were lost aboard the Titanic, and whose identities were appropriated by Mr. Collins solely because he could find nothing about them. This is something that I find distasteful. The fact that not much is known about Mr. Rood or Mr. Crafton is not a valid reason for turning them into the figures of convenience for Mr. Collins's story, and I think he would not have dampened the authentic feel of the story by simply using made up names for the occasion. I find it incredible that Mr. Collins did not bother to contact anyone connected with the Titanic Historical Society or Titanic International, where the scholars there know practically everything about every passenger who sailed aboard the ship. Indeed, the book "Titanic: The Exhibition" does mention that Mr. Crafton came from Roachdale, IN while Mr. Rood was from Seattle. No doubt, there were people who grieved for them as surely as there were people who grieved for the more famous people like the hero, Jacques Futrelle. Mr. Collins may take comfort that he bothered to not dig deep enough about these two men to find out if he were offending anyone, but I find his claim of respect for Titanic's victims to be very hollow when he's not willing to give them the same respect. And that is why I cannot ultimately endorse the book even though it is a brilliant piece of mystery writing.

Since I first wrote this review some two years ago, I have decided that my disgust over Mr. Collins' inexcusable use of Messers. Crafton and Rood as his villains forces me to now lower my overall rating of the book. Additional information on Crafton and Rood, which Collins says he wasn't able to find over the course of his research, came to me after just one inquiry to a former officer of the Titanic Historical Society.

"John Crafton was 59 years old, was born and reared in Indiana and lived in Roachdale, IN in 1912. He was a 'prominent stone promoter of the Oolitic district' (presumably a promoter of the use of stone in building projects.) He had a wife and son and for many years was connected with the 'Monon road.' Mr. Crafton went to Europe on a pleasure trip in February of 1912 and booked
his return passage on the Titanic.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Rood made their home in Seattle, where Mr. Rood was vice president of the Pacific Creosotin Company. They were in Paris together when Mr. Rood booked a single passage on the Titanic for a business trip to New York. (Mrs. Rood and her maid were to follow on another vessel.) After the disaster, Mrs. Rood tried in vain to find any survivors who recalled seeing
her husband on board the Titanic."

Shame on "The Titanic Murders" for taking the names of these two men and transforming them into rapists and blackmailers just for the sake of a fictional story because the author didn't do the necessary research.