A Watery Grave

This novel is a little Patrick O’Brian (seafaring adventure) meets Robert Van Gulik (exotic foreign detective protagonist) meets Bruce Alexander (period mystery), and succeeds on multiple levels: as a seafaring adventure, as a historical novel, as an anthropological/sociologic study, and (though to a somewhat lesser degree) as a mystery.

The plot centers on an authentic historical event – an 1838 U.S. expedition of exploration through the Pacific. Naturalists, astronomers, geographers, etc. were stuffed aboard a convoy of ships and sent forth to discover new lands and new civilizations. (For whatever reason, they never got Lewis & Clark’s press!) The novel’s half-caste protagonist, Wiki Coffin (native New Zealand Maori mother, famous American sea captain father) is hired onto the expedition as a linguist. Just one problem: literally hours before the convoy is set to sail, the wife of one of the expeditions’ “scientifics” is murdered. The local sheriff, convinced the culprit is one of the men shipping out, deputizes Wiki to try to discover the murderer.

Joan Druett, our intrepid author, has obviously read her Hornblower, for this tale is crammed with painstakingly authentic detail about ships, the men who sail them, and the lives they live at sea. If you aren’t a Patrick O’Brian fan (which I’m not) you may find this level of detail unnecessarily distracting, but Druett’s prose was crisp and fresh enough to keep me interested. Meanwhile, in between storms and scuppers, capricious captains and gun drills, Wiki battles envy, resentment, ignorance, racism, and malfeasance in order to conduct his investigation.

Loved the seafaring detail, loved the history, loved the anthropology – about the only thing I didn’t love about this novel was the mystery! It’s one of those puzzles that depends on fastidious attention to detail and complex timelines; not only is it hard to keep track of all clues, but the players in the drama are so lacking in redeeming qualities that it’s hard to muster up the energy to care who killed who. Fortunately, however, I was so entertained by the character of Wiki and all that swashbuckling that I was willing to overlook this one lapse. I understand that this is meant to be the first book in a series: I can definitely see myself giving book #2 a read. ( )

Wiki Coffin, a part-Maori native who immigrated to the United States in his preteen years, is accused of murder shortly before he is to depart as linguister on a Naval voyage. He is deputized to find the true killer who is likely aboard one of the ships in the voyage. The plot was fairly predictable as far as the mystery is concerned. Although the book is very readable, there are parts of it where the plot seems to bog down. There are a few scenes which don't really seem to add that much to the plot and a few which seem rather "fantastic" that such a thing would occur with a Naval voyage. The book was based on a real voyage although the author took quite a few liberties with it as she described in the author's note at the book's beginning. I think my favorite parts of the book are those which describe elements of Wiki's Maori heritage. This book was selected for me by my "Secret Santa" for SantaThing 2009. ( )

An easy to read tale of murder on land and intrigue and adventure at sea this novel set in early 19th Century America is well written. ( )

There are two parts to this book: the mystery and the nauticalism. The mystery is unremarkable, with the solution broadly suggesting itself pretty early on. The nauticalism isn't exactly wrong (for the most part), but it doesn't ring true; rather, it came across as forced and unnatural. I began finding it tiresome pretty quickly (and I'm one who likes Kent's "Richard Bolitho," Forester's "Horatio Hornblower," and O'Brian's "Aubrey-Maturin" series). I won't be pursuing this series. ( )

Wilki Coffin (a half New Zealand Maori Indian) is accused of murder just before leaving with the United States South Seas Exploring Expedition of 1838. (a real fleet whose artifacts were the basis for the Smithsonian Museam). He is exonerated and deputized by the sheriff to find the murder who is believed to be with the fleet.
This is a good story for any who like historical, age of sail and/or mysteries stories. The author gives enough nautical background to satisfy any nautical fan but not so much to overwhelm the novice ( )