The Titanic Murders

Rating:
Summary: Detail-dropping hurts a decent mystery
Review: At first it seems promising- a Titanic novel with real characters, and it's not a romance either. These are both very, very rare things in this field, so despite the title I awaited The Titanic Murders with eagerness. Once I actually read it, though, I found myself disappointed. It is researched carefully, with a great attention to detail, but the use of said details is probably its greatest fault. Collins drops details the way another person would drop names- he can't seem to resist the urge to toss every possible character, incident and reference from the Titanic into his story, and they aren't that well-integrated either. The effect, rather than one of refreshing reality, ends up being more irritating than anything else. Another issue was that, given Collins' care in having every character be a real person, he did not seem to bother to learn much about the real personalities of some. His vastly out-of-character version of J. Bruce Ismay is not only absolutely nothing like the man, it's not even much like the stereotypes of him from later Titanic movies and literature. He seems to have made this beyond-arrogant, aggressive and tricky-minded person of which he writes up out of whole cloth. At least he got the physical description perfectly (the 6'4" Ismay has been turned into a short man in Titanic novels before) as well as a few aspects and habits (the nervous smile) that were fact-based. Most of the rest of the cast (except Futrelle himself, about whom I don't know enough to judge) also struck me as slightly stereotyped. I do have to commend Collins on his writing of the mystery story itself and on the characterization of his star. His research, though I didn't like the way it was applied, was stunning and made this possibly the most factual fictional Titanic. The reader can tell that Collins is a Titanic historian himself and knows a good amount about Futrelle. I'm not saying don't buy this book by any means; the personal annoyance I felt at it will certainly not be felt by everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Not too bad...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: New Twist On An Old Tale!
Review: I have read very little in the way of mysteries. However as a shipwreck buff in general and more specifically a Titanic buff, I was very interested int his book. Mr. Collins has done a superb job of capturing the nuances of the period and the ship itself. He made good use of his resource materials.I also enjoyed the prologue and the epilogue as a great way to neatly tie the whole book together.An imminently pleasurable read. Jacques Futrelle would be proud!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read, But.....
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: One of the better "Titanic" products that flooded the market
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: What would happen if Jessica Fletcher were on the Love Boat?
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: GENERALLY A GOOD, QUICK READ
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: GENERALLY A GOOD, QUICK READ
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Very, very soggy
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Very, very soggy
Review: Reading this was akin to drinking a cocktail compounded of cardboard, glue, and tap water. It is lifeless, unimaginative, plodding, predictable, and slow. How anyone could make the Titanic tragedy and a cast of potentially fascinating characters into something this boring is amazing. Futrelle's shortest and slightest "Thinking Machine" story has twice the plot and intelligence of this achingly dull garbage barge of a book.