The After House by Mary Roberts Rinehart: A Review

The yacht Ella left port on a day in July with 5 passengers and 14 crew members. She returned a
month later with 15 people aboard, and three bodies in a life boat which she towed behind her.

This story is narrated by Ralph Leslie who had recently graduated from medical school. He then became ill from typhoid, and spent some time in the hospital. When his hospital stay was over, he was broke because his next medical job would not start until the fall, and he also felt the need for fresh air and exercise. A friend of a friend got him a job on the Ella although he had no experience working on ships of any kind. When he got the job, he did not tell his employer or his fellow sailors about his education and medical training.

The Ella was owned by Marshall Turner who was head of a prosperous shipping line. The Ella was a schooner which had carried cargo for many years. Turner had had it cleaned up, fixed up, and remodeled so that he could use it as a yacht. It had even been fumigated and there were no rats on this vessel. The odor of formaldehyde below decks was so overpowering that the crew members preferred to sleep on the deck.

Ralph Leslie was hired as a deck hand, but his lack  of sailing experience led him to do jobs like swabbing the deck, and assisting Williams, the butler, with the passengers who had rooms in the after house.  There was Marshall Turner and his wife. There was also young and attractive Elsa Lee, sister of Mrs. Turner, and two of their friends, Mr. Vail and Mrs. Johns. In another room in the after house were Karen Hansen, a maid, and Henrietta Sloane, a stewardess. Marshall Turner spent his days drinking, and the others played bridge and shuffleboard.

The cruise started to go wrong almost from the beginning. Turner had an argument with captain Richardson,  and wanted to promote Singleton, the first mate, to the captain's position. Mrs. Johns became very nervous, and asked Leslie to sleep in the storage room in the after house which he did. The second mate, Schwartz disappeared on August 9th - apparently he fell overboard.

The murders occurred during early morning hours of August 13. Mr. Vail was hacked to death with an axe in his room. Karen Hansen, the maid, was murdered in her cabin, and the captain was killed with an axe. The mate Singleton was so distraught and his behavior was so suspicious that the crew suspected that he was the murderer and locked him in a cabin. Marshall Turner was so drunk that he was incapable of doing anything.

The crew seemed to recognize that Ralph Leslie was more than a deck hand and voted him acting captain. A sailor with a little knowledge of navigation set what he hoped was a course back to the United States. The whole yacht was filled with suspicion and terror. Strange events occurred, and strange sightings were made. Eventually, they got to Philadelphia, and the murderer was captured.

The conclusion of this book is a little disappointing, but the story leading up to it is so good that it will keep you reading to the very end. Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote this book in 1914. It is still available, and, at the time of this writing, the kindle edition is free.