THE WIDOW'S CRUISE is a brisk, gripping, atmospheric crime puzzler, and awash with fascinating characters and motives. Its plot is ingenious, its murderer devious, and its denouement is terrific.
The cruise in question is one touring the islands of Greece in the deep, dark blue Aegean Sea. On board the ship S.S. Menelaos is our merry widow of the moment, the rich, prepossessing Melissa Blaydon, who, after the death of her husband, is on holiday with her sister, the equally unprepossessing Ianthe Ambrose, herself convalescing after a recent nervous breakdown. Also on board is the brilliant gentleman detective Nigel Strangeways, his lovely artist-sculptor companion Clare Massinger, and a small group of tourists who, oddly enough, appear to have links to both sisters. Strangeways immediately senses an unhealthy situation building within the contingent, and unfailingly, within hours of arriving at their initial island destination there is both a disappearance and a murder. Suddenly Strangeways is pressed into service by the ship's fretful Captain in an attempt to solve the crime, or crimes, before the ship arrives back at port and the whole scary affair gets handed over to mainland authorities.
The cruise in question is one touring the islands of Greece in the deep, dark blue Aegean Sea. On board the ship S.S. Menelaos is our merry widow of the moment, the rich, prepossessing Melissa Blaydon, who, after the death of her husband, is on holiday with her sister, the equally unprepossessing Ianthe Ambrose, herself convalescing after a recent nervous breakdown. Also on board is the brilliant gentleman detective Nigel Strangeways, his lovely artist-sculptor companion Clare Massinger, and a small group of tourists who, oddly enough, appear to have links to both sisters. Strangeways immediately senses an unhealthy situation building within the contingent, and unfailingly, within hours of arriving at their initial island destination there is both a disappearance and a murder. Suddenly Strangeways is pressed into service by the ship's fretful Captain in an attempt to solve the crime, or crimes, before the ship arrives back at port and the whole scary affair gets handed over to mainland authorities.
Dell published this paperback edition of The Widow's Cruise in 1963. The cover illustration was produced by Victor Kalin (1919-1991), one of the most versatile commercial illustrators of his generation. Beginning in the 1940's, Kalin produced scores of advertising art, magazine covers, interiors illustrations, book covers (both adult and for children), record album covers, paper doll books, playing cards, and concert programs. As I said, the man was all over the map with his work. Until I can assemble my own post on Kalin's book covers, I suggest everyone who's interested to visit Kalin's daughter's website, where you can see a broad overview of his amazing art for yourself. Prints are available to purchase there too.
"Among the passengers on the island cruise ship were a flirtatious
widow, her unmarried sister, a famous author, an inquisitive little
girl. Two of these people were going to die shocking deaths. Detective
Nigel Strangeways was on a holiday from murder. Suddenly his vacation
became business as usual."
NICHOLAS BLAKE was the pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972),
an Irish born, Oxford educated writer, poet, teacher and book
reviewer. As Nicholas Blake he wrote sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries and four
non-series crime novels, and under his given name a bevy of fine books
in other categories. His fourth Strangeways mystery, The Beast Must Die,
is generally regarded as a classic, or at the very least his best
achievement in the field of mystery. And, for what it's worth, Day-Lewis is the
father of Oscar winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who I'm convinced would have
made a great Nigel Strangeways if given the chance. If only!
This is the first U.S. hardcover edition of The Widow's Cruise, published by Harper & Brothers of New York in 1959. The dustjacket art was produced by Carl Fischer, one of Harper's longest reigning book cover designers, with over 30 years under contract.
The Crime Club of London (Collins) published the first British hardcover edition in 1959. Their dustjacket design, used repeatedly on dozens of their titles during a certain time period, is the epitome of blandness but of course it would fit right in with today's equally bland book covers.
The first British paperback edition of The Widow's Cruise was published by Fontana in 1961. It preceded the Dell edition by about a year. The risque cover art is not signed but it looks to me like the work of John L. Baker, one of Fontana's frequently commissioned artists.
"He'd gone to her cabin at the time she had arranged. He had met with violent resistance without a word of explanation. What was the intriguing link between this episode and the death of two passengers on board the cruise vessel Memolaos? Nigel Strangeways had just fourteen hours to find the answer."
"He'd gone to her cabin at the time she had arranged. He had met with violent resistance without a word of explanation. What was the intriguing link between this episode and the death of two passengers on board the cruise vessel Memolaos? Nigel Strangeways had just fourteen hours to find the answer."
Perennial Library, an imprint of HarperCollins, republished Blake's novel in paperback in 1977. A photo image was used to promote the book.
"Nigel Strangeways and Clare Massinger go on a summer cruise in the Grecian Isles, where jealousy and hatred shimmer over the Greek columns, the sunny quiet waters, and the donkey rides. Two sisters--Miss Ambrose, a frumpy, old maid schoolteacher, and Miss Melissa Blaydon, the merry widow incarnate--are the catalyst for one of the most puzzling murders Nigel Strangeways has ever had to solve."
This paperback edition was published in 1982 by Hamlyn of London. The cover is a photo the depicts some of the items that the sisters had with them during their fated beach excursion: mirror, mascara, lipstick, and bathing cap-- all potential clues to the solving of the crime, or crimes.
WITH the exception of the fourth volume of The Nicholas Blake Treasury (1992), which contains The Widow's Cruise and a 1978 large print edition from Ulverscroft, and perhaps one other Harper U.K. softcover issued in the late 1980's, the books shown above are apparently all of the print versions of The Widow's Cruise that were published in the 20th century. Blake's novel will undoubtedly be republished again, but the chances of it getting an actual painted illustration cover like what the Dell and the Fontana had are pretty slim to none.
[July, 2019, © Jeffersen]
