Hobby-Themed Mysteries: Sailing

Ocean Prey by John Sandford

An off-duty Coast Guardsman is fishing with his family when he calls in some suspicious behavior from a nearby boat. It's a snazzy craft, slick and outfitted with extra horsepower, and is zipping along until it slows to pick up a surfaced diver . . . a diver who was apparently alone, without his own boat, in the middle of the ocean. None of it makes sense unless there's something hinky going on, and his hunch is proved right when all three Guardsmen who come out to investigate are shot and killed. They're federal officers killed on the job, which means the case is the FBI's turf. When the FBI's investigation stalls out, they call in Lucas Davenport. And when his case turns lethal, Davenport will need to bring in every asset he can claim, including a detective with a fundamentally criminal mind: Virgil Flowers.

The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

Diamond merchant Isaac Pointz and his guests have come ashore at Dartmouth to enjoy the fair after the yacht races. Over dinner, young Eve Leathern bets she can make Pointz's famous diamond, the Morning Star, disappear right at the table. When the girl does exactly that, she discovers she has made the priceless gem disappear more completely than intended. Fortunately, Parker Pyne is able to get to the bottom of what really happened to the Morning Star.

The Funeral Boat by Kate Ellis

When young Carl Palister unearths a skeleton on a Devon smallholding, DS Wesley Peterson and his boss Gerry Heffernan are called in to investigate. Heffernan is convinced that the remains are those of Carl's father, a local villain who vanished from the Tradmouth area three years before. Wesley isn't so sure - he discovers evidence that suggests the skeleton is a good thousand years older than they first thought. A keen amateur archaeologist, Wesley is intrigued by the possibility that this is a Viking corpse, buried in keeping with ancient traditions. But he has a rather more urgent crime to solve-the disappearance of a Danish tourist.

A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch

In March 1873 aristocratic sleuth Charles Lenox undertakes a delicate espionage mission to Egypt, where five British agents have been killed, apparently by the French. But soon after Charles's ship sets sail, the captain calls on him to dust off his deductive skills when a crew member is murdered and left eviscerated on the deck.

Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood

With a series of jewelry thefts targeting the first-class passengers on P&O ocean liners, the powers-that-be ask Phryne Fisher to mingle with the upper classes to solve a case of theft on the S.S. Hinemoa, during a luxury cruise to New Zealand.

Murder Walks the Plank by Carolyn Hart

Annie Darling, popular proprietress of the Death on Demand bookstore, has done it again! Her murder-mystery cruise in the waters off her not-always-idyllic isle of Broward's Rock is sure to be a roaring success, with every participant dressing up as a favorite fictional sleuth. And sure enough, everything goes swimmingly -- until one of the revelers plunges overboard. And despite hubby Max Darling's courageous rescue attempt, faux murder turns all too quickly into real-life death.

Over the next few days, the body count rises and Annie strongly suspects that all the victims were murdered most foully and that they are all connected in some unknown way. The trick now will be to prove it, with the able assistance of investigator-spouse Max, best friend and best customer Henny Brawley, local bestselling superstar Emma Lloyd, and even (surprise!) Annie's normally ditsy mother-in-law, Laurel.

The Body in the Wake by Katherine Hall Page

For the first time in years, Faith Fairchild has time for herself. Her husband Tom is spending days on the other side of the island using a friend's enhanced WiFi for a project; their son, Ben, after his first year in college, is studying abroad for the summer; and their daughter Amy is working at the old Laughing Gulls Lodge, now a revamped conference center. Faith is looking forward to some projects of her own. Her friend Sophie Maxwell is also spending the summer on Sanpere Island, hoping for distractions from her worries that she isn't yet pregnant. And the daughter of Faith's good friend Pix Miller is getting married to a wonderful guy . . . with a less-than-wonderful mother. Between keeping Sophie's spirits up and Pix's blood pressure down, Faith has her hands full. And that's before a body with a mysterious tattoo and connections far away from small Sanpere Island appears in the Lily Pond.

The Body in the Lighthouse by Katherine Hall Page

To escape the misery of a sweltering August in Aleford, Massachusetts, caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild and her family head for their cottage on Maine's peaceful Sanpere Island in Penobscot Bay. But things have changed since their last visit. An aggressive developer is moving forward on plans that will destroy the unique ambience of the island, infuriating residents. Tensions are running dangerously high, and soon murder rears its hideous head. Faith discovers a corpse while exploring the grounds of Sanpere's historic lighthouse. With fear running rampant and volatile emotions approaching the detonation point, the intrepid sleuth must track down a killer for the sake of a friend and the island she loves.

Sail by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Since the death of her husband, Anne Dunne and her three children have struggled in every way. In a last ditch effort to save the family, Anne plans an elaborate sailing vacation to bring everyone together once again. They're only an hour out of port and everything is going wrong. Her daughter plans to drown herself, Mark is high on drugs, and Ernie is nearly catatonic. As she manages to pull everything together, something catastrophic happens.

Blood on the Water by Anne Perry

Though Monk is witness to the terrible bombing of an afternoon pleasure boat on the river that leaves 200 people dead, much to his dismay the case is taken from his hands and given over to the commissioner of police. An Egyptian man is quickly caught, tried, and sentenced to death--and then just as swiftly murdered in prison. When evidence surfaces that proves the dead man innocent, the case is handed back to Monk, who must now rely on his own memory of the event to help piece together what really happened. His investigation leads him down a dangerous road, one in which wealthy and powerful men gamble for control of the Suez Canal, so crucial to the Empire's future. With his wife Hester and friend Oliver Rathbone, Monk soon reveals that the attack is not quite what it seems--but as he begins to unravel the motives behind it, he finds himself treading the dangerous waters of international political intrigue, where justice always comes with a price...and inadvertently makes himself the next target.