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Nicholas Blake
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The Widow's Cruise Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1977

by Nicholas Blake (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 129 ratings
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Previous page
  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    HarperCollins
  3. Publication date
    January 1, 1977
  4. ISBN-10
    0060803991
  5. ISBN-13
    978-0060803995
  6. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; 2nd Print edition (January 1, 1977)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060803991
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060803995
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4 ounces
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 129 ratings

About the author

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Nicholas Blake

Nicholas Blake

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Nicholas Blake was the pseudonym of Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis, who was born in County Laois, Ireland, in 1904 and raised in London after his mother’s death in 1906. He was educated at Sherborne School and Wadham College, Oxford, from which he graduated in 1927. Blake initially worked as a teacher to supplement his income from his poetry writing and he published his first Nigel Strangeways novel, A Question of Proof, in 1935. Blake went on to write a further nineteen crime novels, all but four of which featured Nigel Strangeways, as well as numerous poetry collections and translations.

During the Second World War he worked as a publications editor in the Ministry of Information, which he used as the basis for the Ministry of Morale in Minute for Murder, and after the war he joined the publishers Chatto & Windus as an editor and director. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1968 and died in 1972 at the home of his friend, the writer Kingsley Amis.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
129 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Susan
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful! Thank you!
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024
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Wonderful book. Great shipping and packaging. Thank you!
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Ela
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2018
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Provided an interesting excursion into another era and another type of culture.
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Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate mystery
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2018
Another Nigel Strangeways mystery- this one with a little bit less of a fantastic premise, and a little bit more character development than the other Strangeways mystery I have read (The Corpse In The Snowman). It features a cast of diverse characters, many with good motives for the murder that takes place later in the story. Although none of the characters are fully developed, we get an idea of what makes each of the suspects tick. I'm a fan of having at least a couple characters in the book be more fully fleshed-out, and it's a little frustrating for me to read a book where characterization is flatter than I would like. A semi "locked-room mystery" - they are on a cruise boat, but do put into port. I should have seen this one coming - but of course I never do; that's the fun of reading these. I must say I'm not a Nigel Strangeways fan, but would give this three stars for its all-around adequacy. Thanks to Crime Classics for for providing me with a copy of this book to review.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A British Master
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2011
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Nicholas Blake, author in the classic British tradition of erudite, classically educated, writers, who write clear, clean, but not pretentious, prose, here puts his hero, Nigel Srangeways, Scotland Yard detective, and his sculptor girl-friend, Clare, separate cabins, on a cruise ship touring the Greek Islands. On board are the usual set of characters, some congenial, some shady, and some a mite peculiar. Pre-ship board animosities, loves, hates come into play as do emotions generated by the interactions of likes and unlikes in the foreshortened perspective of a ship.
Then comes a day in which there is a murder and a disappearance. Strangeways, as the only professional aboard, takes charge with the Captain's blessing until the boat returns to a Greek port where the Greek police will assume authority. The plot lines are tricky, the characters suitably distinctive and the action absorbing. Most readers of detective stories will find this book, written about a half century ago, not in the least bit dated, still in every respect, a product of fine British craftsmanship.
8 people found this helpful
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SusanHAH
4.0 out of 5 stars Classicists at sea (1959: Blake)
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2018
Nigel Strangeways and his girlfriend Clare Massinger have booked passage aboard the cruise ship Menelaos for a tour of the Aegean islands. Clare, a sculptor, hopes to find new inspiration in the sculpture and culture of ancient Greece. Several well-known scholars will give a series of lectures on board, and the passenger list includes a number of classicists, both amateur and professional. Shipboard gossip, less intellectual, quickly focuses on a pair of women traveling together.

Melissa Blaydon and Ianthe Ambrose are such an odd couple that everyone has noticed them. They are so much opposites that they couldn't possibly be friends, so they must be sisters. Only sculptor Clare can discern that the bone structure of their faces is very similar. In fact they are the daughters of a famous classical scholar. Melissa, the "merry widow" is rich, attractive and well-dressed; Ianthe, a classics teacher in a girls' school, is plain, drab, and unappealing. With so little in common, It's a mystery why they would go on holiday together, but it turns out that Ianthe is recovering from a nervous breakdown, and Melissa has generously provided this cruise, hoping it will help. After meeting the sisters himself, Nigel concludes that, while Melissa has the beauty, Ianthe has the brains.

With so many classicists on board, it's not surprising that one or two of them have encountered Ianthe before. One of the lecturers is aware that she has written withering reviews of his books in the Journal of Classical Studies. A young girl, traveling with her father and brother, is terrified of her. She had been Ianthe's best student, until a certain incident took place between them. They gave conflicting accounts of what happened, but it resulted in both being sacked from the school. This was the cause of Ianthe's breakdown. By the second day of the cruise, Melissa realizes it's doing harm to her sister, rather than good. She fears Ianthe is becoming suicidal.

The next night, out at sea, there is a murder. A child traveling with her psychoanalyst parents is found strangled to death. No one knows who killed her but everyone can guess why: she had been much too inquisitive, in imitation of her parents, about the activities of grown-ups. About the same time Ianthe goes missing; it's feared she went overboard. Did she murder the child, was she a witness, or was her disappearance unrelated? After a futile search, the captain turns the ship back towards the port of Athens.

This is a well-written and constructed mystery, though dark. The setting is promising, shipboard and the Greek islands, with accounts of visits to ancient sites (though I would have liked more). The murder plot is rather ingenious, and the characters are well-drawn, especially the two sisters. There's some social satire, with all the passengers crowded together like sardines in a can, commenting frankly and sometimes maliciously on each other. Overall, the tone tends toward the sour and bitter for a novel about a holiday cruise. It might make you feel you're better off staying home.

.
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PattiePaw
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read!
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2020
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Loved this book! I actually saw it on an episode of Midsomer Murders. One of the characters on the show was reading it, and I wondered if it was just a prop or if it was a real book. After checking on Amazon, I found the actual book, and I ordered it for my Kindle. It's a fast and interesting read, and I highly recommend it. I plan to read other books in this series.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars jacket
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2022
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thx for including jacket. i'm really happy with book. it's in good shape for an old book. i never dreamed i'd get a jacket that wasn't torn. thx again. got anymore? keep them coming. it cam early, too.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in Canada on February 25, 2021
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Wonderful old school mistery
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Damaskcat
4.0 out of 5 stars The Widow's Cruise
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2016
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Nigel Strangeways books a cruise to the Greek Islands with sculptor Claire Massinger only to find himself involved with a group of people who seem to have a lot of secrets between them. Some of them seem to know each other but don't want to admit it. It is a classic scenario for murder to take place and it will keep the reader guessing.

I enjoyed the cruise background to this story and as ever Nicholas Blake makes the characters believable and interesting. There are plenty of clues to keep the reader trying to fit everything together. The murder doesn't happen until half way through the book so if you prefer books where the murder takes place near the beginning you won't like the scene setting.

The book is well written as are all Nicholas Blake's Nigel Strangeways series. The series can be read in any order though if you want to read them in the order in which they were published then this is number thirteen.
One person found this helpful
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Friendlycard
4.0 out of 5 stars Classy crime
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2015
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This novel of shipboard murder is beautifully written, not surprisingly since the author was Poet Laureate Cecil Day Lewis. The plot is equally clever, and kept me guessing right to the end. Day Lewis wrote nineteen 'Nicholas Blake' thrillers, most featuring amateur sleuth Nigel Strangeways, and all of them are superb exercises in the whodunnit genre. A special mention must be made of "The Beat Must Die" and "The Private Wound", but crime buffs will find any of the books more than satisfying.
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debbie long
5.0 out of 5 stars The Widow' s Cruise
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2015
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Enjoyed this book no end. So quaint and nostalgic, well written and an intriguing plot.
One person found this helpful
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Mr. J. B. Jobe
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 19, 2015
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Excellent
One person found this helpful
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