The Sunken Sailor

The Sunken Sailor is the Elizabeth Foxwell-edited 2004 round-robin collaborative mystery novel, with thirteen contributing authors each writing one chapter of a single ongoing mystery that begins on a chartered yacht in the Caribbean and unspools into multiple revelations across the next twelve chapters. The contributors include Pamela Beason, Catherine Aird, Carrie Bebris, Margaret Coel, Kris Neri, Mary Reed, Eric Mayer, Marcia Talley, and others.

Foxwell's editorial work in The Sunken Sailor is the actual achievement. Round-robin novels rarely cohere across multiple writers, and the structural commitment Foxwell secured from the contributors keeps the plot machinery running through twelve chapter shifts. The Catherine Aird and Margaret Coel chapters are the strongest individual pieces. Fans of the British Detection Club's collaborative-novel tradition (The Floating Admiral, Ask a Policeman) will recognize the careful round-robin form.

The book is a curio rather than a major entry in any of the contributors' careers. The Caribbean atmosphere is well-handled.

Three stars. A useful round-robin curio. Recommended to readers interested in the collaborative-novel form. The Sunken Sailor Elizabeth Foxwell anthology works best for fans of the contributors who want a sampler of their voices in a single project.