''The Floating Admiral'' is a chain-written, collaborative detective novel written by fourteen members of the British

Detection Club The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Louisa Rickard, Baroness Orczy, ...

in 1931. The twelve chapters of the story were each written by a different author, in the following sequence: Canon Victor Whitechurch, G. D. H. Cole and

Margaret Cole Dame Margaret Isabel Cole ( Postgate; 6 May 1893 – 7 May 1980) was an English socialist politician, writer and poet. She wrote several detective stories jointly with her husband, G. D. H. Cole. She went on to hold important posts in London ...

, Henry Wade,

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

John Rhode Cecil John Charles Street (3 May 1884 – 8 December 1964), also known as John Street, was a Major (rank), major in the British Army and a crime fiction novelist. He began his military career as an artillery officer and during World War I, he ...

Milward Kennedy Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge (21 June 1894 – 20 January 1968) was an English civil servant, journalist, crime writer and literary critic. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. He served with British Military Intell ...

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an ...

Freeman Wills Crofts Freeman Wills Crofts FRSA (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish engineer and mystery author, remembered best for the character of Inspector Joseph French. A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of h ...

Edgar Jepson Edgar Alfred Jepson (28 November 1863 – 12 April 1938) was an English author. He largely wrote mainstream adventure and detective fiction, but also supernatural and fantasy stories. He sometimes used the pseudonym R. Edison Page. Early life E ...

Clemence Dane Winifred Ashton CBE, better known by the pseudonym Clemence Dane (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), was an English novelist and playwright. Life and career After completing her education, Dane went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor ...

and Anthony Berkeley.

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, journalist and magazine editor, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brow ...

contributed a prologue, which was written after the novel had been completed.Charles Osborne, ''The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie'', London, 1982. In a literary game of consequences, each author would write one chapter, leaving G.K. Chesterton to write a typically paradoxical prologue and Anthony Berkeley to tie up all the loose ends. In addition, each of the authors provided their own solution in a sealed envelope, all of which appeared at the end of the book. As Sayers explained in the introduction to the book, "Each writer must construct his instalment with a definite solution in view—that is, he must not introduce new complications merely 'to make it more difficult' ... ch writer was bound to deal faithfully with ''all'' the difficulties left for his consideration by his predecessors."

Literary significance and criticism

Notable crime fiction critic

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, ...

noted:-

Plot summary

On a drifted boat, the body of Admiral Penistone is found. Last night, he had dinner with his niece in the house of the vicar. Afterwards he used his own boat to navigate over the river to his home. However, the boat on which the admiral is found is not his property, but is owned by the vicar. The admiral was stabbed by a knife or a dagger, but there is no blood on the floor. Furthermore, the mooring line has been cut.

List of characters

*Neddy Ware: a local of the village who owns a boat. He discovered the body of the Admiral, of whose crew Ware once was a part. He is known to generally be peace-loving but can have a temper and a sailor's vocabulary when roused. *Constable Hempstead: a local police officer who was on night duty around the time of the death and spotted a mysterious figure in a car. *Inspector Rudge: the inspector working on the case of Admiral Penistone's murder. *Reverend (Mr) Mount: the vicar of the village, on whose boat the body of Admiral Penistone is found. His hat is found near the body. He has two sons and a runaway wife who left him for another man. *Alec Mount: one of Reverend Mount's two sons, a sixteen-year-old. *Peter Mount: one of Reverend Mount's two sons, a fourteen-year-old. *Sir Wilfrid Denny: a friend of Admiral Penistone and a retired civil servant who is fond of his garden. He had ties with the Admiral in China and, strangely, rushed off to London on the morning of the discovery of the Admiral's body. *Elma Holland (née Fitzgerald): a young woman, about thirty or a few years above that age. She wasn't beautiful, as judged by Rudge, but if she made herself up she could have been pretty. She is the niece of the Admiral and engaged to Arthur Holland. She has been in the area for a month and is of independent means. *Arthur Holland: a young, handsome man with a slightly sunburnt face who is engaged to Elma. He is a tradesman who works with materials such as rubber, silk and jute, trading the items for China. He stayed at the Lord Marshall hotel in nearby Whynnmouth at the time of the murder. He secretly marries Elma. *Mrs Davis: the local gossip and the proprietress of the Lord Marshall at Whynnmouth, who provides Rudge with invaluable details (mostly scandalous in nature). *Mr Daker: a solicitor and a friend of Mr Fitzgerald (Mr Fitzgerald is the father of Elma and Admiral Penistone's brother-in-law): a dryly cautious man with a strong family feeling. *Walter Fitzgerald: Elma's brother, an attractive young man who forged a document while working in China. He has been missing for a period of time and if he comes forward he will be arrested for the forgery - if he doesn't he will lose his father's inheritance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Floating Admiral, The 1931 British novels British mystery novels Collaborative novels Hodder & Stoughton books Novels by Agatha Christie Novels by Henry Wade Novels by Dorothy L. Sayers Novels by Ronald Knox Novels by Freeman Wills Crofts Novels by Edgar Jepson Novels by Clemence Dane Novels by Anthony Berkeley