The After House

A Story of Love, Mystery, and a Private Yacht

By: Mary Roberts Rinehart

Narrated by: Kristen Underwood

Out of funds and longing for a sea voyage, young doctor Ralph Leslie jumps at the chance to sign aboard a luxurious millionaire's yacht as steward of the After House. His job is easy sailing until one summer night, when the dream voyage suddenly becomes a nightmare of blood and terror. One of the ship's officers is thrown overboard; another one is killed with an axe. As panic sets in on the boat, only the young doctor remains calm enough to try to solve the murders. But can he stay alive long enough to do it?

Here is another classic from Mary Roberts Rinehart, a master of mystery and suspense novels known for their humor and ingenuity.

(P)1994 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Weak material; weaker narrator

I purchased this audiobook because it had a rating of four-and-a-half stars. I can't imagine why it was rated so highly. The biggest problem for me was the narrator, whose voice was simultaneously dull and irritating. (The audiobook I had listened to right before this was Agatha Christie's "A Pocket Full of Rye," whose narrator was one of the best I've heard.)
The plot of the book itself was uninspired, with a denouement and unmasking of the culprit that could almost have come from an episode of Scooby Doo. The writing was dated and stale, which cannot be due simply to its having been written in 1914 -- the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie spring to life as easily now as they did when published. The dialog is full of ominous pronouncements that are so ham-fisted that any seasoned mystery reader will immediately recognize them as red herrings. If you buy this audiobook keeping all of this in mind and having set your expectations low, you might be entertained by it, but I doubt it.