When I imagine travelling to exotic, faraway locations, I think of heat, Caribbean azure blue water and cloudless skies, or a safari to see magnificent wild beasts in their natural habitat, or market places full of aromatic spices and silks and foreign languages and recalcitrant camels. But exotic actually means ‘unusual or exciting from a faraway place’ and this novel offers a somewhat different vision from mine, travelling instead on an airship, a luxury airship, which provides you with all the comfort you could dream of as you float soundlessly above the frozen Arctic wastes inhabited, as they are, by polar bears and reindeer. This is the dream described at the start of this murder mystery, a dream inspired by two masterminds.

Howard Barnes and the much younger Ezra Day, seem at first, to be an unlikely pairing until we learn that Howard had been best friends and fellow adventurer with Ezra’s father. They imagined this dream and in the event of Isaac Day’s untimely death, which, according to Howard’s account, was an accident ‘over in seconds’, his son Ezra wanted to be part of the company which would bring it to reality: Skyline Voyages. It would take time and money to bring their vision to fruition and realise the dream, and this novel opens with the advert promoting not a wild desert safari or a journey down the Amazon but a maiden voyage on board the Osprey, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the first successful expedition to the North Pole, viewing all the sights of the Arctic Wonderland from high above the ice. Fitting, given this was where Isaac Day died.

The voyage featured in this novel is a trial run with a small group of specially selected, if somewhat disparate, guests. Striking a less melodious note at the end of Chapter One, we learn of the simmering resentment which exists between two of them; old school friends of Ezra’s who are not as friendly as it appears. Success, arrogance and a sense of entitlement doesn’t always mix well with those who are not quite so well connected nor quite as successful. The dynamics between the rest of the cast are not entirely comfortable either; money and idealism do not make the best bedfellows. Discord continues in the mind of Niamh, Chief Steward; she knows she should be excited, wants to be excited, but cannot get over the niggling doubts which insist on pervading her mind; the job is not turning out to be quite what she was promised. Doubts also unsettle Howard who feels pressured by Ezra; he knows he’s not in control and resorts to sleeping tablets to ease his mind. And so it seems the stage is set for drama. Instead of a locked room, however, the characters are imprisoned on the airship, high above the Arctic waste and 800 miles from where they would like to be. Anything can happen.

Was it an accident or are they all trapped in the skies with a murderer?

Perhaps having to climb aboard somewhat precariously should have been an indicator that the flight might not be as smooth as promised by the enthusiastic Ezra. The celebratory balloon, and champagne delivered to the wrong room, seem inconsequential but then there’s a blind which doesn’t quite work, the air conditioning which breaks down, the meat which is served up on the plate of the vegan…all does not augur well. There is a storm brewing, both literally and metaphorically and while day one appears to start well, that’s not how it ends.

Day two dawns cold, a problem with the temperature regulating system means both passengers and crew have to wrap up and the temperature plummets still further when the first body is found. An unfortunate accident it seems, several factors combining to ensure the death of one of the limited cast. Together with the approaching storm, it seems they have no choice but to return whence they came and all those on board must brace themselves ‘for a long day ahead’.

The setting is suitably uncomfortable and claustrophobic; the many references to the Artic ice had me pulling my cardy closer but they added to the tension.

As the beleaguered airship limps home, the reader becomes privy to various secrets: a saboteur feels sick that his ‘harmless’ actions may have resulted in death. Relations between both the passengers and the crew become fractious as fear and suspicion take hold. Was it an accident or are they all trapped in the skies with a murderer? There’s the pills, the key card, the fridge and a pair of gloves; there are old scores to settle and new insights to be shared but who exactly did what and why? Who can you trust? It seems each character holds one piece of the jigsaw but who will piece it together? Another dead body does not help the situation as the hours creep slowly by while they edge their way back to safety.

The denouement, when it comes, is laid out clearly; it explains everything as simply as ABC but the conversation is tense and the ending not obvious, although a sense of justice prevails with perhaps a soupçon of sympathy for the villain of the piece.

...the ending not obvious, although a sense of justice prevails with perhaps a soupçon of sympathy for the villain of the piece.

The novel is narrative led; the characters have a part to play but it is not necessary to know them intimately as the sketch of each is enough. The setting is suitably uncomfortable and claustrophobic; the many references to the Artic ice had me pulling my cardy closer but they added to the tension. The motive is probably the weakest aspect of the plot but who can explain why people act (and react) as they do? The same scenario could have resulted in a very different outcome. It was a quick and easy read. I saw some of it coming but was glad of the explanation at the end which revealed one or two twists which made sense of the whole.


Death in the Arctic is published by Century