The Titanic Murders - By Max Allan Collins Page 0,84

combine the story of the disaster with haunting photos of the wreckage are The Discovery of the Titanic (1987) by Dr. Robert D. Ballard and Titanic—Legacy of the World’s Greatest Ocean Liner (1997) by Susan Wels. The latter—a Discovery Channel book—is stronger on history, the former focusing on Ballard’s expeditions.

A number of vintage books (or reprints thereof) were consulted: The Sinking of the Titanic (1912), Logan Marshall; Sinking of the Titanic—Thrilling Stories Told by Survivors (1912), George W. Bertron; The Truth About the Titanic (1913), Colonel Archibald Gracie; and Wrecking and Sinking of the Titanic—The Ocean’s Greatest Disaster (1912), no author given (“told by the Survivors”).

Particularly useful, in my attempt to re-create what it must have been like to be a First-Class passenger on the great ship, was Last Dinner on the Titanic (1997) by Rick Archbold with recipes by Dana McCauley, a lovely, eccentric combination of history lesson and cookbook.

Other relatively recent books, taking more specialized looks at the Titanic story, were also of help: Down with the Old Canoe—A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster (1996), Steven Biel; Her Name Titanic (1988), Charles Pellegrino; The Titanic Conspiracy (1995), Robin Gardiner and Dan Van Der Vat; Titanic—Destination Disaster (1987/1996), John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas; The Titanic Disaster (1997), Dave Bryceson (the story as reported in the British press); The Titanic—End of a Dream (1986), Wyn Craig Wade; and Total Titanic (1998), Marc Shapiro.

A number of biographies and studies of society in the early 1900s were consulted, including: The Age of the Moguls (1953), Stephen H. Holbrook; And the Price Is Right (1958), Margaret Case Harriman (the story of the Strauses and Macy’s department store); The Astors (1941), Harvey O’Connor; The Astors (1979), Virginia Cowles; The Astor Family (1981), John D. Gates; The Case of Eliza Armstrong—A Child of 13 Bought for 5 Pounds (1974), Alison Plowden (the W. T. Stead “white slavery” case); Crusader in Babylon—W. T. Stead and the Pall Mall Gazette (1972), Raymond Schults; The Guggenheims—An American Epic (1978), John H. Davis; The Guggenheims—The Making of an American Dynasty (1976), Harvey O’Connor; The Guggenheims and the American Dream (1967), Edwin P. Hoyt, Jr.; Peggy—The Wayward Guggenheim (1986), Jacqueline Bograd Weld; The Inheritors (1962), John Tebbel; My Father (1913), Estelle W. Stead; and Who Killed Society (1960), Cleveland Amory. Also useful was a March 15, 1998, People Magazine article, “Sunken Dreams” by Jeffrey Wells, Joanna Blonska and Jason Lynch.

Further material on W. T. Stead was culled from The Wreck of the Titanic Foretold? (1998), edited by Martin Gardener, reprinting Morgan Robertson’s prophetic The Wreck of the Titan (originally published as Futility) as well as Stead’s own prophetic sea-disaster writings.

Midway through the writing of this novel, by which time I had become intimate with the material via research, I went for a third time to James Cameron’s Titanic, and was very impressed by the verisimilitude of the art direction and the quality of the screenwriter’s research. I also viewed several other Titanic films: Titanic (1953); A Night to Remember (1958); S.O.S. Titanic (1979); and the television miniseries Titanic (1996). Surprisingly, every one of these productions has its merits, most obviously the adaptation of the Lord book; all but the first of these (and even it’s not bad) take pains to be accurate, and the mini-series in particular is underrated and has art direction that rivals Cameron’s, despite a considerably smaller budget.

In addition, I screened numerous documentaries, the most useful of which was A&E’s Titanic (1994) written and directed by Melissa Peltier; others viewed included Secrets of the Titanic (1997) written and directed by Dennis B. Kaye, codirected by Dr. Robert D. Ballard; Titanic (1997) written by Linda Cooper and produced by Dick Arlett; Titanic: Secrets Revealed (1998) written by Lois DeCosia and directed by John Tindall; The Titanic Tragedy (1997) written by Tom Gredishar, Randy Jackson and Mariangela Malespin, directed by Geoff Chadwick; and Ray Johnson’s Titanic Remembered (1992) and Echoes of Titanic (1995).

My talented wife, mystery writer Barbara Collins—the May to my Jack—helped me through this difficult, demanding project, providing frequent impromptu library trips, poring over blueprints and photos in an attempt to help her directionally dyslexic husband find his way around the ship, and offering insightful criticism and needed praise, while keeping a constant lookout for looming bergs, growlers and field ice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo credit: Bamford Studio

Max Allan Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of Road to Perdition and multiple award-winning novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations, and historical fiction. He has scripted the Dick Tracy comic strip, Batman comic books, and written tie-in novels based on the CSI, Bones, and Dark Angel TV series; collaborated with legendary mystery author Mickey Spillane; and authored numerous mystery series including Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, and the bestselling Nathan Heller historical thrillers. His additional Disaster series mystery novels include The Lusitania Murders, The Hindenburg Murders, The Pearl Harbor Murders, The London Blitz Murders, and The War of the Worlds Murder.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication Page

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE: A TRIP TO SCITUATE

DAY ONE: APRIL 10, 1912

ONE: A BIRTHDAY PRESENT

TWO: A CLOSE CALL

THREE: SUNSET OVER CHERBOURG

DAY TWO: APRIL 11, 1912

FOUR: CAPTAIN’S TABLE

DAY THREE: APRIL 12, 1912

FIVE: THE PROBLEM OF C13

SIX: INFORMAL INQUIRY

SEVEN: SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN

EIGHT: THE MUMMY’S CURSE

DAY FOUR: APRIL 13, 1912

NINE: STEERAGE

TEN: SHIPBOARD SÉANCE

DAY FIVE: APRIL 14, 1912

ELEVEN: SMOOTH SAILING

EPILOGUE: THAT NIGHT REMEMBERED

A TIP OF THE CAPTAIN’S HAT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR