Mary Roberts Rinehart

The After House Illustrated Mary Roberts Rinehart

Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876 - September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie although her first mystery novel was published 12 years before Christie's first novel in 1920. When Leslie signs up as a steward aboard the private yacht Ella, he expects to swab decks and polish brass. Instead, he ends up trying to solve a murder case. Everyone onboard is a suspect-the volatile captain, the beguiling but aloof Miss Elsa Lee, the twitchy Mr. Turner, the second mate who disappears early in the voyage and is assumed lost at sea-and all are trapped in the middle of the ocean with the real killer. Medical school left Leslie with a diploma, a new dress suit, and an incipient case of typhoid fever. While convalescing, he hatches a plan to postpone embarking on a career as a surgeon by launching instead on an epic voyage of adventure, mystery, and romance on the high seas