Watery Grave

Watery Grave (1996) Bruce Alexander

Tom Durham–son of the now Lady Fielding–has returned to London on shore leave from the Navy. He returns with a love of the sea, and a desire to make the Navy his life. But coming ashore with him are orders for the trial of one of the members of the crew of H.M.S. Adventure–the murder of the captain by one of the Lieutenants. Charges brought by the now acting captain.

These mysteries get better and better as the series continues. Jeremy is now settled into Sir John’s house, although his relationships with Lady Fielding and Tom are still unsure, his place with Sir John is set, as is his desire to study law.

I was also glad to see Black Jack Bilbo return–and to take certain matters of Jeremy’s upbringing into his own hands, as the previous two books have shown that in some matters, Jeremy’s education is sorely lacking. (And I have to admit that his descriptions are definitely something only a man would come up with.)

It strikes me as more than passing strange how this book manages to combine the other two books I’m reading now: Johathan Liss’s The Spectacle of Corruption and Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain. Although Watery Grave doesn’t recreate the Naval world as well as Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, it isn’t really trying to, since the focus is not upon Naval traditions, but upon the clash of Naval law and the King’s Law. (Although I have to admit that reading this along side of O’Brian is probably not something I would recommend, since the Navy of Aubrey and Maturin is quite different from the Navy described in Watery Grave, and comes up short.)

I was also curious as to why the story didn’t turn on the initial premise of the book–that a single event can look different from two separate perspectives. There was nothing wrong with the story was written, but to me it didn’t meet up with the conclusion of the Prologue:

That final movement is seen by two men on the quarterdeck below. The first, who stands wrestling with the helm, glances across at the crucial moment and perceives it as a futile attempt to hold the doomed man back. The second, holding tight to the stout rope which secures a cannon in place, later describes it as a final push which sends the unfortunate to his watery grave.

Rescuer or murderer? That question would occupy us profoundly for some time to come. And even to this day, that question of intent remains matter for heated discussion, even bitter argument among those many whose lives it touched.

I guess I just expected the conclusion to be slightly less obvious, with a greater focus on intent than upon the resolution of the story. (After the first several chapters, I didn’t particularly see intent fitting into the story much at all.)

So although the writing and the storytelling are even better in this book than the previous two–there were some minor issues that distracted me slightly from the storytelling. But I have to say that although after certain point you knew where things were going, and no matter how much you hoped they go otherwise, you still knew they weren’t going to go they way you wanted. That’s something that I appreciate in a mystery–sometimes there isn’t a happy ending, and sometimes things don’t work out the way you want. And I love it when an author is brave enough to do that.

So although I don’t recommend that you read this book while you’re also reading Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series, I do recommend that you read this book after you have read the previous two in the series. It’s an excellent mystery and an enjoyable story. And like the previous two books, this is definitely going to be sent to my grandmother.
Rating: 7/10

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