Murder on the Way! – Theodore Roscoe (1935)

I’ve been reading a lot of really good books lately – it’s been an intentional indulgence in my “rainy day” collection – and I have to say, Murder on the Way is the most fun I’ve had in nearly as far back as I can remember.  That’s not to say that it features the most perplexing mystery, the most clever solution, or the most shocking twist.  No, not by a long shot.  That’s where I feel that I disclaimer is necessary: Murder on the Way isn’t really a mystery, it’s a balls to the wall action thriller.  No, scratch that – it’s actually is a mystery masquerading as a balls to the wall action thriller.

On the surface this is… I don’t even know.  It starts out with your classic mystery set up – a dozen characters called to Haiti for the reading of the will of a wealthy plantation owner.  The will stipulates that all of the money goes to a single individual within 24 hours of the funeral, but also provides a line of succession should the prior recipients be deceased.  Oh yeah – and no one’s allowed to leave the property before the 24 hours is up, or they forfeit their inheritance.