Search - Appleby on Ararat (Perennial Library)

In this 1941 thriller, series hero John Appleby is returning to London from the Sunburnt Country by ocean liner with a zany bunch of passengers. After the liner is torpedoed, the plucky band washes up on a deserted island in the South Pacific which turns out to be not so deserted. One of the passengers is murdered. By whom? For what earthly reason? With a few silly elements, the story is more adventure a la John Buchan than a staid "locked island" whodunit. This one is fun. It isn't too wordy or frighteningly erudite so it does not feel too long, as ones set in country houses (Death by Water) and colleges (Seven Suspects) sometimes do.