Running Fix

Rating:
Summary: Engaging sailing mystery
Review: A sailing yacht sinks off the coast of Bermuda, with a young woman and three other crewmembers; presumably aboard--and presumably lost. But a year later a postcard appears, with a brief message scrawled across the back: "Don't worry Daddy I'm all right love Sarah."

In Tony Gibbs's engaging sequel to his earlier thriller, "Dead Run," the offbeat crew of the 65-foot ketch Glory is hired to find her. The mystery is unraveled from three points of view: those of Gillian Verdean, the yacht's bold and resourceful owner; her savvy and tenacious captain, Jeremy Barr; and her first mate, Patrick O'Mara, an able and gutsy former soldier of fortune. As each character pursues a separate line of clues, we travel to a Bronx boatyard, a Manhattan magazine office, a Coast Guard station, various night spots in Bermuda and New York and, of course, several sailing vessels.

"Running Fix" is an apt name for this suspenseful and adeptly written novel. When a vessel's position is uncertain, it can be found by intersecting three lines of position--bearings or distances to known objects--on a nautical chart. If an earlier line is updated and combined with one or two current lines, you have a running fix--and so does the novel, each time the three crewmembers meet.

Tony Gibbs has created a clever and vivid mystery. His book is balanced and well-trimmed, and it sustains its authenticity throughout.