The Mary Celeste cover art

The Mary Celeste

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The Mary Celeste

By: Brian Freemantle
Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
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About this listen

On 5th December 1872, Captain David Reed Morehouse sighted the Mary Celeste, an American half-brig carrying 1,700 barrels of commercial alcohol, apparently calling for help. The fluttering he took to be a distress signal was a ripped, tattered sail; the wheel was unmanned; the master, Captain Briggs; his wife; their two-year-old daughter; and the entire crew had disappeared.

Frederick Solly Flood, attorney general of Gibraltar, can see only one possible cause - mutiny and murder. In a tense courtroom, he is determined to prove a dreadful crime has been committed; turning a civil inquiry into a criminal prosecution and allowing stains on the deck - which he knows to be rust - to be passed off as blood. Two compelling narratives are interwoven: As Flood forces the evidence and badgers the witnesses, the voyage itself is brought vividly back to life. But there remains one simple, known fact. Its repercussions have been overlooked by history, but they at last point to the true fate of those aboard the Mary Celeste....

©1979 Innslodge Publications Ltd. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Historical Suspense Thriller & Suspense Funny

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Critic reviews

"[Freemantle] hauls you aboard and won’t let you off until the roller coaster stops." (Los Angeles Times)
"Freemantle has no peer when it comes to writing espionage thrillers." (Booklist)
"A master storyteller." (Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant  
it's a story of two halves, why the Mary Celeste was abandoned (fictional) and a court case (fictional) of the aftermath of the salvage of the ship.
As to why it was abandoned, it was equal parts benign and stupid and the court case was risible and ridiculous.
Thankfully it was short, Brevity it's only redeeming feature.

Disappointing

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The plot was rivetting. The author's conclusions of the crews demise and ship abandoment was plausible.

superlative assessment

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An enduring mystery is wonderfully brought to life and investigated in the gripping novel. Highly recommended

Excellent

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The author describes two different interpretations of the facts. The story progresses between the two views. How easy we can interpret things but is what we think correct.

What is truth?

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...an interesting story unfortunately marred by a poor performance, there seemed to be very little attempt at characterisation or variation in reading style and the attempt at a 'slight Irish accent'for the a.g. was more Scottish.

poor performance

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One of the best narrated audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, change of dialect/accent is very good - keeps one interested and defines characters for easy listening, well done!!

Excellent Detail & Narration

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A good story, I feel it wasn't such a mystery as I was told from childhood, on the same hand on one truly knows

interesting

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