The Deadly Isles

The Deadly Isles is a novel by American author Jack Vance published in 1969 by Bobbs-Merrill and as part of the 2002 Vance Integral Edition.

Plot introduction
A young scientist with family ties to a vast fortune survives a murder attempt by a stranger while working in French Tahiti, and allows the assailant and the police to believe the attempt was successful. Incognito, he follows the would-be murderer aboard an island-hopping passenger/cargo schooner bound for the Marquesas, intending to find the man out.