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SWIMMING WITH THE DEAD
by Kathy Brandt
Signet, October 2003
258 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0451210204


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

A clerical worker in the Denver police commissioner's office is found dead in the file room. The commissioner's son has recently died while diving in the British Virgin Islands, and the contents of boxes containing his personal belongings are found strewn around the office.

Though the death was ruled an accident by local authorities in the BVI, after his assistant's murder the commissioner fears that his son may have been murdered as well. He asks Hannah Sampson, a homicide cop and the head of the department's underwater recovery squad, to travel to the BVI to investigate his son's death.

In the BVI, Hannah discovers that Michael Duvall had been diving in the wreck of a ship called the Chikuzen when he died. The dive team that recovered his body found him pinned under a compressor, but Michael was ordinarily a safety conscious diver who would have been unlikely to dive alone, and certainly was not one to attempt to move such a heavy object by himself.

As Hannah digs into Michael's life, she finds that he was documenting the degradation of the marine environment. He was concerned that the waters were over-used by tourist sailors, causing pollution to the water and irreparable damage to the coral reef. He had found an unusual number of dead fish near the Chikuzen and was investigating the possible causes for their death. His arguments with Peter O'Brien, the marina operator were well-known on the island.

As if that weren't enough, Michael was also living with a beautiful island woman whose father hated Michael, even threatening him.

Hannah sifts through the clues and dives the wreck herself to try to understand what happened to Michael. When she does, it becomes clear that someone does not want her to find out what happened to Michael and is willing to go to any length to stop her investigation.

The book contains wonderful descriptions of the islands and what it's like to dive in such a rich marine environment, but these never detract from the flow of the mystery itself. There is some vivid and action-filled writing in these pages, and Hannah Sampson is a passionate and articulate guide to troubled waters.

One note of caution: the prologue and the opening chapter are not the strongest parts of this book. In fact, I nearly put it aside because the beginning seemed so cliched.

Reviewed by Carroll Johnson, December 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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