Award-Deserving Debut
Rating:
5 / 5
As a mystery writer with my first novel in its initial release, I am quite impressed by Glynn Marsh Alam's DIVE DEEP AND DEADLY. Set primarily in a Florida swamp, this debut mystery features some of the finest first-book writing that I have read in years. As Luanne Fogarty attempts to rebuild the family home, the vivid descriptions allow the reader to literally feel the swamp. As Luanne's project continues, complications arise. The plot twists and turns. The characters are well-drawn. DIVE DEEP AND DEADLY has recently been nominated for a Barry Award. It is most deserving of this award.
Hold Your Breath
Rating:
5 / 5
Luanne Fogarty is enjoying her time off from teaching by rebuilding her family home deep in the swamps of Florida when her occasional job diving for the police gets her involved in a mystery. She finds a body tied to an underwater cave, but the next morning, it's gone. Exploring a second cave, she finds a second body. Is there a connection? And if so, what is it? And who is the unidentified first woman and where is her body?This is a wonderful debut book. The plot develops nicely, and the characters are interesting as well. The real star here is the setting. Ms. Alam is able to bring the swamp to life using all five senses in a way that places you right there without overshadowing the characters or story. I was completely drawn into this world, enjoying every minute of it. I highly recommend this entertaining mystery and am looking forward to the second book in this series.
Rich, evocative writing that takes you right to the swamp
Rating:
5 / 5
Late at night, when the crickets suddenly stop chirping, your skin crawls and your scalp and neck tingle as you feel the silent terror of an unknown interloper intruding into the secluded, telephone-free ancestral home. Will the crickets start their chorus again?Glynn Alam's writing is so rich and evocative that from page one, you are deep in the Florida swamp, sweating in the humidity, listening to crickets, driving down rutted roads, partaking of sumptuous southern feasts, dodging snakes of both the slithering and two-legged kind, warily avoiding gators of both the four- and two-legged kind, scuba diving in frosty cold spring water and stumbling upon dead bodies in the limestone caves of the cold swamp springs of the Florida Panhandle. Alam has crafted lots of plot twists and surprise turns that keep you moving through the swamp-fest as elderly Cajun swamp neighbor Pasquin helps Luanne Fogarty use her intellect, diving skill and Mother Wit to help otherwise pedestrian, balky Joe Friday-style cops solve a set of mysterious and bewildering murders, robberies and some nautical weirdness on the Gulf. Get the book, enjoy it, and hope that Alam hurries up with the sequel.
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