Title: Dead In The Water by Simon Bower
Publisher: Middle Farm Press
Date Published: 9th May 2018
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Description:
THE HOT NEW INTERNATIONAL CRIME THRILLER THAT YOU CAN’T PUT DOWN!
Was it murder, suicide or an accident? Who will be next to die?
Six international friends all appear to be successful, albeit to different levels. A human rights’ lawyer, an IT geek, a businessman, a waitress, a phone guy and a physiotherapist. None of them are known to the police.
One of them must know what happened that fateful night on the catamaran.
Agent Georges Fournier is assigned the case in the French resort town near Antibes. He’s short on time, with a growing health problem and a District Attorney who just wants the case closed as accidental. But he’s not letting go.
Chrissie is a single mother and respected flight attendant in New York. When she finds out who her father is, she’s ecstatic and wants to meet him.
But within a week she’d wish she’d never known.
Review:
I have to say this book turned out to be not quite what I expected. From the synopsis, I thought ‘Oh, yes this going to be the usual murder mystery,’ but there was kidnapping, blackmail with plenty of twists and turns and a little bit steamy to boot.
The prologue to the book starts off with an unidentified woman just on the edge of consciousness about to drown. Then it travels back five months and we meet the rest of the cast. Charlie, a bit of a chancer always bemoaning his luck. Ana, a seductress and Charlie’s girlfriend. Scott, Charlie’s brother, trapped in a loveless marriage, a bit jealous of his younger brother. Len and Mia Hubbard, Charlie and Scott’s aunt and uncle, Len is a bit of a dodgy business man and Mia is a human rights lawyer. Chrissie, a flight attendant, who wants to find her father. And lastly Agent Fournier, a policeman used to dealing with small crimes but he’s determined to prove his worth. I didn’t find most of the characters are overly likeable but I thought they were very realistically portrayed.
I think this is the most I’ve travelled within one book! There’s New York, Los Angeles, Switzerland, London, France, Holland, Monaco…few I just thought of all the air miles these characters must have clocked up!
Unfortunately, I found the time line bounced around quite a bit and I felt there may have been a plot hole or two. Also a bit confusing at times as the cast was large and with each one having their own chapters it was hard to keep track of.
I’d recommend this for fans of fast paced, character driven thrillers.
About The Author:
Berkshire born Simon Bower has spent his adult life global living. In 2018, his debut fiction work Dead in the Water was published in paperback and eBook by Middle Farm Press. 
He picked up many of the stimuli for Dead in the Water from his periods living in France, Holland and North America. An unfulfilled love of sailing inspired the fateful catamaran scenes on the Côte d’Azur, although in real life that was set on Australia’s East Coast, and no-one died. Time in the Philippines helped develop the Boracay chapters while the Oxford and London venues are his bread and butter.
Simon’s a keen home chef and adores a slow cooked red curry – hot from the outset with a surprising kick in the tail. He despises being served up literary ready meals – warmed up quickly and predictably bland throughout…
Simon currently lives in France, near the Swiss border, where his young family, the mountains, acrylic paint and sharpened skis keep him in regular mischief. His influences and favourite authors include: Iain Banks, William Boyd, Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Terry Hayes, Peter James, Dean Koontz, Peter May and Stieg Larsson.
Simon loves hearing from readers, through Amazon and Goodreads reviews, and @simonbowerbooks on Facebook and Twitter.
On The Shelf Reviews 