Swimming with the Dead: An Underwater Investigation [NOOK Book]

Enjoyable Caribbean Diving Mystery

Kathy Brandt makes an impressive debut in mystery fiction with her first in a series of books featuring Hannah Sampson, head of Denver¿s Police Dive and Recovery Team. Denver¿s Police Commissioner sends Hannah to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean to investigate the supposedly accidental scuba diving death of his son, a graduate student doing marine biology research. Hannah¿s time in this idyllic setting is no vacation, and she is soon beset by a series of ¿accidental¿ mishaps, including a near fatal dive in the sunken ship, Chikuzen, where the Commissioner¿s son had met his demise. Hannah soon concludes that the Commissioner¿s son¿s death was no accident, and her suspect list quickly grows. Along the way to her discovery of the murderer, Hannah comes to appreciate the beauty of the coral reef and begins a romantic involvement with the head of a charter sailboat company. There is much to like in Swimming with the Dead. Mystery fans will find pleasure in the abundance of plausible suspects and the difficulty of deciphering the perpetrators. At the end of the book the reader can reflect back and see the subtle clues that Kathy Brandt has woven into the story--clues that seemed only innocent occurrences at the time. For scuba divers there are underwater scenes with harrowing escapes for Hannah. Sailing enthusiasts will enjoy the cruise to St. Martin. Conservationists will appreciate the description of the threats to the coral environment and the growing awareness in Hannah of its fragile nature. Best of all, there are more books to come in this series. I can¿t wait to find out how Hannah adapts to the warm Caribbean island milieu. Highly recommended!

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Mystery in Paradise

Without repeating details given in the main reviews, I can say that I especially enjoyed this murder mystery set in the BVI because I am captivated by the BVI, having both sailed and scuba-dived there. Having sailed right by the marker buoy for the Chikuzen wreck, I can easily visualize the scenes that took place there. And Kathy Brandt's descriptions of the islands and several dive sights serve to bring back many fond memories. The book is an easy read and will probably soon be a staple aboard many of the charter boats in the BVI fleets. Like others, I am looking forward to the next in the series. And I will definitely have to dive on the Chikuzen on my next visit!

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Good Book

I enjoyed this book and would try other books by this author.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Brings the BVI's to Life

My family and I read this book while on a sailing/diving trip in the British Virgin Islands. We passed the book around, each reading a few chapters at a time and being careful not to disclose 'who done it' before we had all finished the book. We had to fight for the book since each of us had a hard time giving it up when it was someone else's turn. Kathy Brandt's observations of the island residents and her descriptions of sailing and diving were right on the mark. Our itenerary included many of the island destinations she described, which only added to the excitement of our trip. For those who cannot make it to the BVI's any time soon, be assured you will have a good feel for the islands after having read this and will have a lot of fun in the process.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Murder, diving and sun in the British Virgin Islands

Hannah Sampson is a Homicide Detective in Denver. She is also a member of the Dive and Recovery Team for the Denver Homicide team. The Denver police commissioner¿s son, Michael Duvall, was found pinned inside a submerged wreckage of a cargo ship in the British Virgin Islands. He had been living down there and was an expert diver and researcher. Hannah is sent down to investigate. When she first arrives, Chief Dunn was not too receptive. He didn¿t like her coming in to look over his shoulder and re-investigate Michael¿s death. Slowly she is able to gain some people¿s respect, including Chief Dunn, and helps them get to the bottom of his death ¿ proving it was murder and not an accident. During this time, though, Hannah finds herself in many dangerous situations, above and below the water. At first, everyone thinks they are accidents. Hannah believes they are related to Michael¿s death and someone not wanting the truth to be known. Eventually Chief Dunn begins to believe this to be true too. I really enjoyed this book. It is so different from any other mysteries I¿ve read. I am not a diver, but I found the diving portions to be so well written, I enjoyed them. I felt like I was down there with Hannah and seeing everything she saw. It was fabulous! Hannah is a very likable character. She is a loner and thinks she wants to stay that way until she meets Peter O¿Brien. He is a suspect and she has a real struggle because she is so attracted to him. This relationship really adds to the storyline. I think Kathy has a real winning series! I have also read Dark Water Dive, the second book in the series, and loved it. I highly recommend both books.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Fast paced...

After an innocent woman is killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Hannah Sampson is sent from the cold mountains of Denver to the tropics. The dead woman apparently had interrupted the theft of a file on the death of the Denver police commissioner's son. The young man had drowned, and at first, it seemed an unlikely accident. With this murder, that possibility seems a bit more implausible. Hannah is a part of the CSI diving team, and one of the best there is. It is now up to her to solve these two connected cases. ................ Quickly, Hannah finds she has stepped into a hill of fireants. Enviromental issues, stolen jewels, jealousy, and murder place her as the next target for the killer. Yet, the harder they try to kill her, the more determined she is to get the truth, even if it breaks her heart. ................ *** Swimming With the Dead is a fast paced introduction to an intriguing new series. Amid a beautiful setting, the author educates and fascinates her readers. Hannah is a tough, smart new heroine that we can look forward to getting to know better. ***

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

delightful mystery in the British Virgin Islands

In the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the owner of the Lucky Lady is making a solo dive into the bowels of the sunken ship, the Chikuzen. While looking around he sees another diver and when he recognizes who it is he knows he is in trouble. When his body is found, the authorities believe it was an accident and it looks like his killer will get off free. Soon afterward, someone breaks into the deceased¿s office, kills his secretary and rifles through his files. His father, the Police Commissioner of Denver, begins to believe that his son was murdered

On the chance that his son was a homicide victim, the commissioner sends Hannah Sampson, head of the Dive and Recover team to the BVI to investigate his son¿s death. From the moment she gets there and starts to question people, attempts are made on her life leading her to believe that Michael¿s death was not an accident. As she gathers information about Michael¿s last days, she begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together and once again comes very close to dying.

SWIMMING WITH THE DEAD is the first installment in a very exciting new series. The heroine of this novel falls in love with the British Virgin Islands and by the time the case is closed she is ready to move down there and give a new romantic relationship a chance to develop into something deeper. There are many viable suspects who had reason to want the victim dead so the reader is thoroughly entertained trying to figure out who the killer really is.

Harriet Klausner

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

author is up with the best of them

Very good story line and an easy but complelling read. Looking forward to purchasing the next book in the series. Kathy is one of my newest favourite authors.

good fun read

Kathy Brandt has hit a home run to me. Her story is well told and the characters are believable. This is a fairly fast paced mystery novel, though it was fairly obvious who at least one of the culprits was from early on. Still I thoroughly enjoyed the romp through the BVI enough to make me want to get the next book in the series.

Ok

Not bad...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

great read!!

after reading this book I had to have the other 3 ( sure hope there will be more) I really enjoyed these books!!! easy to read & keep up with 7 hard to guess the endings!!!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

nice easy read

I got this as a 'free Friday' selection and really enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable light story, am looking forward to reading other books in this series.

Highly recommended

All Kathy's books are excellant and this is no exception.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

GREAT BOOK

This was my first book from Kathy Brandt. Great book and looking forward to reading the next one.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Check it out it is a very good read.

Enjoyed the book very much. will be checking out other books by this author.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good story

A few scuba related errors:
- no way a fit experienced female diver in the Caribbean would need 16 lbs of weight
- if someone cuts your low pressure hose for your reg, you can just start breathing of your octo...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good book

Good story, lots of shifting action, and who did it?

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.