Dead in the Water

by A J Basinski

Overview

Linda Weigand disappears into thin air while on her honeymoon cruise aboard the cruise ship, the Mardi Gras. It is suspected that she has been murdered but no corpse is found. Suspicion immediately falls on her new husband and her boss, who is also her former lover. Lieutenant Mario Morales, the head of security aboard the Mardi Gras and a former LAPD homicide cop, rejects the obvious solution to her disappearance. He persists in his investigation and discovers that her disappearance is related to a drug smuggling operation with terrorist connections run by a Chinese diplomat and aided by a prominent, but greedy trial lawyer, who sacrifices his ethics for millions of dollars. Risking his own life, Morales not only discovers what happened to the missing bride, he uncovers another unsolved murder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781503270725
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	02/27/2015
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

AJ Basinski has practiced law in Pittsburgh for almost 40 years. After retiring from the active practice of law several years ago, he returned to his passion, writing. His writing is infused by his relevant legal experience which he uses throughout the novel to advance the story line and build the characters. "Dead in the Water" is his first novel, but he is already working on a second Lieutenant Morales mystery, set in Southwest Florida.

Editorial Reviews

2015-05-26
In Basinski's debut thriller, a murder aboard a cruise ship may not be so simple to solve for a retired Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant, especially when there's no body.Former cop Lt. Mario Morales, head of security on the Mardi Gras, is awakened by a guard who claims there's been a murder. Robert Weigand, on his honeymoon, believes wife Linda is dead since he can't find her anywhere. Morales doesn't make much headway in his investigation before the ship docks in Miami, finding no evidence of foul play—or a corpse. But once the feds take over the case on land, they quickly name and arrest a suspect—the newlyweds' boss, car dealer Joe Hugo, who bankrolled and joined the couple on their trip. Morales, however, thinks a Chinese businessman's interest in the bankrupt cruise line Mariner may have played a part in the nefarious events onboard. The novel opens with an exquisite atmosphere: the Mardi Gras, now the site of a possible murder, floats still in the water, shrouded by fog. Scenes depicting the ship's innately claustrophobic setting are terrific but disappointingly few, since the vessel reaches shore well before the story's over. Nevertheless, Basinski takes the time to develop characters introduced during the cruise: Sun Li, an enigmatic woman who knows about Linda's murder before other passengers, and attorney Bud Gorley, who never even boards the Mardi Gras and first appears in flashback. Mysteries surrounding these characters all come to light as Morales sets out to prove Joe's innocence. Morales is a likable protagonist, a levelheaded man who considers every possibility. Unfortunately, he's a bit lacking as an investigator. A few significant things he does in Miami, such as peruse the ship's surveillance tapes, he could have just as easily done onboard. But he does ask endless questions—a sure sign that the steely man won't stop until he finds a solution.A modest but effective thriller with a protagonist who has the potential for his own series.

Kirkus Reviews