Friday, November 9, 2012

Review: Deadly Plunge

I found another author that I like!  I really enjoyed reading Mr. Messel's Deadly Plunge, the latest in his Sam Slater series.

Sam Slater is a former baseball player turned private investigator in 1958 San Francisco.  He's been asked to investigate the death of a wealthy San Francisco businessman, Arthur Bolender, by Bolender's widow.  Everyone whom he talks to about Bolender's death says that he would never have committed suicide.  So why was his car found running on the Golden Gate Bridge and his body found in San Francisco Bay and why did Bolender own a Victorian style house that no one knew about?

Together with his TWA stewardess girlfriend, Ameila Ryan, Sam investigates Bolender's death.  As he digs into Bolender's past and politics, Sam finds that the house was being used for political meetings and that the people involved may be planning to do more than hand out flyers.  Sam also becomes involved in the death of a Russian diplomat as he works to piece together why Bolender died.

In the midst of this, Sam and Amelia's romance heats up and they become secretly engaged.  With Amelia helping Sam with his investigation, she is soon targeted by a stalker and barely escapes being kidnapped.

The secondary characters were also well written and their involvement in the story was well thought out.  I loved the dynamics of both Sam and Amelia's families.  Mr. Messel did a great job of bringing 1958 San Francisco to life for me.

I also enjoyed the lead in to the next novel in the series, San Francisco's Secrets, and can't wait to read it.

FTC Notice:  I received a copy of this book from the author.

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