In Deep water - Elle Blair

 

DI Rachel Harlow is off duty on a cruise with her twin teens and parents. Trying to escape problems at Northumbria Police HQ, she flirts with a stranger who turns up dead the next day. With no official investigation and an uncooperative crew, Rachel pursues the case alone, defying orders. In international waters, she uncovers a dangerous crime ring but has no team for support.

 

If a crime aboard a ship away from land constitutes a locked room mystery, then Deep Water might be that. But however you want to categorise the tale, it is immersive and engaging. 

 

There is a dual narrative cleverly delineated by ‘Land’ and ‘Sea” so you know exactly where you are with each chapter. The Land sections describe Rachel’s situation before embarking upon the cruise and inform the reader of how she is in her current position. The link between the two ‘worlds’ seems to be her colleague, Lennon. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the ‘on duty’ Rachel and the ‘off duty’ Rachel.

 

The story moves along at a cracking pace with plenty of suspense and some good twists. I was surprised to learn that this is a debut novel. The writing is efficient, absorbing and intelligent. 

 

Rachel is a formidable character, very determined and, as often the case with members of the crime prevention profession, treading a tenuous line between the personal and the professional. She faces up to conflicts on both these levels and show herself to be unafraid of challenge. 

 

Alongside the crime and its solving, family dynamics play a big part. They’re another minefield that Rachel must navigate, as a mother, as a daughter and as a colleague. But none of these themes get in the way of the main thrust of the story. They are used to complement it and cause Rachel to reconsider her priorities.

 

And as much as we are invested in Rachel as a character this author cleverly entices us into engaging with several others. There were times when I wanted to give Rachel’s mum a good shake but as the story unfolded, I became more sympathetic. The twins are great. I loved Jess’s teenage indignation at the injustices facing the environment and Jake’s adolescent shenanigans, (trying not to give anything away here). 

 

The long and the short of it is I can’t wait for Elle Blair’s next novel! But I don’t envy her the task of matching this one! It really is that good.

 

My thanks to Caitlin McCoy at HQ stories for my copy.