MWSA Review

John Dobbyn’s Deadly Depths is not a mystery thriller—it’s two action-packed thrillers! A pirate story, tucked within a complicated multi-murder mystery, is so intriguing it could stand on its own.

Archeologist Barry Holmes dies by suicide (not!). His protégé and dear friend, law professor Matthew Shane, embarks on a treacherous and tenacious quest to find out who killed Holmes. Holmes was one of five members of a secret society in search of an elusive treasure. Matt traipses all over the world, following cryptic clues, jumping through hoops, trying to stay one step ahead of an unknown, but quite dangerous enemy, not knowing who to trust. Clarity for Matt only begins to set in when he meets Mr. Mehmed and his daughter, who explain: When the Spanish attempted to decimate the Aztec culture in the name of Christianity, a particular statue (“jeweled facets set in the purest gold, standing higher than my waist”) was salvaged. It was the ultimate cultural, financial, and spiritual possession; the secret location was handed down from leader to leader.

Matt’s escapades include deadly baboons, alligators, snakes, and diving down to a sunken slave ship in an attempt to retrieve a 400-year-old pirate’s journal. “I followed him through that particular moment that only those who dive can comprehend—an instantaneous passing, as through Alice’s looking glass, into a world as alien as outer space, the submerged realm of the sea.” This reader was mesmerized by the tale (or is it historical fact?) documented by the young protégé of the famous privateer, Captain Morgan.

Whether describing horrifying scenarios or jet-setting yachts and mansions, complete with delicious meals (“croissants so light they required fresh butter and jam to keep them on the plate”), Deadly Depths doesn’t disappoint. It’s consistently vivid, with an air of suspense from beginning to end.

Review by Sue Rushford (February 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

Five adventuring archeologist, self-dubbed The Monkey's Paws are drawn into a quest for a priceless object that originated in the Aztec Kingdom of the fifteenth century, appeared again in the golden age of piracy on the Caribbean, and was finally located in the Jamaican mountain village of the former slaves known as the Maroons. The death of one of the archeologists, called a suicide by the police, involves Michael Shane in the mission to prove that it was murder. The search takes Michael, a former investigator with United States Air Force Intelligence, from the steamy bayous of New Orleans to the backstreets of Montreal and a sunken pirate vessel in the Caribbean.

Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller/Crime

Number of Pages: 307

Word Count: 87,000