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Deadly Currents. Beth Groundwater (2011)

by Beth Groundwater(Favorite Author)

3.37 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1445838109 (ISBN13: 9781445838106)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Chivers North America

series

An RM Outdoor Adventures Mystery

review 1: Goodreads Description- The Arkansas River is the heart and soul of Salida, Colorado. It fuels the small town's economy and thrums in the blood of twenty-seven-year-old Mandy Tanner, a river ranger. When a whitewater rafting accident occurs, she deftly executes a rescue, but a man dies anyway. But it wasn't the river rapids that killed him, it was poison. Tom King was a rich land developer with bitter business rivals, who cheated on his wife, refused to support his kayak-obsessed son, and infuriated environmentalists. Mandy cooperates with the local sheriff's department to solve the murder. But little does she know how greatly the case will affect those she loves, including her beloved Uncle Bill—the respected owner of an outfitting business, out of whose raft Tom King fe... morell. She goes on an emotionally turbulent quest for the truth—and ends up in dangerous waters.Deadly Currents is the first in a new cozy mystery series by author Beth Groundwater. As most cozys do, this series has a focus, the town of Salida, Colorado on the banks of the Arkansas River and the types of sports that are prevalent in that area. In this particular edition the backdrop is the white water rafting tourist industry. The main character, Mandy Tanner, in the book is a seasonal river ranger on the Arkansas, and a former rafting guide for her Uncle Bill's rafting company. I normally don't like cozys and was particularly worried because I don't know anything about whitewater rafting, but the author definitely did her homework for this book. There is quite a bit of techinical information about the rafting industry including equipment, safety techniques, the importance of water levels and flows, as well as some fun trick rafting that can be done in contests. The author also includes a wonderful description of the Arkansas River and the surrounding area. These technical and ecological information was pretty much the best part of the book because I learned so much about a sport that I had little to no knowledge. As far as the plot goes, it seems like a pretty standard plotline for the cozy genre. A town big wig is killed during a whitewater rafting tour and Mandy is the river ranger who pulls him from the river and tries to revive him with no success. Mandy then feels guilty and questions her abilities as a ranger. When autopsy results show that he was poisoned an investigation is done and the reader finds out that Tom King isn't the greatest guy in the world. He was cheating on his wife, has basically disowned his son, and was in a messy bidding war with another developer over property that has river rights. There is a long description over why the water rights were important and that was one part of the book that I just didn't get and basically skimmed over. Due to her guilt and then the death of a family member, Mandy begins her own investigation into Tom's murder and in the process annoys several possible suspects and ends up putting herself in harm's way. The characters were all pretty good. I could tell what kind of personality each one had thus they were well developed. However, Mandy's boyfriend, Rob, rubs me the wrong way. I just didn't see why Mandy wanted to be involved with him. He seems too macho, untrustworthy, and pushy for a girl like her but it is what it is and maybe I will see more of his good attributes in the second book. Overall I would recommend this book to others simply because I learned so much about a rafting, a foreign subject to me, and it was a good solid mystery with some good twists and turns. It kept me wanting to read more so that is always a sign of a good book for me. 4 stars.
review 2: I loved the river rat culture that Groundwater describes in Deadly Currents, and I loved the setting of the Arkansas River, Salida, and Colorado in general. I just didn't care for the mystery part--I don't read a lot of mysteries, especially cozies, because they are so formulaic, and this was no exception. I found most of the characters to be flat and one-dimensional and the main character Mandy never really became a real person to me. I would love Groundwater to do a character-based novel in this setting, giving us real people with real motivations instead of a pat mystery that stretches the willingness to suspend disbelief. Not sure if I will read the rest in this series, but I would definitely read a non-mystery by this author, should she decide to go there. less

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