Book Review: Dead in the Water by S. C. Merritt (Bucket List Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Entertaining story sets up series

Cons: Short, and a bit less because of it

The Bottom Line:

Friends solve a murder

Sets up traveling series

Short, but stuff to like

Dead Man Floating

I’ve been saying for a while now that I wanted to find a travel or camping themed cozy series I would enjoy.  That’s why I was intrigued when I saw S. C. Merritt starting the Bucket List Mysteries.  Naturally, I jumped in with the first one, Dead in the Water.

Maisie Mitchell has sold her restaurant and retired to Florida.  She’s living in a senior’s only community, and that’s where she’s met Donna “Dot” Pinetta, a retired homicide detective from Chicago.  The two are opposites in many ways, but they quickly form a friendship.  They are enjoying their lives, although they begin to notice an undercurrent of tension in their community, all centered around Mason Jacobs, the young, handsome recreation director.  Things come to a head when they discover his body floating in the pool one morning.  Dot jumps into detective mode, with Maisie tagging along behind her.  Will the two of them figure out what happened?

In many ways, this book feels like a TV show pilot.  Why do I say that?  Because of the subplot that sets up the rest of the series.  The two start talking about getting an RV so they can travel and visit all the places they’ve wanted to see.  Hench, the Bucket List series name.

This book is definitely on the short side, at least for modern mysteries.  I read the ebook version, and it claims it is about 160 pages.  That’s shorter than the books I typically pick up, but longer than the few novellas I’ve read.  As long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine.

I did feel the story suffered a bit from the shorter length.  The characters were good, but they didn’t feel fully developed.  Maisie and Dot were the most developed, but even they have some room to be stronger characters as the series progresses.  The suspects were distinct enough that I could keep them apart.

Meanwhile, the plot could have also benefitted from a few more pages.  It felt rushed.  I know, I know, I’m the one usually complaining about slow pacing.  Just a little bit more time for a couple of things to develop would have been nice.  Having said that, I did appreciate the way that suspects and motives were being set up before Mason died, and the climax was wonderful.

Likewise, the descriptions were a little thin.

Now, if all this sounds like I hated the book, that’s not true.  I really did enjoy meeting Maisie and Dot and helping them figure out who done it.  I’m definitely planning to travel with them in the future.

Since Maisie used to own a restaurant, the author uses that for a chance to add a couple of recipes to the end of the book.  One definitely sounded good to me.  Not being a fan of fish, I definitely will skip the other.

Dead in the Water is a fast read that sets up a promising series.  I definitely want to see where Maisie and Dot visit in their travels.