Adrift

Title: Adrift
Author: Micki Browning
Publication date: 1/10/2017
Publisher: Alibi
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Amazon blurb
In this breathtaking mystery debut, marine biologist–turned-divemaster Meredith Cavallo stands accused of a chilling crime after a dive gone wrong. But do the murky circumstances point to an accident, a murder, or a supernatural encounter?

Mer thought adjusting to a laid-back life in the Florida Keys would be a breeze. But when she rescues a floundering diver who claims to have seen a ghost, she’s caught in a storm of intrigue. News of the encounter explodes on social media, attracting a team of ghost hunters who want to capture proof that a greenish ghoul haunts Key Largo’s famed USS Spiegel Grove shipwreck.

Meredith knows the wreck inside and out, and agrees to act as their safety diver. When Ishmael, the charismatic leader of the group, vanishes during a midnight dive, everyone except Mer is convinced the ghost has claimed another victim. Topside, the tenacious detective in charge of the investigation finds Mer’s involvement in both incidents suspicious, and her enigmatic neighbor resurrects ghosts from her past.

Determined to find a rational explanation, Mer approaches Ishmael’s disappearance as any scientist would—by asking questions, gathering data, and deducing the truth. But the victim’s life is as shrouded in mystery as his disappearance. Still, something happened under the water and before long, she’s in over her head. When someone tries to kill her, she knows the truth is about to surface. Maybe dead men do tell tales after all.

My Review
I’m not usually a big murder mystery guy but since the blurb suggested a possible paranormal element—totally my wheelhouse—I thought I’d give it a go. Overall, I’m not sorry I did but I wasn’t exactly impressed either. Technically, I gave it a rating of 2.5 but I could just as easily have rated it a “meh”.

So given my middle-of-the-road rating there had to be some major issues, right?

Actually there weren’t. The characters were likable (even though there wasn’t much depth to any of them), there were multiple twists and turns and the ending wrapped things up nicely. So why the rating? Mostly because everything about the book felt a bit bland. The level of excitement and tension never got very high (at least to me), the characters were a bit one-dimensional and many of the scenes seemed to be drawn out too long or were just completely unnecessary.

It also didn’t help that I had the mystery figured out fairly early or that some of the climactic scenes featured feats of strength and endurance that strained the bounds of believability.

I dunno, maybe I’m being too hard. I suspect quite a few people will honestly enjoy this book more than I did. If you’re a murder mystery fan and prefer vanilla ice cream (and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that), maybe this is the book for you. For me, I was looking for a brownie sundae with hot fudge, cashews and whipped cream. To each their own.

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