by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Deep Six, and a link to order it from Amazon, as well as a link to purchase it from an indie bookstore where a portion goes to help support KRL.

Jake Longley was a pro ball player but now owns a bar on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The work isn’t hard, in fact, it’s almost non-existent, thanks to his right-hand gal, Carla. Jake’s dad, Ray, is a private investigator. He lives a much more structured lifestyle, one that Jake wants no part of. On the other hand, a little surveillance job wouldn’t put him out, as long as that’s all it is.

Henry Plummer thinks his wife, Barbara, is having an affair when he’s out of town. So, the gig is to take a few incriminating photos, hand them over to Ray—job done. Well, that might have worked if Barbara didn’t live right across the street from Jake’s crazy ex-wife, Tammy. As Jake says, “Tammy had a short fuse. She could go from zero to C-4 in a nanosecond.” She also doesn’t stop to think before acting. That’s how she decided Jake was spying on her, no doubt obsessed with her, although she’d moved on and married her divorce lawyer. She explained this to Jake by way of Jake’s own five iron that must have been part of the divorce settlement like most everything Jake owned, except the bar.

The five iron met the vintage Mustang’s side window (original glass) and then the smaller window before Jake could slow Tammy down enough to save the rest of the car. Of course, for her to believe he’s on a stakeout, she wants to know who he’s watching. Client privilege applies and that leaves Jake in a bad spot. The police are called to settle things down.

Except, now Jake has two busted windows, and it’s starting to rain which leads to Jake meeting Nicole.

Nicole’s with Jake during the second night of surveillance, thoughtfully repositioned to the shore side of the house, so Tammy wouldn’t see them. Video captures the guilty parties and job done.

Except Barbara’s found dead the next morning. Henry’s a real estate guy and has a few enemies. Barbara, not so much. Her boyfriend, quite a few. Jake and Ray, with the help of Ray’s employee, Pancake, have to figure out if the killing was personal or business related.

After that, the ride gets wilder as the bodies pile up, the banter gets wittier, and Jake wonders if he’ll survive.

To say more wouldn’t do the book credit and might give away too much of the plot. Jake is a believable character, full of wit and charm. Nicole is a woman who any woman would envy and try to hate except she’s also pretty nice which makes hating her hard to do. The mystery is full of suspense even after the killer’s identity is known. It will have you holding your breath for pages. This is a “just one more page” book that will keep you awake well into the night, just to see what happens next.

Deep Six is the first in a new crime series and based on this one, it will be a long running series indeed. Lyle also wrote three Dub Walker books, three Samantha Cody books, two Royal Pains Media Tie-in books, and seven non-fiction books about forensics.

To enter to win a copy of Deep Six, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “six,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 27, 2016. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Deep Six

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble and a Kindle. You can find several of Sandra’s short stories at Untreed Reads including her newest, “Arthur,” included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now. Look for Denali, in the anthology Dogs and Dragons.