| Praise for Swimming With the Dead |
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from Mystery News Hannah Sampson is a cop, but with a twist. She's in charge of the Denver Police Department's dive and recovery team-retrieving evidence and investigating underwater crime scenes. For her, diving is a job, not recreation. Swimming with the Dead reminded me of the early Kay Scarpetta mysteries by Patricia Cornwell. I remember thinking when I read the first Scarpetta that it was going to make a great, long-lived series...the writing smooth, the heroine strong and yet vulnerable, the whole concept intriguing....Ditto for Swimming with the Dead. I think it may be an even better series. --Diana Vickery from the Romantic Times Book Club Magazine: TOP PICK! Rating: Fantastic iiii½
This debut author and series focuses on Hannah Sampson, head of the Denver
Homicide Division's Dive and Recovery Team.
When the commissioner's secretary is killed in an apparent office
burglary, he suspects someone was searching his late son Michael's
files. October 2003 from BooksNBytes.com iiiii SWIMMING WITH THE DEAD is the first installment in a very exciting new series. The heroine of this novel falls in love with the British Virgin Islands and by the time the case is closed she is ready to move down there and give a new romantic relationship a chance to develop into something deeper. There are many viable suspects who had reason to want the victim dead so the reader is thoroughly entertained trying to figure out who the killer really is. Harriet
Klausner from The Romance Reader's Connection.com This book grabs the reader from the start and never lets go. The pace is quick and sure, and Hannah is a great new character. The island background is clearly described by someone who has spent time there, and is fond of the locale. The underwater action is described in vivid detail. The islanders are all individuals, with quirks unique to those living in this kind of place. I get the feeling the author may have met a few of these people first-hand. The mystery is nicely convoluted and not easily solved, but very satisfying in the end. There are a few questions about Hannah's personal and professional life left unresolved here, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in upcoming books. Reviewed by Deborah Hern Rating:
from Roundtablereviews.com Debut
author Kathy Brandt sets the stage for a thrilling, fast-paced series
featuring Hannah Sampson, head of the Denver homicide’s Dive &
Recovery Team. Hold onto
your hats for this one! Packed
with a wide array of characters and loads of diving know-how, Kathy
Brandt’s personal experience shines through in this taut mystery.
From beginning to end, SWIMMING WITH THE DEAD will keep you on
the edge of your seat. Tracy
Farnsworth from Springs Magazine October 2003 Kathy
Brandt’s Mystery Debuts Tough, gutsy Hannah Sampson, head of the Dive and Recovery Team of Denver's homicide division, finds herself in deep in Kathy Brandt's new mystery, Swimming with the Dead. From the early sunrise in the prologue to the climactic final chapters, Brandt puts a twist on the typical mystery novel, layering in her vivid descriptions of an island paradise and addressing the stewardship of fragile coral reefs. Accepting an offer to investigate the unwarranted death of the Denver Police Commissioner's son, Sampson travels to the British Virgin Islands to probe farther into what the local police had labeled an accident. Whether or not Michael Duvall, a young, ambitious doctoral student from the states, drowned by accident or by foul play seems clear at the beginning. Assurances unravel as Hannah becomes acquainted with Duvall's old friends, and motives for harming him begin to surface in those who knew him best. Everyone's a suspect in Sampson's mind, and readers' assumptions are turned backward, somersaulted into suspicion and coaxed into second-guessing. Brandt leads you to the edge and lets you dangle a bit before giving out the secret. Dive in, but with caution. You never know what's lurking beyond the reef. Brandt's Swimming with the Dead is the product of 15 years of sailing and scuba diving experience. Her eloquent descriptions, intertwined with her message of preserving the underwater ecosystem, make her debut novel an impressive success. --Bobbi Sankey from Reviewing the Evidence.com The book contains wonderful descriptions of the islands and what it's like to dive in such a rich marine environment, but these never detract from the flow of the mystery itself. There is some vivid and action-filled writing in these pages, and Hannah Sampson is a passionate and articulate guide to troubled waters. Reviewed by Carroll Johnson, December 2003 from I Love a Mystery Newsletter.com The action in SWIMMING WITH THE DEAD takes place in a truly unusual setting and, as is to be expected, there’s some wild underwater action as Sampson comes closer and closer to finding out why Michael was exploring the wreck in the first place, and who it was who most certainly didn’t want him there. Brandt knows the world of the scuba diver, tells an interesting story, and ends it with a climax that should satisfy the most jaded appetite for thrills. - John A. Broussard |
