BETTER OFF DEAD

Trisha, whose day job is working in the guest services department for the San Francisco Giants baseball team, attends the funeral of wealthy financier and open water swimmer Andy Barlow, who was chopped to pieces by a yacht propeller while training in San Francisco Bay. Andy was in business with his brother, Martin, who was secretly jealous of his sibling’s athleticism and annoyed by his preoccupation with swimming instead of working; he was also sleeping with Andy’s wife, Justine—or so says Harrison, Andy’s son, who wants Trisha, a skilled amateur detective, to look into his father’s death. She’s initially skeptical that foul play was involved, as the U.S. Coast Guard already ruled Andy’s death an accident. Still, she agrees to investigate with the assistance of her sister, Lena. She interrogates Justine, who’s either evasive or clueless about her family’s finances and seems to be hiding something about her relationship with Martin. Trisha later finds out that Justine wanted to break things off with Andy, and that hired goons from Las Vegas had come to collect on hisgambling debt. As more of Andy’s unsavory behavior comes to light, the suspect list only grows longer. Carroll’s novel features snappy dialogue, brisk characterizations of the Barlow family and their entourage, and generous helpings of technical detail about open water swimming. It also shows the author’s clear affection for the canyons, flora, and coastline of the San Francisco Bay Area: “Sausalito gleamed in the morning sun….Fall was San Francisco Bay’s summer, complete with warm weather, dazzling Pacific Ocean sunsets, and cloudless nights.” Overall, it’s a conventional but enjoyable whodunit with a plot that offers readers a round robin of familiar suspects; as such, the final reveal is unsurprising but still satisfying.

Mar 7, 2025 - 07:27

Trisha, whose day job is working in the guest services department for the San Francisco Giants baseball team, attends the funeral of wealthy financier and open water swimmer Andy Barlow, who was chopped to pieces by a yacht propeller while training in San Francisco Bay. Andy was in business with his brother, Martin, who was secretly jealous of his sibling’s athleticism and annoyed by his preoccupation with swimming instead of working; he was also sleeping with Andy’s wife, Justine—or so says Harrison, Andy’s son, who wants Trisha, a skilled amateur detective, to look into his father’s death. She’s initially skeptical that foul play was involved, as the U.S. Coast Guard already ruled Andy’s death an accident. Still, she agrees to investigate with the assistance of her sister, Lena. She interrogates Justine, who’s either evasive or clueless about her family’s finances and seems to be hiding something about her relationship with Martin. Trisha later finds out that Justine wanted to break things off with Andy, and that hired goons from Las Vegas had come to collect on hisgambling debt. As more of Andy’s unsavory behavior comes to light, the suspect list only grows longer. Carroll’s novel features snappy dialogue, brisk characterizations of the Barlow family and their entourage, and generous helpings of technical detail about open water swimming. It also shows the author’s clear affection for the canyons, flora, and coastline of the San Francisco Bay Area: “Sausalito gleamed in the morning sun….Fall was San Francisco Bay’s summer, complete with warm weather, dazzling Pacific Ocean sunsets, and cloudless nights.” Overall, it’s a conventional but enjoyable whodunit with a plot that offers readers a round robin of familiar suspects; as such, the final reveal is unsurprising but still satisfying.