Review: In Deep Water

In Deep Water by Sam Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Following the ending of Same Blake’s debut novel, Little Bones, I was pretty eager to dive into the second Cathy Connolly book. Despite my mixed feelings on the first book, the ending left me desperate to see what came next. Thus, I was more than willing to dive into In Deep Water a few days later.

The mixed feelings I experienced towards book one seem to have travelled over to book two, leaving me equally unsure as to how I feel in regards to this series. It was enjoyable enough, but I wasn’t crazy about it; I was curious to see how things would play out, but I wasn’t desperately turning pages; I was willing to work through the entire book, but I wasn’t entirely invested in what was playing out. In truth, In Deep Water has left me unsure as to whether I will read more of this series. At present, with such mixed feelings, I’m doubtful I will. I may pick up book three if I find it on offer, but it is not a book I will go out of my way to purchase.

As with the first book, plenty occurred within this book. It wasn’t quite what I had thought it would be, though. With the big ending of book one, I expected a lot of emotional turmoil and events that followed on from the prior book. As it was, this book took place over a year later and could be read as a standalone novel. It left me rather disappointed, as I feel we missed out on plenty of good things that could have been linked back to book one. Sure, references were made, yet it was never the big moment I thought it would be considering it was such a cliff-hanger of an ending – if anything, it merely confirmed it was a way to get people purchasing the next book.

Despite how the story was not quite what I had expected, I enjoyed the crime element of this story more than I enjoyed the story of the prior book. I enjoy it when crimes have a personal connection to the main character, allowing us deep into their world. Although this one did not dig as deep as some stories, although I never felt the emotional impact I had hoped to, I was intrigued by the way things developed.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first book you’ll probably enjoy this second book. For me, it didn’t shift my view of the series into an overly positive light, and due to that I doubt I’ll be reading more.

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