The second in the series, but I was still able to understand all without reading books one first. I have since read all the series and have to say I did enjoy this bill and the full series. Sloan is a diver for the UIU who discovers a van with thr bodies of teens who went missing decades earlier. Action packed and I really enjoyed the water diving scenes.

I love this series and enjoyed Black Coral even more than the UIU series debut, The Girl Beneath the Sea. I love the relationships, the action, as well as the shorter chapters that keep you reading just...one...more. Sloan is a fantastic lead and I love the interactions with Jackie, Run, and her co-workers, Hughes and George. I love how Sloan is written as reckless, yet smart. Not just a younger woman bumbling about in a police investigation and getting into trouble. And come on, who doesn't love giant alligators.

I cannot wait to keep reading this series!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

An interesting police procedural mystery. I like that this book focuses on an underwater investigation unit in Florida. It allows for a myriad of creatures, human and animal, that pose a threat to the investigators. Looking forward to reading more books in the Underwater Investigation Unit series.

Ooh time goes by and if i don't write the review right away...sigh. I'm trying to be better. The best i can do right now is give a star count...

This was one of my first Andrew Mayne titles and i have since become a big fan.

I really enjoyed this book! To be entirely honest, I have not read the first book in the series, and, while not knowing the plot points being referenced from the first book was a bit annoying, it follows a common convention of police procedural novels that reminds you who characters are when you first encounter them in the story. Being from South Florida, the author managed to capture the right amount of nostalgia while also writing about brutal murders being committed in essentially my old backyard. It was a good time! I’ll definitely be going back to pick up the first one and continuing on with the series.

Diving adventures and a serial killer

Sloan McPherson is back in the second adventure featuring the Underwater Investigation Unit. Joining her are her boss, ex-DEA agent George Sonar and new hire Scott "Hughes," a former navy diver.

Sloan dives down to salvage a car and body that went off the road in the Everglades and in the process finds a van with four additional bodies that's been down there for years.

This discovery puts her unit and the FBI on the trail of a serial killer that's been operating out of this same area for years.

I enjoyed this second book in this series even more than the first - and I liked that one a lot. I like Sloan, her co-workers, her family, the setting, and, oh, Big Bill.

I highly recommend this series. I am now off to read the third book in the series SEA STORM.

I received this book from Thomas & Mercer through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

I ordered it not knowing it was the second book in a series. It is my mistake for not reading carefully before ordering the book. Sorry.

Much better and more interesting that the first installment in the series! Because of 2 (choice) reasons - the cold case mystery, which might not be all that cold, is my favourite motive. And I like Rob, Sloane on-and-off boyfriend :)
But, seriously. The case is well plotted and played and also instantly catchy to me, as all the crimes related to a woman are.
Also, all the added "alligator subplot" is educative and it adds to the adventure element.

3.5 stars rounded up for this unique crime thriller.

In this second of the series, Detective Sloan McPherson, a police diver with the newly formed Underwater Investigation Unit in Florida, finds a van buried in the muck at the bottom of an alligator-infested pond. Inside are the bodies of 4 teenagers who went missing over 30 years ago. As she and her small team examine the forensics, a frightening picture starts to emerge. This was no tragic accident and it appears that they are looking for a serial killer who has been working the area for years. NO SPOILERS.

I came into this without having read the first installment, but it worked fine as a standalone with some background details given so that I was not lost. I liked the main character, enjoyed the details about the Florida Everglades, and the facts about the wildlife and predators found in that area. The plot was realistic and the methodology of the team and their interaction with the Florida Law Enforcement Division rang true. It was fun to read about the underwater diving and that unique activity made the usual detective mystery seem more interesting. I look forward to reading the third in the series and will likely go back and pick up the first as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

Great thriller, kept me turning the pages and I would highly recommend to other people. Look forward to reading more by this author.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Black Coral by Andrew Mayne

Sloan McPherson is back!

Coming off the previous events of the first book, Sloan and the U.I.U are determined to make a name for themselves in the Florida police circuit. But when a van connected to a cold case from 1989 is discovered submerged in the middle of the alligator infested waters of Pond 65, this might just be a case even Sloan has to walk away from.

***(Possible spoilers) ***

Being someone who doesn’t typically gravitate towards reading crime, I love this series!

The mystery had me hooked from the words “cold case, 1989, and alligator infested”. This was truely an ‘unputdownable’ book, each chapter winding deeper and deeper into discovery or danger - all backdropped by the gorgeous and haunting Florida Everglades.

Black Coral brings back first book favourites such as George Solar and his girlfriend Cindy, Run and of course Sloan’s daughter Jackie. And a new favourite, Hughes, an ex-marine, family man who is brought in to ‘keep McPherson in check’ to conflicting results. I hope to see him repeat his appearance in further books.
An excellent cast of characters to accompany the reader as they are pulled through this narrative.

The mystery was convoluted and fastpaced, and I found myself continuously convinced of a new suspect ever time I picked up the book. I do wish there had been a bit more time spent following a couple of the various suspects just to really throw the reader off, however I do realise that is not entirely practical in a 300 page thriller.

The use of various locations tied to the crime such as the pond, the Everglades track and the abandoned amphitheatre created a really deep and suspenseful atmosphere while reading and really drew me into the story.

The last quarter of the novel was so gripping as I watched the undercover operation play out and the pacing here worked perfectly. I will say I think the pacing could have been even drawn out ever so slightly near the end. After such a methodical and convoluted mystery I felt we didn’t fully get to unpack the culprit to my satisfaction, but again that is a preference of mine when it comes to crime fiction.

If you’re looking for a new crime series or looking to try out the genre, I can highly recommend the Underwater Investigation Unit. Mysteries uniquely and creatively wrapped up in diving and underwater pursuits with a strong and witty main character you are certain to revisit countless times.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Black Coral was published in February 2021 and is available both in store and online.

This was a fun book, I loved the story line and the characters. Unexepcted ending and very satisfying read. Thank you for my ARC.

Black Coral is the second book in the mystery series Underwater Investigation Unit. I enjoyed the first book, The Girl Beneath the Sea, so I was looking forward to reading the latest addition to the series. This continues to be a great series. Black Coral can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting with the first book.

In Black Coral, the Underwater Investigation Unit is called to the scene of a van at the bottom of a pond. This discovery leads to a suspenseful hunt for a serial killer. A well written story with interesting characters. I especially enjoy Sloan, as she continues to be a strong and complex character.

Exciting and intriguing mystery. A great read for fans of crime thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another exciting entry in the underwater investigations unit series. The book starts fast and keeps moving at a torrid pace.

Black Coral is the second book in a series about a police department in Florida called the Underwater Investigation Unit (duh). The series is about Sloan McPherson, a life long scuba diver and archeological PhD candidate who started working as a part time police diver while in school but is now doing the job full time. It also features her supervisor/mentor George who happens to be the cop who busted her uncle for drug trafficking years ago, and their families/close friends who all end up involved in their investigations at least peripherally.

The UIU is a small (only 3 members), brand new department that other Florida police departments don't really think should exist so this book starts with the idea that after the events of book one they need to be proving their worth/toeing the line. They're supposed to be working a case about yacht robberies but when Sloan finds a van in a pond with the bodies of 4 teens who went missing in (I think) the 80s those plans quickly go up in smoke. The other police department investigating the case is willing to wrap it up quickly and call it an accident but Sloan and her new partner Hughes both have a feeling things aren't 100% what they seem so they keep digging, uncovering that the 4 teens are the victims of an extremely prolific and still active serial killer haunting the Florida Everglades.

When I originally picked this up I didn't know it was the second in a series but I bought the first one and read it before going into this one because I'm ThatGuy(tm). This one can absolutely stand on its own so you don't need to read the first one but I would recommend it, especially if you liked this one. Book one provides a lot of background into the characters' pasts and really helps develop the relationships.

What worked for me: I really like the premise of this book/series. Maybe it's because I'm from a (mostly) landlocked area but the idea of underwater diving/archeology has always fascinated me and I've never really seen other mysteries with this premise (although I'm sure they exist). The concept of underwater crime solving feels fresh and really intrigues me/sets this apart from a standard detective thriller.

I also love the cast of characters. While Sloan herself can honestly get a little obnoxious at times (you're so smart! please just make one(1) good decision) the whole cast of characters as a whole is great. We've got an absolute badbutt detective in Sloan, her grizzled but secret softy mentor George, and appearances from people in their lives such as: Sloan's sort of boyfriend, her preteen daughter, her pirate treasure hunting dad and criminal uncle, as well as George's long term girlfriend who is a reporter and also a queen. AND THEN THERE'S HUGHES! Calvin Hughes is a former navy man and the third member of the UIU, he's first introduced in this book and also I love him. I thought he was such a good addition to the team; he works well as a sardonic, voice of reason and kind of functions as a reader stand in, when things got wild or weird he was asking questions that I myself had and I loved it. I enjoyed his personality in general and I definitely look forward to seeing more of him/the rest of the characters in future books.

Also the mystery in this one while not my favourite mystery ever was still one I enjoyed. I love cold cases in general especially when they end up being not to cold and I thought this storyline was more plausible than the one from the first book and I just bought into it more. It was also paced really well. The plot progressed really nicely throughout the book and it felt like the exact right length.

What didn't really work for me: you absolutely do not have to read the first book to understand this one and in fact, if you did read the first one there might be some things that confuse you. This book starts roughly 6 months after the end of book one and there are some pretty big changes in the characters' lives at the beginning of this book. While this wouldn't be a concern for someone who was starting with book 2, having just finished book 1 a couple of days before starting this one I was definitely thrown for a loop/confused as to what was going on and I felt it could have been executed a little better.

There are also some things that contradict book 1 without any real explanation. In book 1 Sloan is a part time police diver working with a few different police departments to retrieve evidence etc. It's pretty explicit that she doesn't plan on being a cop forever and is basically just doing this so she can utilize/maintain her diving skills while still making money as she studies for her PhD. But then in this one she's working full time, somehow a detective (I'm 99% sure that wasn't her rank in book 1) and school seems like an afterthought. I really would have liked to see more time spent addressing this. She's also incredibly defensive of being a cop to anyone who questions her on it which just seems like a weird stance to take if you see it as a side gig and don't plan on making it your career. This aspect feels like a dropped ball tbh and I'd like to see it explored more in the future because right now I'm questioning why the student/PhD subplot even exists.

The biggest issue I had with this one was definitely the ending. No spoilers but it was really anticlimactic and just didn't really do it for me. It was realistic which was great but almost anyone could have been the killer and the book would have stayed the same which to me means that the identity of the killer just doesn't really matter. I personally didn't find the reveal all that impactful and that's rough with a mystery/thriller. It wasn't awful or dumb or anything but it was kind of meh to me and lowered my overall rating.

The Overall: I feel kind of weird seeing so many 4 and 5 star ratings because it almost makes me feel like I might be missing something but I have to trust my gut here. I'd say this was about a 3.25 read for me. I liked the concept and characters (for the most part) but there were things that just didn't really work for me and while the premise is definitely unique the end product still felt pretty formulaic and a little lackluster. I can honestly say I look forward to the next book in the series and I will definitely pick it up but as of right now I see this as more of a reliably enjoyable read than a standout favourite for me. But! I would not be mad if the next book changed my mind.

As always, a big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

Sloan McPherson is called to investigate a car in Pond 65 after having gone off a bridge. While diving and securing the vehicle under water in order to remove it, she discovers a van nearby also submerged. She has a feeling that the van is important enough to investigate. After being overly persuasive she gets to dive to secure the van with her new partner Hughes. The van is also removed and they find four bodies inside. Researching the license plate it is determined to be four teenagers who disappeared 30 years ago. Sloan and her partner keep following the clues in order to get to the truth in spite of her supervisor and the government agencies "assisting and taking over the case." Sloan has a few encounters with danger, as well as an alligator named "Big Bill."

This is a great stand alone book. I hope to see more in the series.

3.5/5 stars

I feel really bad for rating this book so low, but unfortunately, I just struggled to get through this one. Unlike the first book, Black Coral didn't hook me or intrigue me right away. I had to dnf this book for now, but maybe I'll come back to it later. While I loved the first book, I think it would've been better off as a standalone

This is a nice thriller with flawed characters that keep you wanting to yell at them to stop being so careless. It felt like watching CSI or NCIS renegade agents. There are some excellent scenes, like Sloane getting almost eaten by Big Bill in the pond, but overall. I'd recommend it if you like crime series, though this one at least is a decent standalone. I received a digital copy from the publisher Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley.

Black Coral is about an Underwater Investigation Unit (UIU) who is called out to a local Floridian pond on a case. While she is diving in the water, she finds an old submerged van with deceased passengers still inside. She sets out trying to find out more info on these passengers and why this doesn't feel like an accident, but a possible murder.

Overall I felt this novel was well paced and highly interesting. It worked well as a standalone novel despite being the 2nd in a series.

Fast-paced and enjoyable, however for people who read a lot of thrillers this is kind of similar, so you won't be getting anything extraordinary, but this is a good read.