Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery – Book 1 by Micki Browning

284 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Alibi, Alibi
Release Date: January 10, 2017

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Florida Keys, Scuba

Meredith cavallo is a mate on The Luna Sea, a scuba boat in Key Largo. When a distressed diver tells of seeing a ghost under the water, no one believes him. Ishmael Styx hears about the possible ghost encounter and wants to hire The Luna Sea for a night dive as part of a documentary. During the moonless night, Amber, an inexperienced diver, panics while taking photos. Mer must take her back to the boat and asks about Ishmael, the crew tells her he has not returned. Mer goes back down looking for him. All she finds is his glowstick and mask. Detective Josh Talbot lists her as a suspect. Selkie, an old flame and current neighbor helps Mer track down evidence after an attack on her life.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The author does a good job describing the landscape and feeling of the Florida Keys. If you are looking for a solid mystery, you will enjoy this book.

I loved reading as I kid but struggle to find time as an adult. It’s often impossible to sit down to focus. While this book was not memorable overall, I’m sure it’s not you, dear book, it’s me.

I enjoyed this atmospheric mystery with a touch of the paranormal after a diving incident goes wrong.

A well written thriller with a good protagonist in Mel. It's also quite atmospheric and I learned a bit about diving. A good read.

Love, love, love the characters in this series, the Key West setting and the author's sense of humor. It's so refreshing to find an author that can throw in sarcasm and humorous dialogue without being cheesy or over-the-top. The mystery was also engaging and there was just the right amount of suspense and action. If you grabbed this book off the shelf without any background on the author, you would never know this was her debut. It's written with the finesse of a seasoned author. If you're a fan of mysteries, you should check it out. You won't be disappointed! I have a new favorite mystery author.

Really good visualization of the diving - I've never dove, so feeling like I understood what was going on was really helpful. That said, I felt like there were some loose ends, and I never love that! Enjoyed, solid start for a new writer, would read more work!

Mer Cavallo is a former marine biologist who has stepped away from her career to become a dive master in the Florida Keys, hoping for a laid-back life.
When she rescues a diver who claims to have seen a ghost, Mer finds herself in the middle of a ghost hunt. Ishmael, the leader of a group of ghost hunters who want to film and hopefully prove the existence of the ghost who haunts the shipwreck of the USS Spiegel Grove.
Against her better judgement, Mer agrees to act as the safety diver for the team, and when Ishmael disappears on their first dive, local authorities think she had something to to with it.
Using her analytical scientific background, Mer works out the solution to this mystery, and finds herself in danger of being killed.
I enjoyed the book, but didn’t find myself connecting with this protagonist as I do with some.

This was a decent summer read despite being a bit cliche. I like the protagonist Mer but could pretty much figure out what her decisions were going to be before she made them. Had the the typical romantic tension and the love/hate relationship between Mer and the police officer, which I could see turning into something. I think that people who like/visit Key Largo and or scuba enthusiasts will like this book. I think Bijoux and the tarot card reading was also cliche but kind of fit in well with the Key Largo mystique.

I’ve always daydreamed about living somewhere like Key Largo, with sun-drenched, lazy days and margaritas at my fingertips. Micki Browning’s Key Largo isn’t quite that Key Largo. Well, it is, but she mines an undeniable current of darkness underneath the golden veneer. Dr. Meredith “Mer” Cavallo—a scientist specializing in octopi, used to spending her time in the frigid wastelands of the Arctic—is working as a dive instructor for a small diving outfit. Unfortunately for Mer, she’s about to have a few weird experiences that will color her life a decided shade of grey in the days ahead. The first is when she rescues a diver named Rob, who was supposedly checking out the presumably haunted wreckage of the Spiegel Grove five miles away.

“It’s getting closer.”

His alarm quickened her pulse. “What’s getting closer?” The ocean had plenty of docile animals that looked like maneaters to the inexperienced, and just enough real dangers to keep things interesting. She dipped her face in the water and scanned beneath them. Nothing. “How are you feeling?”

“Not good. Nothing’s right.”

Crap. Wrong answer. “What’s going on?”

“I’m…my…did you see that?” He pointed behind her.

His fear infected her. She twisted around but didn’t see anything. “What? What did you see?”

He tensed, shuddered, then went limp.

His claim that he was exploring the Spiegel Grove is nearly unbelievable, but there doesn’t seem to be any reason for him to lie. It doesn’t seem possible he could have ended up so far away from the wreckage. He also claimed to have witnessed some sort of presence at the site. Mer’s scientific training makes her naturally skeptical, but it’s not until she’s asked to take a team of paranormal investigators out on the LunaSea that her scientific nature is put to the ultimate test. The leader, Ishmael Styx, is an overbearing jerk, and it’s immediately obvious when he stops by the shop to inquire about the charter.

“Actually, I want to charter the entire boat.”

Boats come in two basic sizes in the commercial dive community: six-packs and cattle boats. Mer flipped to a tabbed page of the smaller vessel. “The Dock Holiday carries six divers—”

“Honey, I need your big boat.”

“That’s Doctor, honey.” Mer plastered a neutral expression on her face and flipped to the second tab. Researching the Arctic was so much easier than customer service. Plus, cephalopods weren’t nearly as slimy as some people.

Ishmael and his group go by the ridiculous name of Spirited Divers Paranormal Scuba Team, and they’re filming a documentary about ghostly activity on the Spiegel Grove for the Expedition channel. Before they set out, Mer meets the team: the prickly Lindsey Hatchet, the team’s underwater photographer and part owner of the group; Amber Green, the land photographer and Ishmael’s fiancé; Rabbit, who’s in charge of underwater videography; and Echo, who handles sound engineering. Everyone except for Ishmael—and maybe Lindsey—seems pretty decent, and Mer prepares herself for what she assumes will be a by-the-books dive. Mer is initially alarmed when she discovers how inexperienced Amber really is at diving.

“Thanks. I’m so excited. This is going to be my tenth dive.”

“Tenth? One-zero?”

Amber nodded, smiling. “I just got my advanced certification. This’ll be my very first deep dive without an instructor.”

“Wonderful.” Mer tightened the straps. “Advanced” was a misnomer in diving. A person could graduate from a basic course and go straight into an advanced class without any dives in between. Amber barely had the skills to keep herself out of trouble, and Ishmael wanted her to take photographs.

Mer is uneasy, but there’s really nothing she can do, and the dive commences. Here’s where things really get creepy. I love the ocean, but its depths are daunting, and imagining a night dive in over 100 ft. of water in a wreck that’s supposed to be haunted curls my toes a little. Browning does a fantastic job creating atmosphere during this dive, and it will come as no surprise to readers that something strange happens while investigating the wreck. To Mer’s horror, the worst that can happen does. She comes up minus a diver. Ishmael goes missing during the dive, and this kicks off a police investigation that, unfortunately, focuses on Mer.

I kind of fell in love with the prickly Mer. She is less than thrilled having to deal with Shakespeare-quoting Detective Josh Talbot of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, who seems to think she’s hiding something. She’s just as stumped as everyone else, but what she doesn’t believe in is ghosts, and she resolves to get to the bottom of what happened. Complicating matters is the return of a long-ago love, Ian Phillips, who goes by Selkie and now harbors a very mysterious past. Mer is undeniably attracted to him, but he puts off conflicting signals. To someone as analytical as Mer, it’s downright frustrating.

This is a fast-paced, spooky read with an irresistible heroine that’s not to be missed.

This was a very exciting mystery ! Our protagonist "Mer" (Meridith) is a licensed diver as part of her PHD background in marine biology. She is approached by criminals unknown to her who want to use her for credibility to stories about hauntings and ghosts at a dive site. The dive site has a history of being problematic . She agrees unknowing of the danger involved. . They hire her as a dedicated dive master. Determined to do a good job and remain professional she is shocked when everything goes wrong.
When one of the divers does not come back she is met with threats about investigating and decides to investigate on her own. She finds certain danger and nefarious types along the way and proves to be a skilled sleuth.
The diving aspect was thrilling as was the dive site. The author has written a well crafted fun mystery that I enjoyed in its entirety.
Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my personal opinion.

This novel started out as a combination murder mystery and ghost story, which intrigued me. Once it became obvious that the ghost story aspect wasn't going to pan out, the story started to lose some of its excitement and turned into a rather predictable mystery. The characters don't seem to grow much throughout the story, and the plot follows a fairly standard formula. The writing style was good, but the "who-done-it" part was just too easy to figure out.

Well, once again I'm in the minority. This book has a 4+ star rating on goodreads and won awards, but for me, it was just okay. I liked it, gave it 3 stars on goodreads, but I didn't love it.

Our heroine is different, being a marine biologist and dive master, not usual lines of works for mystery story leads. She has no experience investigating murder or any crimes but when she's a suspect in a disappearance, she takes matters into her own hands. Mer is an independent woman, a loner, and prone to being a smart-ass. She's passionate about octopuses, NOT octopi, she's quite firm about that; she tends to keep people at a distance; she's smart thought not always good at social interactions; and she has a tendency to speak without thinking first.

The pace of the story was steady, with events occurring over several weeks. At times, I wished things moved a little faster as parts of the story dragged. There was a lot of detail about underwater diving and underwater equipment. The mystery itself was well-done and kept me reading. I figured out a few things along the way but there were some surprises. The mystery was complex but not overly complicated and I liked how it kept me guessing. At times the mystery took a backseat to Mer's personal life, which contributed to the slowness of the story. There's a strong cast of interesting characters who added depth to the story and gave Mer help in her investigations. The detective in charge of the police investigation veered between being competent and incompetent, though we only see him from Mer's perspective and she's desperate to clear her name.

The story asks questions about the paranormal, about faith, about science, and whether people deserve a second chance. Mer is at a fork in the road for her life and the disappearance of Ishmael prompts Mer to re-evaluate her life and her beliefs, as does a chance encounter with an old love. Mer was hard to warm up to; she was distant, prickly, and sometimes hard to understand. She's balanced out by her boss, Bijoux, a warm woman who reads Tarot cards, and her mother, a slightly over-bearing but well-meaning woman who reads palms. Their workings in the paranormal and mystical provide a good counterpoint to Mer's all-scientific method, all-the-time approach to life.

"Adrift' provided a solid, mostly entertaining story with a strong cast of characters. The pacing was off and Mer was stiff at times but it's a promising start to the series.

A diver goes missing on the famed Spiegel Grove shipwreck in the Florida keys. He was no ordinary diver, but one looking for "ghosts", and now maybe he was their victim? Leave it to Meredith, a dive master, to unravel this little mystery as she navigates her unsettled life. Go read it already!

I’m not usually a big murder mystery guy but since the blurb suggested a possible paranormal element—totally my wheelhouse—I thought I’d give it a go. Overall, I’m not sorry I did but I wasn’t exactly impressed either. Technically, I gave it a rating of 2.5 but I could just as easily have rated it a “meh”.

So given my middle-of-the-road rating there had to be some major issues, right?

Actually there weren’t. The characters were likable (even though there wasn’t much depth to any of them), there were multiple twists and turns and the ending wrapped things up nicely. So why the rating? Mostly because everything about the book felt a bit bland. The level of excitement and tension never got very high (at least to me), the characters were a bit one-dimensional and many of the scenes seemed to be drawn out too long or were just completely unnecessary.

It also didn’t help that I had the mystery figured out fairly early or that some of the climactic scenes featured feats of strength and endurance that strained the bounds of believability.

I dunno, maybe I’m being too hard. I suspect quite a few people will honestly enjoy this book more than I did. If you’re a murder mystery fan and prefer vanilla ice cream (and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that), maybe this is the book for you. For me, I was looking for a brownie sundae with hot fudge, cashews and whipped cream. To each their own.

It started out great but then it just followed the same map of other cozy mystery fiction. I think some people really enjoy this predictable type of writing but it just wasn't for me. I didn't finish this one.

Divemaster Meredith Cavallo is a hero one day, having saved a life, and under investigation the next day when a dive goes wrong on a shipwreck. Divers keep saying there’s a ghost on the shipwreck, but Mer, a scientist, believes there has to be a more rational explanation for mysterious goings-on. The story immediately opened with tension, and never let go. This is a debut book, but reads like a novel written by a veteran author. I’m looking forward to more in this series.

I enjoyed the beginning of this book but it quickly goes downhill from there. I started getting bored and falling asleep while reading this. Not an entertaining nor enjoyable book.

A gripping tale of mysterious events beneath the waves and deepening intrigue as the plots ebb and flow

Mer is a scientist. She understands how the paranormal is supposed to work -- her mother was born in Sedona and reads palms. But Mer lives a life based on facts and research. She refuses to believe that the diver she rescued from the wreck of the Spiegel Grove saw a ghost. And she's not impressed by the ghost hunters who hired her as dive master on their late night expedition. When things go wrong and the leader of the group disappears during the dive, Mer is devastated...and skeptical. There's no such thing as ghosts, so how can the glowing apparition they encounter on their next trip down to the wreck be Ishmael?

I couldn't have chosen to read the first Mer Cavallo mystery at a better time. After a couple of days of snorkeling and a scuba demonstration in the resort's pool earlier that day, it was way to easy to imagine swallowing salty water and drowning below the surface. Especially when I was reading late at night with only the glow of my phone's screen to keep me company. More than once, I found myself literally holding my breath. Of all the cozies I've read, I think this is the one where the character's involvement in the mystery made the most sense. Mer lost a client and is determined to find out exactly what happened to him.

Mer Cavallo is a scientist who is working for a Florida dive shop while looking for a new research posting. Herding wayward divers is not always fun but it does get her out on the water and it pays the bills.

Then one day a diver appears at a dive site where he should not be, claiming he has no idea how he got there and telling a wild story about a ghost in the water. The media picks up the story and some ghost hunters appear. One of them is murdered, and suddenly Mer's rather orderly scientist's life is in disarray.

Good storytelling and good description. I could feel the hot sun and the lapping of the waves. I thought the final ending a bit irrational but, as this is the first book in a series, I will hold off judgment for a while.

I received a review copy of "Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery" by Micki Browning (Random House – Alibi) through NetGalley.com.