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‘From its eerie opening in the moonlit waters of an island to the tension-charged denouement, we are smooothly sucked into the tale…On one level the book is an old-fashioned thriller in the best sense, its meticulous plot full of suspense and red herrings. But in a neat subversion of the mystery genre, this smart, absorbing novel also grapples subtly with the idea that in life things are rarely black and white…and that, even with murder, things are not always what they seem.’ Daily Mail
‘Harrison has a knack for making animals fascinating, exploring their intelligence and emotions with as much insight as he does human characters’ Fiona Kennedy, Bookseller
A small New England fishing community is the setting for this compelling blend of suspense, adventure and romance, from the author of the highly successful THE SNOW FALCON.
On a dark night on an island off the coast of Maine, a shot is heard and a fisherman disappears. Despite the absence of a body, Ella Young is accused of murder and it falls to Matt Jones, the town’s lawyer, to uncover the truth that will clear the woman he’s in love with However it soon becomes apparent that Ella isn’t tellng him everything she knows, and as the evidence mounts against her, Matt is forced to question his belief in her innocence.
A beautiful summer visitor adds further confusion when Matt finds she knew the missing man better than she admits, and that she and Ella share an impenetrable secret. What begins as a straightforward investigation is soon caught up in the rivalries of local politics and a bitter conflict between one faction that wants to change the island’s traditional way of life and another, led by Ella, that values the delicate balance between man and the sea.
Against this seething background comes the reappearance of valuable bluefin tuna in the gulf, along with their natural predators, a pod of orcas. As the struggling community attempts to exploit this piece of seeming good fortune, everything is set for an explosive drama.
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Matt is a lawyer on a small remote Maine island. Ella, the woman he is falling in love with, is suspected of being involved with the disappearance (murder?) of a local nasty piece of work. Throw in the fact that Ella is running for major of the island and there is a political corruption dimension also.
There are touches of Grisham here with lots of strong, well developed characters. The local island fishing setting is fantastic and well researched. You really do get a feel for this small, remote island and how the people make their living. As the story unfolds you are left guessing the involvement of characters and the ending is ultimately satisfying and unforeseen.
9/10 for this well developed story that I read within 24 hours. I look forward to tracking down Stuart Harrison's other novels.
Still Water is essentially the struggle of a young lawyer to defend the woman he loves (from a distance) from the political machinations of the island's money man, and also the fisherman who consider her femininity to be out of place amongst the fishing fleet. There are one or two fairly juicy characters and the descriptive text of the island, the orca pod and the struggle of the community to survive the diminishing harvest of the ocean is excellent.
But the dialogue...Mr Harrison could do with taking himself down to his local and listening to conversations. Matt Jones (our hero) is about as interesting as a slab of wet fish. His heart's desire (Ella Young) does have a spark about her but there is nothing to suggest that the pair of them will rip their clothes off any minute!
As I said, the storyline is very good, but ultimately simple. All the characters have English foundations for their surnames - can you imagine a group of 10 Americans where no-one is Polish, Italian, Mexican, etc? This reminds me of essays I used to write at school where everyone had 5 letter names (Jones, Smith, Evans) because they were easy to write.
Oh and I think Mr Harrison deserves a mention for his use of the word 'related'. If there were awards to be given out for usage of this one word, then he is a worthy winner. There's at least one use on each page and I counted 4 in two paragraphs at one stage.
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