DEAD WATER is a deep dive into a British police investigation, set against the beautiful light and harsh seas of the Cornwall coast. First in Berrick Ford’s new Cornish Crime series, the compelling atmosphere and relatable characters make it a fast, page-turning read. In short, a great start to a new British mystery series.
Tamsyn Poldhu, whose Cornish last name translates to “Blackpool,” reports for her first day as a police officer trainee and is immediately plunged into a murder investigation. Robert Rego is a Detective Inspector who accepted a transfer from Manchester to Cornwall as a way to burnish his already significant career credentials but the urban cop immediately finds himself out of his element in the harbors around Penzance where fishermen still struggle to make a living from the sea.
The narrative moves easily between the two points of view, which offers a nice contrast between the wide-eyed Tamsyn doing her best in a new and highly-charged situation, and Rego who knows procedure inside and out. He’s also smarting from a run-in with an Albanian drug kingpin, basically the one that got away.
An unidentified body of a woman with her tongue cut out starts gets the story rolling. Who was she, where did the body come from, what resources does Rego have in his new job to track down a killer? Suspense and questionable relationships abound as her identity is pieced together.
I liked the pace of clues and progress on the case; nothing comes easy, just as it should in a good whodunit.
Tamsyn’s inner voice is the real driver of the book and we can’t help but walk in her shoes, especially in the riveting climax. By becoming a cop, she risks alienating friends and worrying her grandparents, the only family she has left. She’s learning on the job but circumstances have arranged themselves so that she’s drinking from a firehose and dealing with a new boss no one really knows.
The book is frontloaded with British police procedures and departmental acronyms, giving it an unquestioned authenticity. The momentum picks up after that and stays consistent, building to a strong climax.
By the time I finished the book, I was totally invested in Tamsyn’s police career and immediately downloaded the next in the series. DEAD MAN’S DIVE has such a great first chapter I can’t wait to jump into it!
If you like British mystery series, add the Cornish Crime thrillers to your TBR list now.
P.S. if you have seen the television show Doc Martin, you can easily imagine the setting for DEAD WATER. If not, here’s a guide to locations in Cornwall. https://www.thegeographicalcure.com/post/doc-martin-filming-locations-in-cornwall-england
