Summer Reading: Something in the Water

I enjoyed Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman, the next selection on my summer reading list, very much. Perhaps I am beginning to sound like a broken record but I couldn't put this one down either! The novel begins very dramatically with one of the characters digging a grave to bury another one and I just had to know what happened to bring this about! Erin is a documentary filmmaker working on a project about criminals reintegrating into society after being released from prison, including Eddie Bishop a notorious crime boss. Her fiance Mark is a successful investment banker but he has recently lost his high-profile job. This necessitates a much more modest wedding than Erin had planned on but their extravagant honeymoon to Bora Bora is already booked so they decide to go any way. While they are scuba diving, they find something in the water which turns out to be a duffel bag containing enough money and diamonds to solve all of their financial woes. They decide to keep it and they set up a Swiss bank account to launder the money and attempt to sell the diamonds through Eddie Bishop. Of course, this decision brings about unexpected consequences and a few twists and turns along the way. After such a dynamic beginning, I found the first third of this novel to be a bit slow with a lot of details that didn't seem to be relevant to the story. Then the action becomes incredibly compelling and the seemingly random details, such as the minutiae surrounding Mark's job in investment banking, what it is like to fly first class, and Eddie Bishop's involvement in organized crime, become important and the tension escalates. I was very intrigued by the premise of the story, especially how easy it is to rationalize dishonest behavior and how easy it is to succumb to greed. It made me think about what I would do if I found myself in similar circumstances! Finally, I really enjoyed Erin's voice in the novel. At first I thought the writing was very haphazard but I eventually came to see Erin as an ordinary person in over her head and that made the dialogue seem more believable. I enjoyed her as a character as a result. This is an intriguing read that will keep you turning the pages until the end and I recommend it.

Note:  Have you read Something in the Water?  What did you think?