Toe Tag: Deadly Depths

Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery, murder, and mayhem. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.Today’s featured release is DEADLY DEPTHS by John F. Dobbyn The Deadly Depths was released August 1 from Oceanview Publishing and is available from AMAZON LINK and other book retailers. It is available in print, e-book and audio book.About John F. DobbynBest-selling author John F. Dobbyn, a graduate of Harvard College, Boston College Law School, and Harvard Law School, is a former professor of law at Villanova Law School where he taught criminal, constitutional, and corporate law. Prior to his teaching career, Dobbyn practiced criminal and civil trial work. He is a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and he is the author of five award-winning legal thrillers featuring Michael Knight and Lex Devlin. Dobbyn is a Boston native and now resides in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Lois.TG Wolff ReviewDEADLY DEPTHS is a genre crosser. It can be found under Amateur Sleuth mystery and murder thriller. I would classify it as an Adventure bookended by Amateur Sleuth. Archeologist Barrington “Barry” Holmes is dead. With a slit wrist, the police rule it suicide. Holmes’s protégé, Matthew Shane, former Air Force Intelligence and current professor of law, calls bullshit. The path to resolving Holmes’s death puts him face-to-face with a voodoo curse, a notorious antiquities dealer and a three hundred-and fifty-year-old promise between the leader of the Aztec people and the famous Englishman, Captain Henry Morgan. Bottom line: DEADLY DEPTHS is for you if you like treasure hunts, a jumble of altruistic, self-serving, and devious characters, and murder of the lowest degree. Strengths of the story. There are several things to love about DEADLY DEPTHS. First in my book is the treasure seeking adventure. Lovers of Indiana Jones stories, “National Treasure”, and “The DaVinci Code” will enjoy the mix of folk lore, voodoo, pirates, and the potential of a treasure of incomparable value. The clues are cryptic yet meaningful. The locations are grounded in real history. The characters are distinct and true to their nature—for good or for bad.The pacing is strong. Once picked up, this is a hard one to put down. While this story does not have the time deadline common in this genre, there is a sense of being up against a ticking clock. For most of the book, there is a sense of an unseen hand manipulating the situation, creating the feeling of a race but against an invisible competitor. .Where the story fell short of ideal: As noted, this story crosses genres. It stands strongly but readers focusing on only one of the genres may find areas for complaining. The story begins as an Amateur Sleuth, creating the impetus for starting the Adventure. Then Adventure takes over, driving most of the book. Only after the Adventure is nearing completion is the original mystery resolved. Adverture lovers could scoff at the time to get the Adventure going. Mystery lovers could do the same for pursuit of the murder. If those genre-specific expectations are put aside, DEADLY DEPTHS is a very satisfying read.That wraps up this Toe Tag of DEADLY DEPTHS