RCMP Corporal Holly Martin has just been transferred to her new post at Fossil Bay on Vancouver Island. This area is known as the Canadian Carribean because of the clement weather. Holly is inexperienced and naive and so when a drowning happens on her patch she is smart enough to realize that it is suspicious but slow to follow up on clues, suspects and even regular police procedure. Hopefully she will wise up on her next case. ( )

And on the Surface Die - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

'"Don't discount petty-ante crime," Ben Rodgers, her mentor in The Pas, had told her. "Sometimes they're part of a bigger picture, and it usually involves drugs. Why steal a CD player you can sell for only a twenty unless you need another fix?" But Ben had made his own fatal error. Their last month together, checking out a stolen car seen at a trailer park, he hadn't expected the twelve-year-old deaf boy to be holding a rifle instead of an air gun.'

These words were remembered by Holly Martin as she took charge of her first post as a Corporal in Fossil Bay. Fossil Bay, located on the south coast of Vancouver Island, had its fair share of drunk drivers, speeders, theft and as Holly found out on her 1st day of command, an occasional drowning.

Angie Didrickson's body had been found by a diver while taking underwater photos. Angie, a student of Notre Dame and one of their star swimmers, was on a senior trip. The trip was supervised by teachers in hopes of keeping the drinking and substance abuse to a minimum. But that didn't seem to stop some of them from slipping out of their tents at night in hopes of a little enjoyment.

And on the Surface Die turned out to be a very enjoyable book. It kept me in suspense, as I tried to determine what really happened to Angie and why. Author Lou Allin added another mystery to the story with the disappearance of Holly's own mother. She is drawn between her loyalty to her father and the man her mother was apparently seeing behind his back.

One thing that really impressed me with Allin's style of writing was the way she took one mystery, added another and kept the lines open for a continuation of the story. And I, for one, can't wait to read what happens next. ( )

RCMP Corporal Holly Martin, recently stationed to a small community in British Columbia is called upon to deal with the death of achampion teenage swimmer who has seemingly drowned.

Was it a mishap or murder? Holly needs to find out under various trying circumstances.

This is a new series by Lou Allin, who previously has written books dealing with murder most foul, in Ontario's hinterland. Having moved to British Columbia, she is now writing this new series which I am sure, will prove to be quite good. ( )