Dangerous Waters
3 Stars

RCMP Sergeant Holly Rudd arrives in the small coastal town of Bamfield to investigate the murder of a man whose body was found in a shipwreck. The seemingly straightforward situation takes a strange turn with locals commenting on Holly's uncanny resemblance to a woman murdered 30 years before. When Holly is targeted, she enlists the reluctant aid of the diver who found the body, Finn Carver, a former special forces officer with his own reasons for wanting Holly gone.

This is another of Anderson's earlier works, but this time it doesn't quite hit the mark.

The book starts out well with a gripping prologue. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is rather slow and the obvious twists make it easy to guess the culprit and the motive. The heroine also commits one of the most TSTL actions possible by misjudging a suspect and finding herself drugged and kidnapped.

The romance is also problematic as Holly and Finn are simply too different for their relationship to be believable and their connection is based solely on lust rather than any real emotions. Moreover, the fact that he is also a semi-suspect in the case does not reflect well on either of them.

The most intriguing character in the book is actually Finn's brother, Brent, and I look forward to reading his story next. ( )

For the first time, Holly Rudd is primary on a homicide investigation. Former Special Forces Officer Finn Carver and his dive partner Professor Thom Edgefield discovered a body with a knife sticking out of its chest while diving to an old wreck off Vancouver Island. Holly has just come from a vacation, which she used to get away from her boss with whom she was having an affair until she found out that he was married. Because Finn and Thom found the body, they are immediately suspected, but Holly doesn't believe either of them are involved, especially when she realizes how attracted she is to Finn. As the investigation progresses, secrets are uncovered and loyalties tested as almost everyone in the small community becomes a suspect.

One strength of Dangerous Waters is the development of the main character, Holly, who has had a rough time in recent years. The details of the mystery are doled out at a pace that keeps the reader guessing and makes the story interesting. The romance between Holly and Finn is a little underwhelming, but is emotional enough to make their instant attraction believable and slow burning enough to make their eventual connection plausible. Not all of the twists at the end are predicable and some come as a complete surprise. Overall, Dangerous Waters is an enjoyable romantic suspense with an interesting cast of characters and an entertaining mystery. ( )

A fast-paced, compelling story that's much more complex than I originally thought. In a word? Excellent! I'll definitely pick up the next book in this series and I think I'll go pull the other Toni Anderson books off my shelf as well. Time for a new-to-me author binge! ;-) ( )

Great small town murder mystery with lots of twist and a romance.

Opens with a shocking murder that happened 30 years ago and then goes to present day where another murder has happened. The story takes place in a small remote town in Canada. After two divers find a body underwater Sergeant Holly Rudd of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and her team arrive to investigate. Holly's father is a commanding officer with the RCMP and she always felt she had to prove herself. This was her first time being in charge of a homicide by herself and she wants to make her father proud. She is still smarting over getting involved with a staff sergeant who forgot to inform her he was married.

Finn Carver, one of the divers who discovered the body has an ugly history with the little town. After serving many years in the special forces he comes back to town when the man who raised him is beat to within an inch of his life.

He and Holly have an instant attraction but neither want to be, but they are constantly thrown together during the investigation. As the investigation goes along we see that the town is pretty good at keeping and hiding secrets. And there is a doozy of a one being kept hidden.

I really like all the twist and turns during the investigation. The author kept you on your toes as to who was bad and who was doing what with whom.

I was excited to here that Finn's brother will be getting his own book next. After you read this book you will see why he deserves his own book. ( )

Very enjoyable, I never figured out who dun it. The Romantic part of the story was better then many other books I've read recently. Believable, lust filled, dramatic book with many twist and turns.
looking forward to the next book in the series ( )