Blue Heron Marsh
by Douglas Quinn
Published by iUniverse
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Review by Diane Snyder
Webb Sawyer is an ex-army investigator who just returned to his home on the Outer Banks. It’s a place of “peace and solitude” and Webb has no TV and no phone. To get to his home, it takes a boat ride across the Blue Heron Marsh where he lives in a house on stilts. Webb is not a total loner as he has close and loyal friends and he likes women, especially one—Nan Ftorek, who owns a local bar and restaurant. For someone who likes to keep his life single and simple, Webb’s own sense of justice gets him pulled into a mire of mystery by a beautiful and seductive woman.
Webb has a history of helping justice take its course and when he hears about a young woman who has been arrested for her father’s murder, Webb reluctantly agrees to do some preliminary investigations. What he discovers is unexpected, dangerous and volatile.
The current murder is linked to a murder that occurred 40 years ago, which has had a profound affect on other lives since then. Webb has to find if he is looking for one murderer who might be a serial killer or two murderers. Throughout his search, Webb’s own past keeps coming to the present, and he finds his life increasingly more complicated and more out of his control.
The plot has threads that run outward and deep taking you along on a ride that is unpredictable until the end. The collage of outstanding characters gives the story that extra ingredient that turns a good book into something special and makes you want more. Hopefully there will be future books about Webb Sawyer and his new housemate, Basil who is a “miracle from a meddling Medusa.”
As you read Blue Heron Marsh, the author hands you eastern North Carolina on a delicious platter. You can feel the warm, heavy air of the North Carolina coast—and I guarantee you will want to go eat a really good fish dinner.
Armchair Interviews says: Like investigatory Webb, you’ll want to be left alone–so you can read and read more of this very good story.
Author Web site: http://www.DouglasQuinn.com