Customer Reviews

The Deepest Water

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Abby Connor is stunned when her father Jud, a noted novelist is murdered near an Oregon lake. Being closer to her dad than even her spouse, Abby goes through the motion of living. She struggles with her current relationships as a vacuum has left her prime connection severed. However, a revelation strikes her that Jud had to have known his killer because the dogs must have recognized the culprit.

Abby begins reevaluating her life and those currently in her life. She searches for a greater understanding of her father and ultimately his untimely death. Finally, deciding she needs closure, she examines his last unpublished novel thinking she will find the clue to uncover the identity of the culprit.

THE DEEPEST WATER is an intriguing suspense thriller due to Abby, as complete a protagonist as found in a novel. The tale starts innocently at a funeral, but builds up in tension as Abby regains her equilibrium and soon obsesses over her father's murder. The support cast provides grit to the novel as several individuals "advise" Abby on what she should do next. The enthralling story line will entice the audience to find other works by Kate Wilhelm.

Harriet Klausner

If you are like me, you like nothing better than to lose yourself in an engrossing novel where time seems to be standing still for a few moments. I have to recommend this book. It is one of those novels where you take it to your favorite reading corner and with a cup of hot tea or coffee, you make yourself comfortable and lose yourself in this book.

Jud Connors is a successful writer who is found murdered in his cabin. His daughter, Abby, finds her world falling apart ~~ who would want her dad dead? After she recovers from the shock, she goes on a hunt for her dad's murderer ... only to realize that she is the murderer's next target as she stands to gain her father's inheritance.

This is Wilhem's newest novel but it's nothing like her other novels. It is suspenseful enough to keep you hooked to find out who the murderer is. And she leaves enough hints throughout the novel to point to the murderer. However, it is not a nail-biting suspense novel ~~ it's just enough to keep you immersed into the book until you get to the last page.

If you're looking for a book to get lost in for a few hours, I highly recommend this book. Wilhem doesn't disappoint you here as she writes with her usual flair for words and descriptions of scenery ~~ and draws you closer to the murderer's lair of deceits and lies.

If you like mysteries with a strong psychological twist, this one may be right up your alley. On the other hand, if you like your mysteries full of action, intrigue and danger, better to pass this one up. After her father, Jud Connors, is found brutally murdered, his daughter, Abby, is determined to find out who killed him. While far from perfect and prone to womanizing, Abby's father, a famous writer, is not the sort of man who made enemies easily and there doesn't seem to be a single person who held a grudge against him. As Abby delves into his writings, however, she begins to uncover layers about her father's life -and past.
I read this one in a quick gulp, staying up to finish it in a single evening. I saw the killer early on but still found the "whys" and "hows" of the mystery intriguing enough to want to keep reading. This isn't Wilhelm's best work but won't disappoint both her loyal fans and readers new to the author's work.

Devastated by her novelist father's baffling murder, Abby Connors throws herself into her task as literary executor, discovering new depths to the man who has remained, despite her two marriages and his own emotional barricades, the central man in her life. Grounded in psychological suspense,"The Deepest Water" explores the process of fiction and the sometimes inexplicable bond between father and daughter.

Defying her husband's jealousy and disapproval, Kate probes the blurred line between fact and fiction in her father's work, uncovering long buried secrets, discovering insights into herself and others, gaining new understanding of her father and moving ever closer to a dangerous, watchful murderer.

The novel is well-paced and plotted and Kate's almost obsessive digging seems a natural consequence of grief. The relationship between husband and wife seems shallow, however, the husband sketchily drawn and Kate's interactions with him sometimes overwrought. Nonetheless, this is an absorbing and rewarding thriller.

It's a bit puzzling why this "mystery" has received such stellar reviews here on Amazon. Wilhelm is a fairly competent writer, but judging from Deepest and several others of her titles, plotting is not her forte. As some of the professional reviewers have noted, it's pretty obvious early on who dunnit, and why. Even the dog knows. There's a lot of angst throughout, and Wilhelm's portrayal of the grief of Jud's daughter and friends is sensitively handled. And the cop's not the dolt he seems to be. The thread about clues embedded in Jud's final novel is also intriguing, but behavior is the key here, and the perp's behavior's a dead giveaway. Not a bad story, but far from a thriller, with minimal suspense of the psychological sort.

This was my first by Kate Wilhelm, but definitely won't be my last. Wilhelm's style of writing is subtle and works its way under your skin when you're not looking. It's not a hardcore mystery or psychological thriller, but Wilhelm draws you in so slowly and subtly that you don't even realize you're hooked. When Abby's father, Jud, a bestselling novelist, is murdered in his lakeside cabin, Abby sets out to find out who the murderer is. Others around Abby believe they know who it is, but the dawning realization takes Abby a little longer to accept. Even better is Abby's father's ability to take actual events and people and change them just enough to use in his books. And, of course, the identity of Jud's murderer is hidden in his final novel. Definitely a wonderfully woven story with believable characters and events.

Abby's father, a bestselling novelist, has been murdered. She alone, with her understanding of his writing style, has a chance to find the semi-autobiographical clues in his latest manuscript and unveil the true killer. Set in Oregon, the story moves quietly but quickly. Wilhelm layers the plot with surprising depth for a relatively short novel (278 pages).

Imagine a pleasing scene from a mountain road; imagine darkness coming over the valley; imagine shadows growing and becoming more threatening...This is Wilhelm's style here. She draws you quickly into the scenes, then begins hinting at the troubles ahead. The plot moves smoothly, the characters interact and brood accordingly, and the conclusion draws the loose ends together in a satisfying and sleek manner.

This was my first Wilhelm read. I'm tempted to pursue her other books, particularly since she is a local author. She captures the mood and personality of Oregon well. I enjoyed her readable style.

This is the worst book that I've read in a long time. At least, the worst that I've read all the way through. If it had been written by an unfamiliar author, I would have bailed out before I hit the halfway mark. Because I've enjoyed many other books by Kate Wilhelm, I forged on, convinced it would be worth my while eventually.

There was not one likable or convincing character, including the main character, Abby, who was passive and shallow. Her friend Felicia was particularly insufferable and self-satisfied. It seemed like she should have been old enough to have gotten past the sophomoric concept of the "artist" opposed the rest of humdrum humanity. Instead, that became one of the themes of the book.

The other themes seemed to be the past shaping the present, and reality shaping fiction (and other art). Both could have been fascinating, if they'd actually tied in to the murder at the heart of the book. The solution to the mystery was a letdown. The motive was disappointingly mundane and disconnected from the victim.

My first Wilhelm book, recommended by a friend and now I'm hooked. I love mysteries and this was a puzzle. I guess you can assume no matter how remote or inaccessible a retreat is someone can figure out a way to get to it.
Even though Abby finally figured things out, some of her old friends and neighbors got to the answer before her and if it hadn't been for the secret help of Felicia the ending would have had a different outcome.
But the unlikely murderer got his just desserts.
The mother character seemed a bit vague to me. Everyone keeps referring to Jud Vickers as Jud Conners in these reviews and even on the back cover of the paperback that error is made. Abby Conners was Jud's daughter but they did not have the same last names.
I would read this again, but I think I'll just find another one of Wilhelms books and dig in.

Kate Wilhelm always surprises me.This books starts out so predictably,a dead body at a secluded cabin and the mystery of who the killer might be,however as the story unfolds she makes each character so unique especially all the women.She also describes flawlessly the geographic locations.The ending is stunning.