The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Jersey Shore Mystery [Large Print] [Paperback]

Beth Sherman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

When Satan Comes to New Jersey...A quaint coastal community that prides itself on it's piety, the good people of oceanside Heights shudder collectively at word of the newest fad among local teens:devil worship! Despite rumors that old scratch himself has appeared at their beachside revels, the kids late-night antics seem more ditsy than dangerous -- until ghostwriter Anne Hardway happens upon the corpse of young, would-be witch Abby Podowski.

All hell breaks loose, though a seasoned hand at crime-solving, Anne doesn't want to touch this case. But when the prime murder suspect -- an aprentice witchling and grandniece of an elderly friend -- disappears, Anne is pulled, against her better judgment, into an eerie, arcane world of black magic.And before a "witch hunt fever" worthy of Salem infects the Heights,she's going to unravell the dark web of murderous secrets and lies that surrounds the satanic activities of the Oceabside young -- even if there's the devil to pay.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Powerful, compelling and riveting mystery." -- Carolyn Hart

“Sherman continues to show her affinity for good storytelling rife with twists and insights.” -- Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Beth Sherman is a writer and editor based in New York City. She writes a bi-weekly column, "Design and Decor," for Newsday that gives decorating tips and home-related advice. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Post, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, Harper's Bazaar, Martha Stewart Living, Bride's, Fitness, Working Woman, House Beautiful, American Health, Parents, and many other publication. Dead Man's Float is her first mystery. She summers on the New Jersey shore. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786244364
• ISBN-13: 978-0786244362
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,535,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Devil has come to town or has he?, November 4, 2001

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Jersey Shore Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Anne Hardaway was looking forward to summer on the Jersey Shore. She has a lucrative contract as a ghostwriter for a radio psychologist and life was boring, but going well. Then the psychologist, Dr Arlene, shows up on her doorstep, claiming to want to work more closely with her on the book, and her good friend Delia's ward, Tracy, disappears. Well, the publisher is angry because nothing seems to be going on with the book, Dr Arlene is shopping all the time, NOT working, and Tracy seems to be a member of a witches' coven. One of the members of that coven is found dead on the beach, by Anne of course. Anne and the very attractive Detective Mark Trasker are determined to solve the mystery.

I have only read one of the books in this series. I really enjoyed it and always meant to read another. I am glad that I did. There is alot going on in this mystery. Dr. Arlene has other issues than the book and there is more to the coven than meets the eye. I didn't guess the murderer until the author wanted me to, and that's getting harder to do, the more mysteries that I read. I am definitely going to read more of this series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick Summer Read, June 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Jersey Shore Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've really enjoyed this series, but I felt this book in the series was by far the lamest.

The plot was very predictable and obvious. Though I didn't know exactly who the murderer was until the end, I felt that was more because I didn't try too hard to figure it out. Other aspects of the story were blatantly being set up for other purposes and I found myself trying to figure out what those were instead...and on those items, I was never wrong.

Still a very nice, easy summer read that only took me a few hours.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful reading experience, May 1, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Jersey Shore Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Oceanside Heights is a small resort town founded by Methodist ministers on the Jersey shore. It is a place to organize camp meetings by the ocean. Paradise still lives here as people from around the world visit "God's Own Acre" to heal and find God's words. In spite of its Edenesque reputation, the town retains its sense of family even if this summer events will prove that feeling of security is false.

Some of the town's teens form a witch's coven. Residents begin hearing chanting and see strange lights and shapes over the nearby ocean. While jogging on the beach early one morning, ghostwriter Anne Hardaway runs across the dead body of a teen and cryptic signs in the sand that no one can decipher. When the best friend of the deceased runs away from her home, her guardian asks Anne to find the missing Tracy. Anne becomes a friend with the coven members and their friends, one of whom is not exactly what he/she seems.

THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA is an absorbing regional mystery that captures the atmosphere of a tourist town to near perfection. The teens steal the show, as they seem like a microcosm of today's young adults with many of them suffering serious problems. Author Beth Sherman does a brilliant job of portraying teen angst without corn or sentiment.

Harriet Klausner