Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Dead Float by Warren C. Easley

Dead Float by Warren C. Easley is the second appearance of small-town lawyer and fly fisherman Cal Claxton. Once a high-powered Los Angeles prosecutor, Cal has moved to Oregon to dabble in law, fish, and kick back. He’s ecstatic when his guide friend asks him to help with a group of executives on a fishing trip that is supposed to be a corporate team-building exercise. The trip takes them along a river that runs through a wild canyon known for its outstanding fishing. Tempering his excitement however is the fact he has not heard from his daughter, who calls him weekly from her nonprofit well-digging project in the Sudan. He knew better than to object when she announced she would participate in this project but he has been anxious ever since she left.

During his first day with the corporate crowd Cal learns the company is on the verge of an IPO that will make all of the principals millionaires several times over, although they do not agree on the path forward. The tension among the party becomes increasingly apparent as a management consultant along for the trip leads them through a truth-telling exercise.

Early the next morning the savagely murdered body of the company owner is discovered. Because of the location, the suspects are limited and the local police think they have their culprit in Cal, since his knife was used to commit the murder. He knows he didn’t do it and sets out to find the killer before he can be arrested. Cal calls in favors from his days in Los Angeles and manages to stay one step ahead of the local police as he tries to decide which of the corporate executives had the most to gain from the death of the owner. In the meantime his guide friend is losing client after client, since no one wants to go on a fishing trip with a potential murderer.

Multiple story threads carefully woven into the main murder plot include corporate espionage, the well-digging projects in the Sudan, and new identity creation.

The mountains and surrounding countryside are beautifully described throughout but any time a group goes hiking or fishing in a desolate landscape, I hear the theme from the movie Deliverance playing in my head.

·         Hardcover: 250 pages

·         Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (July 1, 2014)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 1464202664

·         ISBN-13: 978-1464202667

Aubrey Hamilton ©2018

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.