Ray Slaverson, a world-weary Florida police detective, has his hands full with the murders of two attorneys and a third suspicious death, all within twenty-four hours. Ray doesn’t believe in coincidences, but he can’t find a single link between the dead men, and he and his partner soon smash into an investigative stonewall. Kate Garcia, Ray’s fiancée, knows more than she should. She helped one of … She helped one of the dead attorneys, just hours before he took a bullet to the head, study an old newspaper in the library where she works. Kate might be the only person still alive who knows what he was digging up—except for his killer.
When Kate starts trying to discover what’s behind the murders, she turns up disturbing links between the three dead men that track back to her family’s troubled past. But she has plenty of reasons to keep her mouth shut. Her discovery unleashes a cat-and-mouse game that threatens to sink her and those she loves in a high tide of danger.
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The Smuggler’s Daughter by Claire Matturro is a brilliantly written mystery with believable characters in a time when people came before technology.
Will Kate’s past return to haunt her, or will she stand up for herself this time?
Kate Garcia
Kate is intelligent, witty, and speaks her mind. She is also funny and realistic. Kate named both her dog and her cat “Maggie” because it is easier and they don’t come when called anyway. She is involved with a police detective named Ray, but I am not sure if they are made for each other. As I am sure, you deduced from the title that Kate’s father, Tank was a smuggler. He was a fisherman, but when that dried up, he turned to fish for “square groupers.”
The story takes us through Kate’s life, the good and the bad. However, it looks like after twenty years, that most horrific night of her life is coming back to haunt her. She tracks down her friends from that time, but it seems for some she is too late and others she doesn’t fit in with any longer. Forgetting and forgiving come hard to Kate, and letting go of the grief is harder.
Police Detective, Ray
Ray is a cop through and through, not only does he enforce the laws, he believes in them. However, Ray loves hard, and at this time, he loves Kate, but will he look the other way when it comes to her past transactions? That is the question that he finds himself asking.
Ray is one of those people that I would reserve my right to like until I got to know him better. He has good qualities and bad, like most of us. The thing with Ray is I think he does what feels right to him, and the rest of us can screw off. Ray has his integrity, and he can’t turn it or his cop mind off. It took me a bit, but I like Ray by the end of the book.
The Story
The story is set in the past; it kind of bounces around a bit, but I love the way that Ms. Matturro tells the story. There is smuggling, murder, running, death, love, and of course, family. I was rooting for Kate throughout; she is such a dynamic character. The story doesn’t have a happy ending, but I don’t think I would have believed it if the ending was happy.
Five Stars
I was so drawn into this Florida coast drama, that it seemed like it was unfolding in front of my eyes. Ms. Matturro’s writing has edge, thoughtfulness, and it puts you right in there with the characters. My rating for The Smuggler’s Daughter is five stars. I recommend this book to anyone that likes mature mysteries, with suspense and realistic scenes.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Smuggler’s Daughter by Claire Matturro.
This Guest Review is for Baroness’ Book Trove.
Until the next time,
~Jen
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Having lived in Tallahassee during some of the years depicted in this book, I fell into this steamy, hot story that captured me from the beginning. It took me back to the years when “square groupers”, meaning bales of marijuana, were found floating in the water by the beaches, and fortunes were made and lost by whether or not smugglers were apprehended by the Coast Guard. (That’s not still happening, is it?) This gritty story of love and loss and murder will keep you up nights, so make sure your air conditioner is running.
As a Florida librarian… need I say more? Anything can happen in this state, and Matturro’s fast-paced story keeps you guessing to the end. Enjoy!
Kate and Ray have a bit of a rocky romance, not quite getting to the point of being engaged. Kate knows something is missing otherwise she would have said yes right away. Ray is a detective investigating some seemingly unrelated murders. When he finds out one of the victims visited the library where Kate works, he asks her for information. Kate refused because it is confidential. That doesn’t stop Kate from checking things out and it brings back a nightmare from a 70’s murder and drug ring that her father was involved with. She knew more than she wanted to know. Lots of twists and turns. The ending will surprise you.
In “The Smuggler’s Daughter”, Claire Matturo weaves a mystery that spans generations and she deftly portrays characters who make bad choices in their youth that come back to haunt them later. Florida bleeds from every page, from drug smuggling to environmental chicanery. from flawed detectives to redneck rowdies. You can hear the cicadas sing and the smell the salt tang of the ocean.
Matturo paints a tale of how one’s past can lay submerged for years, like an alligator in a swamp, always lurking, coloring your behavior and ready to explode out of the water when you least expect it.
Highly recommended for those who like a well-plotted mystery set against the steamy swamps and tidal currents of that most quirky, oddly diverse and too often despoiled state.
“A tale with as many gnarled twists as a tide-swept Florida mangrove thicket. Claire Matturro spins the gripping, character-rich story of Kate Garcia, all the way from her shell-road youth to a tangle of bodies and motivations, where just one of the victims threatened might be the state’s fragile environment.”
Couldn’t get into it
The Smuggler’s Daughter by Claire Matturro opens with a one-two punch that will send readers scrambling to connect the dots between three murders. Ms. Matturro has crafted a complex and intriguing story peopled with characters who are altogether believable and whose choices will linger with you after the story ends. The threads of the story begin when teen-aged Kitty, struggling to survive in a harsh world, slips into events she can’t even begin to realize are life choices. The consequences impact every aspect of grown-up Kate’s life, particularly her relationship with police detective lover, Ray, who wants very much to be her fiancé. Ray has no idea what he’ll unravel when he tugs at the threads of the past. But Kate knows and finds herself in a race with the law, and her lover, to uncover—or hide—the dangerous truths that haunt her.
I highly recommend this gripping novel.
The Smuggler’s Daughter is filled with thrilling twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout the entire story! I loved the authentic sense of place, seamlessly-executed plot, and well-developed characters. Ray Slaverson is a police detective with a strong sense of integrity and a complex murder case to investigate. His fiancée, Kate Garcia, possesses a strong wit and refreshing outlook. Kate’s collection of life experiences functions to help her weather a tumultuous set of events.
Author Claire Matturro strikes the perfect balance of intriguing, gritty, and emotional scenes in this fast-paced and exciting read. This is a true page-turner that will undoubtedly leave you wanting more. 5 stars!