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I received this book from the author for a fair and honest review.

Just enjoyed reading the first book in a new series by Steven Becker. The book is Backwater Bay and is set in Biscayne Bay National Park. The main character debuted in Wood's Betrayal, one of the Mac Travis series.

Kurt Hunter is one of the rangers assigned to patrol the park by boat. He is stationed at an island in the park. He observes a boat headed into a portion of the park and follows to see what the crew is up to, thinking they may be involved with drug smuggling in the remote parts of the park. After the boat departs, he checks out the area where they were moored. While fishing the area, he snags a body in the water near the mooring location.

The story takes off from there. He calls in the Miami-Dade County coroner to take care of the body. The autopsy indicates the body had been in the water for several weeks and is possibly the victim of a boating accident. It appears that the person was a diver that had been hit by a boat and cut up by the prop. He starts trying to find information on who it may be.

The rest of the story is the investigation into the death. It turns out the diver was probably a murder victim. Kurt keeps the investigation going into the circumstances over the objections of his boss.

I enjoyed this new book. I look forward to more stories in this series. The author has developed a character that is interesting and will have many opportunities to develop stories around. ( )