Part of Doc Ford, book 25
First published 2018
Marine biologist Doc Ford has helped friends before, but Carl Fitzpatrick brings him an impossible problem. Fitz has spent his life hunting sunken ships, and now the Florida Division of Historical Resources has seized his rare Spanish coins and his decades of research on uncharted wreck sites. The division's director, Clive Nickelby, hates amateur treasure hunters like Fitz. Then Nickelby and his young assistant vanish, taking Fitz's impounded treasure and irreplaceable wreck locations with them. Fitz can't call the police because some of his diving operations bent the rules. Doc Ford becomes his only option. The stolen coins and secret dive sites make people willing to rob and kill. Doc realizes the thieves won't surrender their prize without a fight, and now they consider him a threat worth eliminating.
Genres: adventure, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, treasure-hunt
Setting: Caribbean, Florida
Period: Contemporary
310 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons