Death Is Potential

by Bob Burnett

When U.S. Marshall Kate Swift enters a trauma-recovery workshop, she never expects to be caught up in a fiery romance and a violent crime wave.

As Kate and Tom Scott grow close, their bond is tested by series of murders. After fire shuts down access to Big Sur, and the workshop, Kate takes control of the police investigation. To save Tom's life, Kate must find the killer.

Perfect for mystery and romance fans, Death is Potential is a nuanced combination of "The Guest List" by Lucy Foley and "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty-with a touch of the humor of "Squeeze Me" by Carl Hiaasen.

"My favorite male mystery-romance writer," says the Marquise de Sévigné. "Addictive," Marguerite Duras. "Whew!" Agatha Christie. "Touching," Anais Nin.. "J'ai perdu ma voix," Colette

324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2023

About the author

I'm an expert in computer and communications technology, and helped found Cisco Systems, one of the pillars of Silicon Valley. Since retiring, Bob has been an active columnist, writing on politics and culture.

Reviews

[Lisa Ahlstedt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Scott has been to Satori before, with his late wife Fiona. It is a retreat for people participate in workshops to help them through trauma or other situations which are causing them pain. Tom is thrilled to see that a fellow participant in the group workshops is Kate Swift, a federal marshall that he has met before. On the day everyone arrives, the body of one of the founders of Satori is found at the bottom of a cliff. Two police officers, O'Malley and Sanchez, are dispatched to try and determine if foul play was involved in the death. As Tom and Kate grow closer, more deaths happen and since the police are unable to get there, it's up to Kate to take charge and figure out what's going on.

Since the setting is at a "trauma workshop" for some reason we have to hear the stories of all of the participants. Most have to do with romantic or occupational difficulties. Everyone is all very sympathetic and it seems that after telling their stories, everyone is unburdened and feeling much better. I wasn't sure why there were so many characters and so many stories. Were they all meant to be suspects? It didn't seem that way but it created a lot of information that didn't seem to have anything to do with the story. Then suddenly there are drawn-out, explicit sex scenes between Tom and Kate that seem a bit awkward. The reasons for the murders also seemed a bit strange, once everything was explained (of course, the "perp" was quick to confess and explain everything after covering their tracks for so long).

The story moves along quickly and there are no unexpected or illogical twists. A fast-paced read!

[Jason Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very close to becoming a DNF. Understanding that this is considered "mystery-romance", it felt like the author jumped right over "romance" and skipped directly to "Penthouse Forum". The first part of the book was just an exaggerated and painstakingly long introduction to each character, with just enough plot to keep me reading....barely. The second half of the book was no improvement. The writing was generally uninspired and lazy, with poor editing rounding out the trifecta. The investigative parts of the book took unnecessary and truly baffling leaps. Dialogue was often overly robotic and clumsy. Overall, the depth of the plot and characters were about as deep as the aforementioned Penthouse Forums. I really wanted to give this a 1-star rating, but I gave it one extra star for the potential of becoming the center point of a drinking game. Read this as part of your local book club, then do a shot for each time a character grabs their thermos and takes a drink of water. Maybe after a few shots, the rest of the book might be a bit more enjoyable. It is a shame, because the general idea of the murder mystery plot in this book did have potential.

[Karen Parisot · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Satori Institute is a place where people go to attend workshops and therapy sessions while also enjoying the spectacular views and hot springs baths. One of the workshops is called Transitions and it is for people who are going through or thinking about making changes in their lives. Two of the participants are a successful business owner named Tom Scott and US Marshal Kate Swift. On the very first day of their stay one of the founders is found dead.
I liked the characters a lot. They’re deftly fleshed out and interesting. Much of the story is told from Tom’s point of view. Plot is clever and well developed. Seems like about half the story is the blossoming romance between Kate and Tom, and the other half is the murder mystery. I read a finished copy. My only complaint would be that it has a fairly large number of typos. That may not bother other readers, but they bug the heck out of me. 3.75 stars

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good mystery.
Thanks to Goodreads and the author for the digital copy.

[Aletha Pagett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this story started out well my interest dwindled partway through. I felt the author lost his interest, too, and filled in with unnecessary sexual content. I received this e-book from Goodreads.