What do you think?
Rate this book
Dead Code
(Dead Code is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook.)
Trisha Carson blunders into a nest of cybercriminals when her landlord's grandson disappears after a San Francisco Giants baseball game. Reaching out to help, she lands in the middle of a frightening game and discovers that she is the main prize.
*****
Amateur sleuth Trisha Carson is being watched. By a laptop that tracks her every keystroke. By a blue-eyed athlete who guides her through an open water swim. And by Frida, her smart refrigerator. Why have they targeted her?
A determined Trisha hunts down her stalkers and stumbles on a grim plan that will echo throughout the West Coast.
*****
Who is Trisha Carson?
If you combined the intellect and the curiosity of a 40-something Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote) with the drive, cunning, and bravery of Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), you'd have a Trisha Carson.
Trisha Carson blunders into a nest of cybercriminals when her landlord's grandson disappears after a San Francisco Giants baseball game. Reaching out to help, she lands in the middle of a frightening game and discovers that she is the main prize.
*****
Amateur sleuth Trisha Carson is being watched. By a laptop that tracks her every keystroke. By a blue-eyed athlete who guides her through an open water swim. And by Frida, her smart refrigerator. Why have they targeted her?
A determined Trisha hunts down her stalkers and stumbles on a grim plan that will echo throughout the West Coast.
*****
Who is Trisha Carson?
If you combined the intellect and the curiosity of a 40-something Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote) with the drive, cunning, and bravery of Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), you'd have a Trisha Carson.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 27, 2021
3 people are currently reading
1029 people want to read
About the author
Glenda Carroll
4 books49 followersIn the fourth Trisha Carson mystery, Better Off Dead, a successful financier training for an open-water swim in the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay is the victim of a gruesome accident. Does author Glenda Carroll swim in San Francisco Bay? Yes, she does. Has she trained for open-water races? Many times. Has she been the victim of a serious accident while in the water?
Ah … no. That’s where the imagination comes in.
Since Carroll swims, sails, and surfs, she’s comfortable telling stories that take place in and around water. She is a writing professional with a long career in journalism. Starting with a column for her middle school newspaper, she’s been an editor and writer for sailing, surfing, and travel publications, nationally and internationally. She was a communications manager for a national healthcare association.
Carroll tutors first-generation high school and college students in English and History. She is president of the Northern California Chapter of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America . She is listed in Openwaterpedia.com.
She lives in San Rafael California with her dog McCovey.
Books in the Trisha Carson Mystery Series
Dead in the Water -- Paperback, Kindle
Drop Dead Red - Paperback, Kindle
Dead Code - Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
Better Off Dead - Paperback, Kindle Audiobook (Available March 7, 2025)
Ah … no. That’s where the imagination comes in.
Since Carroll swims, sails, and surfs, she’s comfortable telling stories that take place in and around water. She is a writing professional with a long career in journalism. Starting with a column for her middle school newspaper, she’s been an editor and writer for sailing, surfing, and travel publications, nationally and internationally. She was a communications manager for a national healthcare association.
Carroll tutors first-generation high school and college students in English and History. She is president of the Northern California Chapter of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America . She is listed in Openwaterpedia.com.
She lives in San Rafael California with her dog McCovey.
Books in the Trisha Carson Mystery Series
Dead in the Water -- Paperback, Kindle
Drop Dead Red - Paperback, Kindle
Dead Code - Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
Better Off Dead - Paperback, Kindle Audiobook (Available March 7, 2025)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 1, 2021
Dead Code is spell-binding, twisty, and fast-paced. Basically, everything you want in a mystery. It'll make you rethink what you know about open water and the people around you. If you're looking for a thriller to read in one sitting, this book is for you!
Read
November 5, 2021Hi, this is Glenda Carroll, the author of DEAD CODE and the previous Trisha Carson mysteries, Dead in the Water and Drop Dead Red. Writing this book took me waaay out of my comfort zone. Usually, my mysteries are set in the world of open water swimming, but for DEAD CODE, the protagonist, Trisha Carson, tiptoed out of the water and stumbled into a nest of cybercriminals. Why did I go there? A few years back I had my identity stolen. Not only did hackers get into my credit cards (no biggie...that happened before), but my health care system, my bank accounts, my email, and my home phone! It was a nightmare. Around the same time, I went to a writer's talk focusing on cybercrime, and I learned about this underground and lucrative crime. I was fascinated and I wanted to know more. That was the basis for DEAD CODE. Since I was a neophyte in this world, I leaned heavily on someone I called Mr. X who answered all my questions about cyber crimes and cyber criminals. I would send him pages of the manuscript and ask if what I wrote made sense and could or did happen. I wanted to make sure that I had my facts straight. If you read DEAD CODE, I hope you leave a review. Or if you want to read it, I hope you'll mark this book as 'want to read.' If you have any questions about it, be sure to ask. And just curious, have you been hacked or had your identity stolen? How did you handle it? Glenda
January 7, 2022
Trisha Carson is back, but she’s not in the water. This time she’s landed on a fireroad on Mt. Tamalpais in a viper’s nest of cybercriminals—and she’s the prize of their twisted game. Trisha is an open water swimming competitor with mayhem, murder, and bad luck following in her wake. She’s mostly gotten over the disappearance of her husband, but she’s battling PTSD from her last caper. Now she’s confronted with another disappearance—this time the grandson of a good friend—and Trisha can’t let it alone. What she doesn’t know is she’s being watched: through hacked keystrokes, through the handsome new man who has swum into her life, and even her smart refrigerator, Frida, is keeping tabs on her movements. As Trisha, her sister Lena and a hacker who would prefer to remain anonymous, uncover the clues, a scary cybercrime network is revealed. And if she doesn’t stop the nefarious plan, it spells disaster for the West Coast. But true to her innate bravery, tenacious instincts and cunning mind, Trisha infuriates family and friends with her intrepid march deeper into the shadows of Mt. Tamalpais where cyber evil lurks. Of course she triumphs over the reversals and setbacks in her path, and redeems herself with her people. Trisha is a complex, evolving character with a lot of moxie, sometimes too little good sense, and always offering this reader a new learning experience. Author Glenda Carroll, my “sister” in Sisters in Crime, asked me to beta read Dead Code and I enjoyed every second of my reunion with Trisha Carson and this suspense-filled, fast- paced mystery. When will book 4 come out? By the way, Dead Code’s cover is spectacular! Don’t miss it.
Please read my review of Trisha Carson’s first caper, Dead in the Water, here on Goodreads.
Please read my review of Trisha Carson’s first caper, Dead in the Water, here on Goodreads.
January 20, 2025
This next book in the Trisha Carson was such a great next installment for the series!! Glenda just keeps the mystery in these books flowing you never know what is gonna come next. Who knew cyber criminals would cross her path! Trisha is always listening to her gut and pushing past boundaries to find herself in some kind of trouble. I loved the characters in this book they actually made me laugh out loud with so much sarcasm coming from Trisha. This is a great story and it can be read as a standalone without confusion as well if you are wanting a good mystery to keep you turning the pages!
Read
December 17, 2021Glad to start another book by a NorCal Sister in Crime.
April 21, 2024
Dead Code focuses on a mystery that the main character, Trisha Carson, accidentally stumbles into when she learns her landlord’s grandson is missing. Of course, she is never one to stay away from a problem but run towards it (to help, of course!). She is determined to figure out the mystery and find out what happened to him.
There was so much I loved about this book. First of all, the author set it in one of my favorite places: San Francisco Bay Area. It gave me nostalgia to read about the fog, the coast, and the Giants games. If I could afford to live anywhere, I’d love to live in that area. I grew up in San Jose, which is a stone’s throw away from the area, and reading this book gave me such a longing. Kudos to the author for capturing the setting!
As for the mystery, I was so impressed. Trisha has to deal with so much! She is stalked by a blue-eyed hunk that she thinks is cute but thinks there is something off about him. It isn’t helping that he shows up everywhere. Then, she’s trying to learn what happened to that missing guy but no one seems to want her to find out what happened. It doesn’t help she has been involved in some other mysteries that make everyone worry about her. But she can’t let this one go! In the midst of all this, she is getting hacked into, and weird things are happening to her high-tech fridge.
One aspect that frustrated me was how Trisha handled things with her boyfriend. I wish she had opened up to him and let him in! He seemed like a nice guy. But this is a series and I’m hoping that things change in the next book.
This is part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone.
There was so much I loved about this book. First of all, the author set it in one of my favorite places: San Francisco Bay Area. It gave me nostalgia to read about the fog, the coast, and the Giants games. If I could afford to live anywhere, I’d love to live in that area. I grew up in San Jose, which is a stone’s throw away from the area, and reading this book gave me such a longing. Kudos to the author for capturing the setting!
As for the mystery, I was so impressed. Trisha has to deal with so much! She is stalked by a blue-eyed hunk that she thinks is cute but thinks there is something off about him. It isn’t helping that he shows up everywhere. Then, she’s trying to learn what happened to that missing guy but no one seems to want her to find out what happened. It doesn’t help she has been involved in some other mysteries that make everyone worry about her. But she can’t let this one go! In the midst of all this, she is getting hacked into, and weird things are happening to her high-tech fridge.
One aspect that frustrated me was how Trisha handled things with her boyfriend. I wish she had opened up to him and let him in! He seemed like a nice guy. But this is a series and I’m hoping that things change in the next book.
This is part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone.
November 3, 2021
This review first published on Oh Just Books.
A fast paced tale of cyber-crime and amateur sleuthing with an engaging and brave protagonist.
I love almost all sorts of mystery fiction. Dead Code includes an amateur detective, which is a subgenre I adore. And a female detective at that. Trisha Carson is such a well-written protagonist. She’s intelligent, quick witted, brave and oh so human. Fictional protagonists in mystery and detective fiction are difficult to get right, because it’s a fine line between them being talented, or being impossibly so. Carson is intelligent but still has very human flaws like the rest of us real people. I loved that Carroll was able to toe that line beautifully.
The author’s love of and knowledge of swimming comes across too. Trisha and her sister Lena love to swim and it’s a good part of the plot too. I had no idea there were such strong and friendly communities around swimming, and I once again learnt something new. Truly, we can learn a lot from fiction every single day.
Read the rest of the review here.
A fast paced tale of cyber-crime and amateur sleuthing with an engaging and brave protagonist.
I love almost all sorts of mystery fiction. Dead Code includes an amateur detective, which is a subgenre I adore. And a female detective at that. Trisha Carson is such a well-written protagonist. She’s intelligent, quick witted, brave and oh so human. Fictional protagonists in mystery and detective fiction are difficult to get right, because it’s a fine line between them being talented, or being impossibly so. Carson is intelligent but still has very human flaws like the rest of us real people. I loved that Carroll was able to toe that line beautifully.
The author’s love of and knowledge of swimming comes across too. Trisha and her sister Lena love to swim and it’s a good part of the plot too. I had no idea there were such strong and friendly communities around swimming, and I once again learnt something new. Truly, we can learn a lot from fiction every single day.
Read the rest of the review here.
September 22, 2025
Glenda Carroll writes a suspenseful tale with Dead Code
In Dead Code, the reader is brought into the life of Trisha Carson, an amateur private detective. I haven't read anything by this author before, and what a hidden gem. This story is a mix of suspense, action, and definitely relatable characters. Trisha is trying to face her fear of the water. Glenda Carroll brings in the cybercrime, personal business, and redemption for Trish, which she's trying to face the past and her fears. Trisha is one of those characters that feels just like a real person. She's flawed, yet likeable, and is dealing with a past she'd rather forget, and her own self-doubts. Here relationships with her sister and boyfriend, add to the layers the story, and how important those relationships are for Trisha. Bring in the mystery that must be solved, and the backdrop of the San Francisco Bay, as the story develops and envelops the reader. What a captivating story. Dead Code is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that readers of this book, be kind, and also write a review.
In Dead Code, the reader is brought into the life of Trisha Carson, an amateur private detective. I haven't read anything by this author before, and what a hidden gem. This story is a mix of suspense, action, and definitely relatable characters. Trisha is trying to face her fear of the water. Glenda Carroll brings in the cybercrime, personal business, and redemption for Trish, which she's trying to face the past and her fears. Trisha is one of those characters that feels just like a real person. She's flawed, yet likeable, and is dealing with a past she'd rather forget, and her own self-doubts. Here relationships with her sister and boyfriend, add to the layers the story, and how important those relationships are for Trisha. Bring in the mystery that must be solved, and the backdrop of the San Francisco Bay, as the story develops and envelops the reader. What a captivating story. Dead Code is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that readers of this book, be kind, and also write a review.
September 9, 2021
Tricia Carson, vulnerable and struggling with the effects of PTSD and betrayal by her ex, works at the local baseball ground and lives in enviable comfort in a friend’s mansion. She is also an amateur sleuth – hence the PTSD. Someone tried to murder her on a previous case. Despite pleas to ‘stay out of it’ when Tyler goes missing, Tricia is unable to resist. Intrigued by a handsome blue-eyed athlete who pitches up at an open-water swim, her spidey-sense is soon on full alert. Any sense of a cozy mystery read is dispelled when sinister stalking via her phone and computer and even her smart fridge impacts her life and the lives of others. With the aid of her sister and an impressive hacker, Tricia uncovers a plan that is both horrifying and illuminating in its possibilities.
I received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. 'Dead Code' will be released in October.
I received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. 'Dead Code' will be released in October.
October 2, 2023
Dead Code by Glenda Carroll dropped me right in. I related to the likable main character, her fears, her humor. The pace never lets up or drags. Being from the Bay Area, I could picture the settings but her descriptions would put anyone from anywhere into the scenes. Up-to-date references to AI, drones, tech espionage lace the fast-paced adventure with cutting edge reality, while at the same time the reader is brought into Trisha’s day-to-day life and work with relatable family and associates. Carroll masterfully lets the backstory unfold without info-dumps. I’m ready for my next Trisha Carson mystery!
December 15, 2021
Thank you to author Glenda Carroll for this FREE Kindle copy of Dead Code.
I liked it. Good story, set of characters, pace and settings. Current and fascinating topic. SMART devices monitor us at home. Phones track all we do (read an app eula?), where we go, who we're with. Read a book on this topic not long ago about how open these devices are, how easily hacked and how much data is collected, and we pay to give it away. So I enjoyed the connection with this book. A few too many editing issues, but mainly things like a period instead of a comma. Otherwise, a good read.
I liked it. Good story, set of characters, pace and settings. Current and fascinating topic. SMART devices monitor us at home. Phones track all we do (read an app eula?), where we go, who we're with. Read a book on this topic not long ago about how open these devices are, how easily hacked and how much data is collected, and we pay to give it away. So I enjoyed the connection with this book. A few too many editing issues, but mainly things like a period instead of a comma. Otherwise, a good read.
December 28, 2021
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Goodreads. This appears to be the third in a series and while it worked okay as a stand-alone for me, I still felt like I was missing some of the characters' back stories, especially for the main character. I found that I was not as invested in the story as I usually am...but that could just be related to reading this during the busy Christmas season. Having said that, I would probably read more from this author.
November 12, 2023
A mystery with the SF Giants, open water swimming, hacked credit cards, cyber crimes, and a few missing and found people.
You'll find extended families, friends, and dogs with sports announcers and beer startups,
Great story, although familiarity with the San Francisco Bay Area would be handy
Fun reading about bits and pieces of a place I've known over the years.
It could be a negative if you don't like the Giants/San Francisco or fog.
The negative could be a positive if you want to learn about intimate details of the SF Bay Area in an engaging story.
You'll find extended families, friends, and dogs with sports announcers and beer startups,
Great story, although familiarity with the San Francisco Bay Area would be handy
Fun reading about bits and pieces of a place I've known over the years.
It could be a negative if you don't like the Giants/San Francisco or fog.
The negative could be a positive if you want to learn about intimate details of the SF Bay Area in an engaging story.
May 29, 2024
Dead Code features amateur sleuth Trisha Carson, an open-water swimmer who lives in the SF Bay Area. Trisha is well-nuanced and distinctive (no small feat considering how many PIs reside in mystery land) and although the story of the hunt for a missing person while a mysterious stalker tracks our heroine (along with multiple electronic devices, including a smart fridge) fits the genre neatly, the dialogue, characters and setting take it all up a notch. Well worth reading!
January 19, 2025
Review of audio edition.
A new author and a new narrator for me. Both are good. Mystery, suspense and action are all in plentiful supply right from the first minute of this book. Kidnap, Corruption and subterfuge abound. Set against a sporty environment the book is addictive and at times edge of the seat listening as our hero Tricia tries to solve the mystery. Oona Maya's narration is excellent bringing the whole story to life and her multitude of different voices are very entertaining.
A new author and a new narrator for me. Both are good. Mystery, suspense and action are all in plentiful supply right from the first minute of this book. Kidnap, Corruption and subterfuge abound. Set against a sporty environment the book is addictive and at times edge of the seat listening as our hero Tricia tries to solve the mystery. Oona Maya's narration is excellent bringing the whole story to life and her multitude of different voices are very entertaining.
January 6, 2022
I loved Dead Code and now I've read all 3 books in this exciting series. Trisha Carson is a strong, flawed, and totally relatable main character. I highly recommend this book if you like fast-paced, imaginative thrillers.
January 12, 2025
I hadn't listened to anything by this author or narrator before, initially I felt like I was missing something as I wasn't sure on the backstories (an excuse to listen to the previous books). I liked the identity theft idea and how it got resolved. It kept me involved throughout.
January 7, 2022
I enjoyed the storytelling here. Carroll's created a fun character and immersive plot.
January 29, 2022
A totally engaging story with an endearing and amusing heroine. This book is well written and will keep you on your toes until the very satisfying end.
March 30, 2025
This high quality mystery is loaded with vibrant and bright storytelling, lively characters and realistic dialogue. The suspense flows beautifully as the mysteries unfold.
February 2, 2022
I entered this giveaway to obtain this book for my husband. Unfortunately, he could not finish it. He felt like the book was confusing and jumped around a lot. After he read 30% of the book, the plot still seemed unformed so he gave up on the book. Thanks to the author for the Goodreads giveaway!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews