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Kim Reynolds #2
The Drowning Pool
Psychic librarian Kim Reynolds investigates after the body of Rick Bradshaw, a known womanizer, is found dead floating in the pool of the apartment complex where she lives.
343 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 13, 2009
I really enjoyed reading this mystery novel. It's very well-written. Complex characters and plot. Quality fiction.
October 12, 2025
I actually really liked this. I got it for free which makes it better. I wish we would have had more background on Bert but all in all I would recommend this book.
May 25, 2009
Modern relationships, murder and mystery in a moderately over written story with guts and heart.
A body found floating in the pool at the La Reine Gardens apartment complex brings police lieutenant, Mike Gardner, and his new, and often belligerent partner, Bert St. Croix to investigate. Mike is going to need Kim Reynolds’ insight and sensitivity to emotions to solve this one, which gives him one more reason to spend time with the gun-shy librarian. Mike has two problems: solving the murder and convincing Kim to marry him. Kim has other plans, and so, it seems, does the murderer.
Just to make things interesting, Jacqueline Seewald takes a simple murder and turns it into a commentary on relationships, love, loyalty and greed in The Drowning Pool. This second mystery for Kim Reynolds and Detective Mike Gardner is layered with lies, subterfuge, nightmares, violence, dysfunctional relationships and fear of intimacy. Among the darker elements, are the relationships between Mike, his daughters and Kim that contain the most believable elements of the story.
The mystery is not contrived nor is the investigation lacking in any way, but one red herring seems to have been tossed in to make the book longer without adding anything tangible to the solution of the mystery or unmasking the murderer. This particular plot point is based on a husband and wife refusing to talk to each other, and there is quite a lot of that going around with most of the couples implicated in the murder. One thing is certain, Seewald knows how to write dysfunctional relationships and she has loaded The Drowning Pool with several.
Aside from the obligatory red herrings and a bit of scenery chewing, The Drowning Pool is well plotted and fast paced with enough conflict and sexual tension to fuel more outings for Kim and Mike. The chemistry and emotional push-pull between the main characters kicks the heat up a few notches and gives what would be an otherwise garden-variety mystery depth, texture and heart.
A body found floating in the pool at the La Reine Gardens apartment complex brings police lieutenant, Mike Gardner, and his new, and often belligerent partner, Bert St. Croix to investigate. Mike is going to need Kim Reynolds’ insight and sensitivity to emotions to solve this one, which gives him one more reason to spend time with the gun-shy librarian. Mike has two problems: solving the murder and convincing Kim to marry him. Kim has other plans, and so, it seems, does the murderer.
Just to make things interesting, Jacqueline Seewald takes a simple murder and turns it into a commentary on relationships, love, loyalty and greed in The Drowning Pool. This second mystery for Kim Reynolds and Detective Mike Gardner is layered with lies, subterfuge, nightmares, violence, dysfunctional relationships and fear of intimacy. Among the darker elements, are the relationships between Mike, his daughters and Kim that contain the most believable elements of the story.
The mystery is not contrived nor is the investigation lacking in any way, but one red herring seems to have been tossed in to make the book longer without adding anything tangible to the solution of the mystery or unmasking the murderer. This particular plot point is based on a husband and wife refusing to talk to each other, and there is quite a lot of that going around with most of the couples implicated in the murder. One thing is certain, Seewald knows how to write dysfunctional relationships and she has loaded The Drowning Pool with several.
Aside from the obligatory red herrings and a bit of scenery chewing, The Drowning Pool is well plotted and fast paced with enough conflict and sexual tension to fuel more outings for Kim and Mike. The chemistry and emotional push-pull between the main characters kicks the heat up a few notches and gives what would be an otherwise garden-variety mystery depth, texture and heart.
January 12, 2010
After a womanizer turns up dead, investigators have no shortage of miserable suspects in Jacqueline Seewald's The Drowning Pool. Police detectives Mike Gardner and Bert St. Croix, joined by librarian Kim Reynolds, each rely on their own methods to untangle and connect stories from a long list of suspects all focused on their own narrow jobs and self-interests. Set in New Jersey, the plot unfolds with multiple layers of corruption, both in the characters' personal lives and the places where they work. Some characters settle for the fastest, easiest answers to conflicts, while the more introspective ones, driven by the memories of troubling events in their own lives, delve into relationships and their psychology, prepared to expose flaws. For this reader, the book was more mystery than romance. Still, what's most intriguing about this fast-paced murder investigation is Seewald's study of how various women regard, seek and manage independence from the men who complicate their lives.
May 29, 2015
At first I wasn't too sure about this book. When I started reading, it seemed a bit jumpy.
But I quickly became entangled in the plot and trying to work out 'whodunnit'
It was a fast-paced read, even though it took me a week to finish it (other assignments
and things going on).
I like it when authors can keep you guessing all the way to the end. I had my
suspicions but kept changing my mind as new complications developed.
I liked the character of Mike Gardner. I'm not sure if this is a series novel or not
but it very well could be.
But I quickly became entangled in the plot and trying to work out 'whodunnit'
It was a fast-paced read, even though it took me a week to finish it (other assignments
and things going on).
I like it when authors can keep you guessing all the way to the end. I had my
suspicions but kept changing my mind as new complications developed.
I liked the character of Mike Gardner. I'm not sure if this is a series novel or not
but it very well could be.
September 6, 2013
I really liked this chic lit mystery novel. I read it twice but years apart. I really like the characters and how Kim Renolds a reference librain can always find herself in life and death situations to help find a murderer.
June 18, 2009
see my review at http://nash-black.blogspot.com
July 12, 2009
Cop chick-lit with a heavy dose of soft porn. Who reads this stuff??
September 25, 2011
I enjoyed this story way into the wee hours of the night.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews