Bluefin Blues

Aristotle Socarides #6

by Paul Kemprecos

In need of cash, sometime private detective Soc Socarides takes on the case of a murdered fisherman found harpooned in a stolen boat, but begins to regret his actions when the investigation takes another deadly turn

Genres: Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Mystery

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

My fiction-writing career owes it start to the bad navigation of an 18th century pirate. For it was in 1717 that a ship, the Whydah went aground, reportedly carrying a fabulous treasure. In the 1980s, three salvage groups went head-to-head, competing to find the wreck. The controversy over the salvage got hot at times and I thought there might be a book in their story. I was working for a newspaper at the time.
I developed my own detective, an ex-cop, diver, fisherman, and PI named Aristotle “Soc” Socarides. He was more philosophical than hard-boiled. Making his first appearance in “Cool Blue Tomb,” the book won the Shamus award for Best Paperback novel. After many years in the newspaper business, I turned to writing fiction and churned out five more books in the series.
Clive Cussler blurbed: “There can be no better mystery writer in America than Paul Kemprecos.”
Despite the accolades, the Soc series lingered in mid-list hell. By the time I finished my last book, I was thinking about another career that might make me more money, like working in a 7-11.
Several months after the release of “Bluefin Blues,” Clive called and said a spin-off from the Dirk Pitt series was in the works. It would be called the NUMA Files and he wondered if I would be interested in tackling the job.
I took on the writing of “Serpent” which brought into being Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Assignments Team. Austin had some carry-over from Soc, and another team member, Paul Trout, had been born on Cape Cod. The book made The New York Times bestseller list, as did every one of seven NUMA Files that followed, including “Polar Shift,” which bumped “The DaVinci Code” for first place.
After eight NUMA Files I went back to writing solo. I wrote an adventure book entitled, The Emerald Scepter, which introduced a new hero, Matinicus “Matt” Hawkins. I have been working on the re-release of my Soc series in digital and print, and in 2013, responding to numerous requests, I brought Soc back again in a seventh Socarides book entitled, Grey Lady. My wife Christi and I live on Cape Cod where she works as a financial advisor. We live in a circa 1865 farmhouse with two cats. We have three children and seven granddaughters.
To learn more about Paul Kemprecos, check out his website at http://www.paulkemprecos.com.

Reviews

[Seher Andaç · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bluefin Blues. Mavi yüzgeçli orkinos. Kitabın orijinal ismi. Vikipedi’ye göre de eski adıyla ton balığı. Sanırım ton balığı bizim coğrafyamızda dikkat çekmeyeceği için Yakuza Cinayeti ismiyle okumuş oldum. Hoş ben de kitabın kapak resminde ejderha resmi var diye elime almıştım:)
Karakterleri çok iyi resmedilmiş. Atlantik okyanusundaki orkinoslara göz dikmiş yakuzalarla dolu heyecanlı bir polisiye roman okumuş oldum. Yılan derisi çizmeleriyle Rick bir Tokyo polisi ama ABD’ye sürülmüş. Aristotle Socarides, kahramanımız özel dedektif ve ismi her ne kadar bağırsa da hadi söyleyelim o bir Yunan. Katili buldu ve sevgilisi Sally’nin kıymetini anladı. Flagg bir Amerikan yerlisi ve devlet adına çalışıyor. Akito, ton balığı etinden iyi anlıyor; fiyatı o belirliyor haliyle şimşekleri üstüne çektiği için öldürülmekten kurtulamadı. Katil gözlerinde dolar işareti dönen hırslı bir …
Lafı uzattım, peki peki. Rastlarsanız okuyun derim çünkü tam bir polisiye, tadı nefis.
Mazel tov.
…
…
…
Muhtar Özkaya kütüphanesindeki kapıdan girince soldaki rafta kitaplar, dergiler durur. Bağımsız köşe, rafa girmez yani isteyen istediğini alsın ya da bıraksın yeri. Ben de oradan almıştım. Çok hoş bir uygulama:)

[Vicky Coughlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love loved this book. It was such a great story. If you haven’t read this series go and start reading it. So good!

[Andres Revesz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series w great very human detective

The prose flows fluently and the story develops very well without hiccups.
Love the mix of detective, fisherman, world fixer...

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 arrondi à 3. En bref, il se passe pas grand chose. L’intrigue plutôt mince pour ne pas dire insignifiante…

[Glen U · Rating 3 out of 5]

This the last of Kemprecos' Socarides series. As usual, the writer excels when writing about the depths of the ocean and man's interaction with it, but in this final edition, the plot and dialogue suffers. In prior books, Kemprecos fully engages the reader in his characters. In this story, it seems they become more caricatures, than characters. An intriguing plotline, involving tuna fishermen and the Yakuza, this had the potential to be a very good book. Still worthwhile to read, especially for those Socaides fans, for me, it was a disappointing finale.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Kemprecos “Soc” mysteries. They are certainly not complicated and I know they are dated being 20 years old but I enjoy the simplicity and enjoy the cape cod setting. I’m happy to see kemprecos is still writing even though there are only a handful of “Soc” books. The next one won’t be too far away. Also liked that I learned a bit about the bluefin tuna industry.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#6 in the Aristotle "Soc" Socarides series.

Aristotle "Soc" Socarides series - The Cape Cod fisherman / detective agrees to investigate the harpooning death of a Japanese fish buyer for his grandfather. The tale involves the bluefin tuna fishery, colorful characters and the Yakuza.

[Wenzel Roessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book six, as the rest of this hidden jem of a series, did not disappoint. My only concern is that this does not turn out to be a formula driven series. The series is not there yet but I could see it headed that way, I mean how much need for Flagg is there in Cape Cod?

[Gökberk · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just cheap literature. "The New York Times Bestseller", does it mean the city of New York or the smallest street on it?

[Cuneyt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok read if you have a few hours to waste.

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thriller marinaresco. Simpatico il personaggio del detective greco Aristotele "Soc" Socarides. Lettura poco impegnativa.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good mystery by this author, set on Cape Cod, this time with some insight into the tuna industry.