What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Several years ago I came across a novel while walking through a model home (I get bored easily) by a female author who’s name eludes me. I believe the cover was orange and I’m fairly sure it was a mystery novel written in the recent past (from the ‘90s on). I wasn’t paying full attention given where I was, so I don’t remember the plot, but the short prologue intrigued me: it focused on a shark (I think a great white) swimming close to the shore off somewhere on the west coast. It described how it was an older shark and went over its migratory patterns a bit. At the end of the prologue something happened to it and it was injured and possibly killed.

At that point we had to leave the house, and I wasn’t able to write down the title and author. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Do you remember how many years ago you saw the book?

During 2004. The book looked like it may have been from the '90s at the earliest. I figure since it was being used as model home decor it was probably not new and had been bought secondhand.

Bump

A real long shot - The Old Man: An Emerson Dunn Mystery (1994) by Roy Maynard?

"An Emerson Dunn Mystery: I used to think Great Whites were the meanest sharks alive. But they're nothing compared to hungry loan sharks. Once again I, Emerson Dunn am helpless and confused and feeling like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers."

I'm 99% sure I've solved this one! I hope so as I know how frustrating searching for a certain book can be! I'm sure this is Moonbird Boy by Abigail Padgett. It's a 90s crime/mystery novel, and the edition I read doesn't seem to be listed on Goodreads, but it had an orangey cover with a distorted photo of a cactus. I don't have it to check, but the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that the opening scene was from an old female shark's POV, leading on to a later part of the plot where the shark attack is relevant. It's not mentioned in the Goodreads blurb, but a Google search brings up a few references to the shark element of the plot.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Cool - I'll check this out!

Phil, please let us know. We love knowing a book has been solved. And if it isn't solved, let us know and we will keep looking.

Phil, was your book Moonbird Boy or are you still looking?

That was it!

Great. Glad you found your book, Phil. Thanks for the update on Erica's find.