And the Sea Became Blood

October 14, 2019
A natural disaster, Hurricane Michael, hovers over Lister’s underwhelming 21st novel featuring John Jordan, a sheriff’s investigator in Gulf County, Fla. (after 2018’s Blue Blood). After a teasing opening in which an unidentified person muses on finding the perfect murder victim, an anonymous call to the police leads Jordan to visit the home of Andrew Irwin, a retired priest he knows. Irwin is lying dead on the floor, clad only in his underwear and cradling a large crucifix, the victim of antifreeze poisoning. Jordan’s by-the-book investigation fails to engage as he searches both for a motive for the crime and the tipster’s identity. A domestic crisis involving Jordan’s family distracts from the case, until the arrival of the hurricane, which completely dominates the book for chapters at a time, relegating the murder to the background. When Lister does return to it, the solution will disappoint series fans who have come to expect twists that are unexpected and plausible. The author has bitten off more than he can chew. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, AMB Literary Management.