Review: Deep as the Ocean – C.J. Baty

Deep As The Ocean - C.J. Baty - The Pinkerton Man Series

Genre: Historical, Mystery

LGBTQ+ Category: Gay

Reviewer: Linda, Paranormal Romance Guild

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About The Book

What started as a vacation for Stiles Long, Michael O’Leary, and Lizzie Ferguson, soon turns to murder?

Aboard the ocean liner, the Mauretania, every luxury is at their fingertips. Sumptuous food, comfortable staterooms, dancing, card games, and anything else your first class heart can expire too. What the trio did not expect was a face from a past assignment to follow them on their cruise.

James Stark was the lowest of men. A blackmailer with a heart of ice. But who hated him enough to kill him? The list of suspects all circle around the same dining room table, including Stiles, Michael, and Lizzie.

They have less than two days before they dock in Liverpool to find the killer. If they don’t, he’ll walk off the boat Scott-free.

Nights of romance, declaring love, dancing in the ballroom, playing cards, a storm that nearly takes the life of one of our trio, and a murderer among them, all makes for an adventure on the deep sea.

This is the continuing adventures of the Pinkerton Man Series.

The Review

Another adventure with my favorite Pinkerton agents – Stiles Long, Michael O’Leary and Lizzie Ferguson. The three are leaving New York and heading to Liverpool for vacation on the ocean liner Mauretania, the sister ship of the Lusitania. Lizzie and Stiles have a suite – two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room – which they are sharing as sister and brother. Michael has an attached single room so that Michael and Stiles do not reveal that they are lovers.

Winston Aldridge is their cabin steward and will be responsible for their comfort. Their breakfast will be brought to them, and to keep up the “brother-sister” pretense, Stiles has to make sure to always return to the suite in time. Unfortunately, this is the day and age being gay could mean going to jail, and being in the closet is a secret that must not be revealed.

Dinner is when the three of them meet other passengers. Their table consists of a doctor, his wife and two daughters, two brothers, Lord and Lady Halcroft, Alistair Corbyn from Scotland Yard, Lady Fernsbey and her ward Ducky. The last man to take a seat is James Stark, a man known to Lizzie, Stiles and Michael, and apparently all the others at the table. Someone who destroys lives – everyone has been affected adversely by him.

Even Lizzie, Stiles and Michael are not immune to his blackmail. He apparently has pictures of Stiles and Michael that could reveal the secret they’ve worked so hard to keep.

When Stark is found dead, there’s no shortage of suspects and our guys are determined to find the guilty party before they land in Liverpool. Of course, my money is on them, and I won’t share anything here that will reveal who it is.

I love this series and highly recommend it. It has great characters, there’s always a mystery to solve, and Baty takes a deep look at what faces those who don’t conform with society’s views on who to love.

Five stars.

The Reviewer

I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.

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