I can tell you that in Olivier Descosse’s Fears in Deep Water, the city is a character in its own right. Here, the survey is linked to the body of young woman found in the nets of a trawler. The latter is covered with bite marks and the left foot is severed.
It is Chloé Latour, commander of the criminal brigade, who is in charge of the case. A case that will lead her to rub shoulders with the opaque world of professional divers and wreck finders, those of the TEK as they are called in the jargon. An extraordinary profession in which Jean Sardi has already distinguished himself, he is one of the best and he also knew the victim. Inevitably we will suspect him, especially since he has a motive. But in the meantime there are other bodies that will rise to the surface and stir up trouble.
Olivier Descosse is a lawyer in Marseille and dives himself regularly. He adores this universe and is fascinated by the world of the abyss which remains very mysterious to this day. And we, we discover this world too. That’s what I found particularly pleasant in this thriller. This world that we don’t often talk about, which moreover seems a little rough at first but where we realize that we have to to be extremely rigorous so as not to put oneself and others at risk. The missions are often dangerous and take place all over the waters of the globe.
I liked the universe and also the way Olivier Descosse describes his characters to us in small touches before the puzzle falls into place. We learn, we readers, to discover them bit by bit and little by little to understand the whole and to know the past that they lug around heavily with them.
We necessarily read quickly, in apnea if I dare say, 500 pages of “Fears in deep water” so much we want to know and so much time does not have the same speed under water.