Deadly Catch: A Mac McClellan Mystery

By E. Michael Helms

“The first cast of the day turned my dream vacation into a nightmare. . . .”
 
After twenty-four years in the U.S. Marines, recently retired Mac McClellan is happy to be a civilian again. He is enjoying a leisurely fishing vacation in the Florida panhandle when he hooks a badly decomposed body.

Then, when a bag of rare marijuana is discovered stashed aboard his rental boat, he realizes someone is setting him up to take the fall for murder and drug smuggling. Mac’s plans for a more laid-back life must be put on hold while he works to clear his name as the number one suspect.

Mac launches an investigation with the help of Kate Bell, a feisty saleslady at the local marina with whom he has struck up a promising relationship. Along the way he must butt heads and match wits with local law enforcement officials, shady politicians, and strong-armed thugs from the Eastern Seaboard to sniff out and bring the real smuggler and killer to justice.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781616148683

E. Michael Helms

A veteran, writer, and editor, E. Michael Helms Helms has published articles and stories in several regional and national magazines. His work has also appeared in the books Soldier's Heart: Survivors' Views of Combat Trauma and Two Score And Ten: Third Marine Division's History. He is the author of numerous books, including The Proud Bastards and The Private War of Corporal Henson. He lives in South Carolina with his wife, Karen. 

Reviews for Deadly Catch

[sheriawilkinson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mac McClellan is a retired Marine. He plans on a relaxing fishing vacation in Florida, and he end up with a catch. But at the other end of his line is not a fish, it is a dead body. Next thing he knows a bag of marijuana is found on his rental boat and he is now the number one suspect in a murder.

With the help if his new friend Kate Bell who works at the local marina, they are determined to clear his name and solve this mystery.

A fantastic murder/mystery with twists and turns. I have read Of Blood and Brothers: BOOK ONEand really enjoyed it. When I got the chance to read E. Michael Helms new book Deadly Catch: A Mac McClellan Mystery I could not pass up the opportunity, I was not disappointed. A great all night read!

[sheiladeeth_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

From perfect first line to satisfying conclusion, E. Michael Helms’ Deadly Catch is a well-plotted mystery written with a perfect sense for character, dialog and place. The author peoples his small town in the Florida panhandle with a convincing cast of characters, nicely avoiding confusion for the reader, and narrating their actions in the convincing voice of a combat veteran, recently retired from the Marines. This protagonist takes believable risks, becomes appropriately angry, and copes with admirable perseverance as the town seems to turn against him. Readers together with the character try to fathom which voice is honest and which is false as the plot twists and turns. Meanwhile the protagonist might fall in with the place or with one of its inhabitants… might settle… might dream.Deadly Catch tells of a hauntingly real and convincingly haunted protagonist who catches a dead body when he goes fishing. Suspicions abound. Good guys and bad are convincingly complex, while the author nicely avoids the stereotyping of “military men” in creating a protagonist who’s not too haunted, not too wounded, and not too dark. I really enjoyed the hopeful feel of this novel and I’d love to read more.I won a signed copy and I offer my honest review.

[perilous1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Freshly retired former Marine, Mac McClellan, just wanted some time to himself to drink, fish, and generally make the most of his return to bachelorhood. Instead he catches far more than he'd bargained for. Set somewhere in the Florida panhandle, this mystery offers a pretty straightforward story centering around murder, corruption, and the illicit drug trade -- along with two well-to-do families whose lives are curiously intertwined. It's not so much a whodunit as it is an unraveling of a small community’s connections and history. The reader follows Mac's singular point of view--joining him in being the outsider trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together, and who can be trusted not to shoot him in the back.Helm's first book in the series offers an every-man sort of hero who comes equipped with an advantageous skill set, but no real experience with playing detective/private investigator. In that sense it's easy to stay convincingly in Mac's shoes as he both meets with success and bungles his efforts in fairly equal measure. The story’s strengths are in its rapid pacing and snappy, realistic dialogue. The author’s obvious competency aids in conveying more intricate details in the setting and Mac’s military experience—as well as, I suspect, an authentic passion for fishing. There’s even a bit of a romantic angle, though it’s far from the focus of the plot. I’ll admit up front that, while I read widely, I’m not well versed in the mystery genre. I suspect the majority of similar books I've read would be more closely categorized as thrillers. As a result, this reader went in expecting a twist to the story that was never really meant to be there. There were some weak adverbs here and there, and I sometimes wished for fuller physical descriptions in certain characters, but overall this comes out of the chute as a solid and plot-driven first go at fiction. I hope to see a strengthening in Mac’s characterization as the series progresses.

[col2910_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis/blurb........After twenty-four years in the marines, Mac McClellan is happy to be a civilian again and let others take charge, but that's not going to happen until he clears his name as the number one suspect in a murder. When recently retired U.S. Marine Mac McClellan hooks a badly decomposed body while enjoying a leisurely fishing vacation in the Florida panhandle, and then a bag of rare marijuana is discovered stashed aboard his rental boat, he realizes someone is setting him up to take the fall for murder and drug smuggling. Mac and Kate Bell, a feisty saleslady at the local marina with whom he has struck up a promising relationship, launch an investigation to clear his name. Along the way Mac must butt heads and match wits with local law enforcement officials, shady politicians, and strong-armed thugs from the Eastern Seaboard to sniff out and bring the real smugglers and killer to justice.Helms is another new author for me. Previously his Vietnam memoir, The Proud Bastards was originally published back in 1990 and has been reprinted at various times over the years. He has also authored a novel about the Civil War called Of Blood and Brothers.Deadly Catch is a mystery novel set in Florida. Mac McClellan, our main man is a likeable, capable ex-marine on vacation. Divorced with a couple of grown up children, he’s doing a spot of fishing whilst deciding what to do with the rest of his life. Snagging a dead body isn’t part of his vacation planning and after a brusque encounter with the resident sheriff Bo Pickron, another veteran and war hero Mac’s life gets a little bit complicated. When the corpse is subsequently found to be the sheriff’s niece and murdered to boot, Mac fits the bill as number one suspect.Subsequent events do little to ease him back into civilian life and holiday mode..... a stash of dope is found on his chartered boat and then his trailer burns down. His developing friendship with Kate, who dismissed the spiky sheriff’s amorous attentions, previously, does little initially to calm the situation. Throw the feisty City police chief Merritt into the mix as well as some small town intrigue in the form of a long-time feud between two prominent families, one of which has just suffered the bereavement of the murder victim and top it off with some dope smuggling and the situation escalates for McClellan. McClellan teaming up with an unlikely ally, digs deeper into the family feud and the town’s recent history to try and get himself out from under the frame that’s been clumsily assembled around him.Overall verdict.......enjoyable, well written, decent pace, interesting and believable characters, satisfying conclusion.Only one minor, itsybitsy, wee gripe from me.........Kate, Mac’s friend and confidant has an irritating habit of saying the annoying word........ DANG! And not just on one occasion either. The irrational part of my brain had me half hoping she was kidnapped and bound and gagged as a sudden plot twist - just so she couldn’t speak! I would hazard that the word is part of the local dialect, but for some inexplicable reason it just grated on me.4 stars from 5I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy from Lisa at Prometheus Books. Many thanks!Deadly Catch is released on 12th November, and next year sees a second McClellan mystery from the author - Deadly Ruse. Something to look forward to in 2014!