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The Dark and Deadly Pool LaurelLeaf Suspense Fiction Joan Lowery Nixon 9780833531414 Books

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The Dark and Deadly Pool LaurelLeaf Suspense Fiction Joan Lowery Nixon 9780833531414 Books

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The Dark and Deadly Pool LaurelLeaf Suspense Fiction Joan Lowery Nixon 9780833531414 Books Reviews

Joan Lowery Nixon is a talented writer! Even though this wasn't my favorite book by her, she still made sure the reader feels as though they are in the story!...
"The Dark and Deadly Pool" is about a girl named Mary Elizabeth. She just landed a new job at the Ridley Hotel's heath club. Her shift takes place from 3-11 PM. One night, while Liz is by the pool alone after closing, a person comes up from the pool and reaches out to Liz. By the time Liz calls security, the man is gone!
Liz starts to realize that her new job is getting stranger by the minute when guests start to have their wallets pickpocketed. Not only that, but roasts and turkeys are being stolen from the kitchen, and two antique sofas are stolen by people posing as cleaners. Liz knows that these events must be linked, but how? Will Liz be able to detect what's going on with the Ridley Hotel events, or will her investigations lead her to death? Surely finding a dead guest in the pool will throw her off the case, right? Find out in "The Dark and Deadly Pool!"
Overall, I think this story was very good. Nixon also incorporated romance into the story for a sure-hit! Aside from that though, I think that Nixon could have put a bit more action into it!
Also recommended "Name of the Game Was Murder" and "Nobody's There," both by Joan Lowery Nixon!
I went through a pretty good Joan Lowery Nixon phase when I was about twelve or thereabouts. Along with Lois Duncan, Ms. Nixon kept me well supplied with tense, easily digested mysteries about young girls who encountered the horrifying and the deadly on a regular basis. As I was in the process of expanding a bit on my Nancy Drew addiction, I basically ate them up with a spoon. I collected used copies of most of Nixon's books and, at one point, had quite a group of them on my shelf; now they've been whittled down to the most memorable, sentimental few. Of her mysteries I held on to Secret, Silent Screams (Laurel-leaf suspense),The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore, and THE DARK AND DEADLY POOL. And while the first two are probably better crafted, more complicated tales, THE DARK AND DEADLY POOL is my favorite because of its offbeat and lovable main characters--Mary Elizabeth Rafferty and her friend Fran or, as I like to call him--ManFran.

Mary Elizabeth takes a summer job at the super ritzy Ridley Hotel health club. Initially she thinks it will be the perfect place to spend those hot summer days. She's tall for her age, something of a klutz, and known to trip over or destroy the various objects in her path. Life has just gone that way for her over the past sixteen years. Secretly she dreams of becoming an orchestra conductor and when she's particularly zoned out she'll practice conducting in her head. Never mind the fact that she can't play an instrument to save her life and, at this point in time, she has all the confidence of an agoraphobic in a shopping mall. To make matters worse, the jittery Mary Elizabeth is closing up one night and sees a body rise up out of the pool, gape at her, and disappear once more under the surface of the water. No one will believe her, of course. Not Lamar the chief of security, not Art Mart the health club director, and not Tina her tough but friendly co-worker. Fortunately, she runs into (literally) another member of the staff who does believe her. A boy named Fran (short for Francis Liverpool III) who is shorter than her but makes up for it with an abundance of charm and determination. Together Liz and Fran attempt to solve the mystery of the dark and deadly pool...

Somehow this cozy little mystery has worn fairly well over the years. I loved it when I was twelve for its quirky main duo and for its slightly campy-creepy feel. And I still love it for those same reasons. There's something about the taller, stronger girl being courted by the smaller, Puckish boy that appeals to me. Throw in the fact that they run around rather ineptly fighting crime together and you've got yourself a winning combination, my friend. Nothing in the way of surprising or truly deep (except the, uh, pool), but everything in the way of endearing and charming. Every now and then I still pull out my old copy and settle in for a couple hours with Mary Elizabeth and ManFran. And you know what? They're still good company.
*This review was originally published on RachelPoli.com

FIRST THOUGHTS

I used to love Joan Lowery Nixon’s books when I was younger. I’ve read this one before, but of course, I couldn’t remember anything about it. So I thought I’d give it another read.

PLOT

Mary Elizabeth takes a summer job at a luxury hotel. She works in the pool area scrubbing tiles, collecting towels, and making sure the locker rooms are tidy. She’s also in charge of closing up the pool at the end of the night.

She’s afraid of the dark and being at a large empty resort alone in the dark scares her all the more. One night she stays a little later to calm her nerves and get over her fears. That’s when she sees a mysterious figure swimming in the pool. They scare each and he disappears. It’s later still that a body turns up in the pool. With the help of her co-workers, specifically Fran, Liz investigates and solves the various crimes and murders.

This mystery plot is like most where the non-detective protagonist attempts to solve crimes on her own. Whereas she didn’t have a suspect list, she was more interested in the why and the how. Of course, she wanted the criminal to be caught, but she was mostly curious as to how they were getting in and out of the hotel undetected.

The ending was unexpected as well as you try to figure it out along with Liz. The culprit is the least person you would suspect and, in the end, Liz didn’t really save the day. The law enforcement did.

CHARACTERS

I found all the characters to be enjoyable. I liked having Liz as the protagonist, even though her character development at the end was a bit out of the blue. She wanted a tall man for a boyfriend and Fran was much shorter than her. She was against being with him because of that, but at the end she randomly overlooked it.

Fran was a fun character as well. He was the comic relief, but he was also Liz’s rock throughout the whole endeavor. Tina, another employee, was like Liz’s best friend and she helped out a lot as well.

Then, of course, there were Liz’s bosses and the various guests at the hotel. It was a fun, well-rounded cast of characters.

WRITING STYLE

Nixon did a wonderful job at portraying the mystery. Liz didn’t find or figure out any clues or evidence right away or too easily and each crime was spaced out just enough.

The words on the page flow well and are easy to read. This is another quick read being shy of 200 pages.

OVERALL

I enjoyed re-reading this story even though I didn’t remember much of it. I look forward to reading her other books, some I’ve already read before. I also look forward to re-reading this again in a few years. Nixon certainly has a way with words and all her books are great.

Favorite Quote

“Take good care of yourself.”
“I will until you get home, Mom, and then I’ll give up and let you do it.” –Joan Lowery Nixon, The Dark And Deadly Pool
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