Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

When all you need right now is to relax with a short book that won’t tax you with long-winded descriptions and convoluted plots, pick up Dry Drowning by Kevin Hopson. It’s the third book in a series based on a former Criminal Investigations Division detective, Jacob Schmidt, now retired to pursue his own private investigation business with a partner, Dinah.

In the first book of the series, Delivering Jacob, Schmidt loses his son and is so overwhelmed with grief that he feels he can’t move on, a feeling worsened by the failure of his marriage. When we meet Schmidt in the violent opening to Dry Drowning, he is being beaten up by thugs and, even without knowing his story, you wonder if he has a death wish. But no. His wish now is only to help others, especially those who are victims of domestic violence. So when he notices the bruises on a young woman’s arm in a cafe, he asks if she needs help. Before she can reply, he is brushed off roughly by a male who hauls her out of the cafe and into a car. Jacob’s cop instincts kick in and he decides to tail the car. What happens after that is for you to find out when you read Dry Drowning.

According to Kevin Hopson’s website, although he had written several stories prior to that first book in the Jacob Schmidt series, Dry Drowning is the closest he has come to a story drawing from his personal life. No doubt that is the reason for the focus of Dry Drowning, and the fact that all proceeds from the sale of this book go to help victims of domestic abuse. Hopson is a prolific writer and his favorite genre is fantasy. His other series is his Vargrom books…fantasy, of course. So depending on your tastes, after reading Dry Drowning you might like to check out what else Kevin Hopson has to offer. But if you like your stories short and sweet, but fast paced and poignant, look no further than Dry Drowning. It hits the spot for brief crime fiction lovers with not much time on their hands.