Is Deceived Deceiving? A Sanibel Thriller that raises questions.

Randy Wayne White is a big name on little Sanibel.  The author, now restaurateur with two great eateries on the Islands, is a well known figure in these parts.  He is best recognized for his series of crime novels featuring the retired NSA agent Doc Ford, a marine biologist living on the Gulf Coast of southern Florida.

White has contributed material on a variety of topics to numerous magazines and has lectured across the United States. A resident of Southwest Florida since 1972, he currently lives on Pine Island, where he is active in South Florida civic affairs and with his restaurants.

With that much going on, his ability to write as often as he does is admirable.

But his newest novel, Deceived, is raising questions about his involvement, with readers often commenting that it does not "sound" like his older books.

While we realize that writers sometimes step back at points in their career and others take over the task with the finished piece in name only, we also recognize that all styles change over time. Architecture, art, music all morph as a person or area ages, takes in new stimulus or has a mood change.  The creative bent is a special talent, and there is no predicting its direction.

So we are going to give Mr. White the benefit of the doubt and assume that Deceived is all his.

And, with no further personal research, we do find the premise of the book quite interesting.

A twenty-year-old unsolved murder from Florida’s pothauling days gets Hannah Smith’s attention, but so does a more immediate problem. A private museum devoted solely to the state’s earliest settlers and pioneers has been announced, and many of Hannah’s friends and neighbors in Sulfur Wells are being pressured to make contributions.

The problem is, the whole thing is a scam, and when Hannah sets out to uncover whoever’s behind it, she discovers that things are even worse than she thought. The museum scam is a front for a real estate power play, her entire village is in danger of being wiped out—and the forces behind it have no intention of letting anything, or anyone, stand in their way.

So, there you have it.  Florida history, a strong female character, a museum being the bad guy and a murder all rolled into one.  Sounds like a page turner!