Mystery• Thriller

Review: Dead in the Water by Donna Collins

January 21, 2026

Synopsis:

Jason Wade is an East End boxer-turned-Police Crime Scene Investigator. He likes his job, has a good circle of friends, and is never short of female admirers. But, although on the outside his life looks an enviable one, behind closed doors he has more than one secret hidden away.

When a female body is dragged from the Thames, the skeletons from Jason’s past quickly begin to resurface and his near-perfect life slowly begins to spiral out of control. But, when a second victim is pulled from the Thames with amnesia, Jason questions if the two accidents are related to each other.

With none of his colleagues believing there is a link between the two incidences, and ordered to stay away from the case by his boss, will investigating these seemingly unrelated cases lead Jason to his own downfall, and how many of his friends will he take with him?

Review:

We meet Jason, who lost his siter a few months ago and it impacted his life and job significantly. While everything clearly pointed to murder, others came to a different conclusion. Him still being in pursuit of finding out what really happened, does not bode well with his boss and colleagues.

When he is asked to fingerprint Kate in the hospital, who fell down a bridge and woke up in the hospital having no memories of who she is, their story becomes intertwined. Jasen is convinced that what happened to his sister and Kate is connected, which has him dig deeper and getting into dangerous situations. It leads to people being dragged into it and him and Kate becoming a target for the responsible party that wants to keep everything quiet.

I felt for Jason, who couldn’t let loose in finding out what really happened when everyone else wanted him to stop. This is a fast-paced story, which I enjoyed a lot. The ending felt a bit rushed to me and I’m sad to not see another book yet in the series.

I switched between the Kindle and Audiobook and with the book being published a bit later, I noticed it having a slightly different introduction, introducing us with Jason at the murder scene of his sister and how devestating is was for him.

🌙 Recension: Dead in the Water (Jason Wade #1) by Donna Collins
📚 Genre: Thriller, Mystery
📅 Release Date: February 18, 2020 / November 30, 2020 (Audiobook)
📖 Publisher: ‎ Willow Books
📱 Read as: Kindle / Audiobook
📗 available in various formats
💸 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 269
🎶 7 hrs 12 mins
⭐️ 3.5/5