The anchor wouldn’t budge and Marvin thought it was caught on the muddy ground beneath, but when it broke free and reached the surface the anchor had a grisly passenger- a murdered young woman. The experience upsets Marvin’s wife and the local authorities are overworked so the couple decide to hire Charlie Noble, a former coast guard officer that now works as a marine private investigator, to investigate the case.

Charlie’s expertise quickly comes into play as he dives in the area where the body was found, but unexpectedly he discovers two more bodies. All of the victims are young Hispanic women, and the investigation takes on a new intensity with the additional deaths. Charlie uses all his contacts to discover the killer, and the case is beginning to hint at human smuggling and involvement in the sex trade. Set in the San Juan Islands along the Northwest coast, Precious Cargo: A Novel of Suspense by Clyde Ford is as much about setting as it is a mystery. This is an escape into a world of boats and the Northwest Coast, but where murder is also still all too real.