Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Tidewater Murder (Carolina Slade Mystery Series, #2)” as Want to Read:
Tidewater Murder
(Caroline Slade Mystery #2)
by
In the deep waters off the coast of Beaufort, South Carolina, corpses are turning up faster than dolphins chasing a shrimp boat . . .
When federal agricultural investigator Carolina Slade's best friend is suspected of embezzlement and fraud in a sordid case involving drugs and migrant slavery, Slade must question her own long-held loyalties. She's desperate to believe in Sa ...more
When federal agricultural investigator Carolina Slade's best friend is suspected of embezzlement and fraud in a sordid case involving drugs and migrant slavery, Slade must question her own long-held loyalties. She's desperate to believe in Sa ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 290 pages
Published
April 24th 2013
by Bell Bridge Books
(first published January 1st 2013)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Tidewater Murder,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Tidewater Murder
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Tidewater Murder (Carolina Slade Mystery Series, #2)

I ate up another Hope Clark mystery this weekend, and again, let me state I'm not a mystery reader. This reader of Jane Austen and Kiran Desai and Amy Walden (literary, international, etc) found out about Hope's fiction through her Funds for Writers newsletter and decided to take a risk on her stories. It's no risk whatsoever. In this sequel, Carolina Slade proves she's flesh and blood lifting off the pages, making me alternately cheer her on and want to cuss her out. "Slade, what are you doing?
...more

Sequels, all authors know are hard to do. Readers expect the second book to duplicate the same passion, tension and quality of writing. To have this expectation placed upon them can send some writers into the depths of despair. This did not happen to C. Hope Clark with her second novel, Tidewater Murder. It has surpassed the brilliance of its sibling and blossomed into a classic thriller in its own right.
The book follows the random path of the latest case Carolina Slade finds herself entwined in ...more
The book follows the random path of the latest case Carolina Slade finds herself entwined in ...more

* I received a free copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the 2nd book in the Carolina Slade mysteries and this one finds Slade promoted and living in Columbia, South Carolina. When her best friend Savannah is accused of wrong-doing, Slade sets out to find the truth. And gets into trouble along the way. Like the first novel in the series, I enjoyed the setting and Slade's spunky personality. However, the book a little slow going and Slade's stubbornness g ...more
This is the 2nd book in the Carolina Slade mysteries and this one finds Slade promoted and living in Columbia, South Carolina. When her best friend Savannah is accused of wrong-doing, Slade sets out to find the truth. And gets into trouble along the way. Like the first novel in the series, I enjoyed the setting and Slade's spunky personality. However, the book a little slow going and Slade's stubbornness g ...more

Mysteries are my guilty pleasure. I want to be immediately engaged and entertained. But when I pick up this genre, I still want to learn something interesting. In Tidewater Murder, the author exactly fit my bill. It’s obvious that law enforcement and investigations come directly out of her background, and I gained some interesting tidbits on the Gullah tradition and agricultural practices I knew nothing about. Plus, her characters came to life with all their foibles exposed. Warning: This is a p
...more

It's official, Carolina Slade, or just Slade is my new new mystery heroine. I liked her in Lowcountry Bribe but loved her in this offering. I love southern literature and am in awe of the diversity in cultures the regions possess. This story is in the low country, one of my favorite regions because of the Gullah culture and the marshlands. Slade is quite the southern-bred lady, but fiercely independent and sharp-tongue and with sharp wit, a southern cross between Lucy and Miss Marple. Look forwa
...more

Ohhh... this was sooo close to a five-star rating. So what missed for me? I'll get to that in a second.
First... It's been a few years since I read the first Carolina Slade mystery (Lowcountry Bribe) and loved it. Carolina Slade, an agricultural loan officer in LB and an agricultural loan investigator in TM, has all the qualities we love in an amateur sleuth: determined, smart, and vulnerable all at the same time. And what you'll find in this series you won't find anywhere else (at least that I ...more
First... It's been a few years since I read the first Carolina Slade mystery (Lowcountry Bribe) and loved it. Carolina Slade, an agricultural loan officer in LB and an agricultural loan investigator in TM, has all the qualities we love in an amateur sleuth: determined, smart, and vulnerable all at the same time. And what you'll find in this series you won't find anywhere else (at least that I ...more

The main character in this 2nd novel of the series, Carolina Slade, has been essentially written as too-stupid-to-live. The author has written Slade as a person who continually feels the need to prove her abilities and her independence to the entire world. Thus, she has created a character who flaunts the parameters of her job description as a federal fraud investigator, puts herself and her co-workers in truly mortal danger continually as a result and then has the audacity to throw fits of righ
...more

Southern Mystery with a Little Bit of Everything
C. Hope Clark's second installment in the Carolina Slade Mystery Series also relies heavily on Clark's agricultural background without boring the average reader with too much industry specific jargon and events. She uses the business she knows to again weave a tale of mystery filled with real-life issues that we all experience from time-to-time with family and friends. Clark expertly connects these things into another novel with a little bit of eve ...more
C. Hope Clark's second installment in the Carolina Slade Mystery Series also relies heavily on Clark's agricultural background without boring the average reader with too much industry specific jargon and events. She uses the business she knows to again weave a tale of mystery filled with real-life issues that we all experience from time-to-time with family and friends. Clark expertly connects these things into another novel with a little bit of eve ...more

I am always thrilled when I find a new-to-me writer that I like and then find out there is a series. I'm not sure how I found the first Carolina Slade mystery but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed that first one. But I think I enjoyed this one even more. I saw more depth to the main characters, Slade and Wayne, much the same as when I meet someone new in 'real life' and learn more about them. I love the fact that Slade isn't law enforcement, CIA, etc. She is an ordinary Jane like so many of us, working
...more

C. Hope Clark did it again with her wildly engaging character, Carolina Slade. Slade is thoughtful and adventurous, kind and strong. She is so interesting to read about in the first person point of view! I love how her thoughts and actions are so realistic. We all make mistakes, so why not a fictional character? I liked the tension brought about through a romantic relationship she has in the novel. I think a love triangle sums it up best. The story was intriguing, and the scene descriptions were
...more

Another Solid Story
You wouldn't think that making farm loans would be such a dangerous occupation. I guess I always saw farmers as salt of the earth types who worked hard, sold their crops, and repaid their loans. Of course that's if they are really farmers and not drug runners and traffickers in human misery.
When Carolina Slade makes the mistake of thinking she's investigating one thing when it actually is something else entirely chaos ensues. It's fun watching her get out of some self inflict ...more
You wouldn't think that making farm loans would be such a dangerous occupation. I guess I always saw farmers as salt of the earth types who worked hard, sold their crops, and repaid their loans. Of course that's if they are really farmers and not drug runners and traffickers in human misery.
When Carolina Slade makes the mistake of thinking she's investigating one thing when it actually is something else entirely chaos ensues. It's fun watching her get out of some self inflict ...more

Having read the first mystery, I looked forward to this one and I was not disappointed. The characters are well developed and I'm learning more about farmers and agricultural loans.
...more

Tidewater Murder is #2 in the Carolina Slade series by C. Hope Clark. I was late to the party, and unfortunately am reading the series in reverse order, having started with Palmetto Poison, which is #3. I really enjoyed Tidewater Murder, and would love to do an in-depth analysis of this book, but will forgo the pleasure because I don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun before they read the book. In the spirit of full-disclosure, a signed copy of this book was given to me by Hope Clark to review, but sh
...more

This is the second installment in the Carolina Slade Mystery series. I have not read the first installment, but found that this book stood enough on its own to enjoy it without reading the first one.
Obviously reviews are a personal opinion so some of this may not apply to you, but it really affected my ability to enjoy the book. There was way too much profanity. While some writers think that having their characters curse all the time makes them seem more realistic, I think it makes them seem mor ...more

I don't know C. Hope Clark personally - I've never had much correspondence with her or met her in person. But I have, for several years now, received her emails "Funds for Writers," which I highly recommend for any aspiring author. The emails contain advice, inspiring stories, announcements of various literary competitions, and also a listing of some publications that are looking for submissions of various sorts. With all the work Mrs. Clark has done helping other writers, I've wanted to read he
...more

May 11, 2013
Sharon
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
Any reader who loves a well-crafted mystery with a strong woman protagonist
Some friends are as close as sisters. Others closer. Like melt on ice, or your first gasp of breath rising up from a river baptism. Carolina Slade, federal agriculture investigator, considers Savannah Conroy such a friend -- and Savvy’s in trouble. Falsified signatures on a six-figure farm loan, embezzlement, missing tomato crops and murder. The kind of trouble that leads straight to federal prison. Do not pass GO. Do not...
Humph! Not if Slade can help it.
A tornado of wit and warmth, wisecrackin ...more
Humph! Not if Slade can help it.
A tornado of wit and warmth, wisecrackin ...more

When I started reading this book, Tidewater Murder, I realized that it seemed as though a commentator was describing the story background while the characters each had their own voice. The scenery descriptions and historical elements were authentic to Columbia, South Carolina, and its surrounding area. I was impressed by the author’s knowledge of, not only farming, but authenticity of southern colloquial expressions, as opposed to the northeast version I am familiar with.
Spade, responsible for i ...more
Spade, responsible for i ...more

It is often hard to enjoy a sequel without having read the previous books. This is not the case with C. Hope Clark's Tidewater Murder, the second book in her Tidewater Carolina Slade Mystery Series. The book rebuilds the personal life of Slade as she moves her two children following the death of her husband and a promotion to new town. Simultaneously, she receives news that her best friend, Savvy, who is also an employee of the Department of Agriculture, office is under an audit. Savvy is also p
...more

In this second volume in the Carolina Slade mystery series, author Hope Clarke hones her skills as a novelist with great plotting, consistent character development, and a microscopic look at a world most of us know nothing about.
Clark is a former 25-year employee of the US Department of Agriculture, her husband a 30-year veteran of federal law enforcement. So it follows that her protagonist, Carolina Slade, is a rural loan manager for USDA. When her best friend, a loan manager in another county, ...more
Clark is a former 25-year employee of the US Department of Agriculture, her husband a 30-year veteran of federal law enforcement. So it follows that her protagonist, Carolina Slade, is a rural loan manager for USDA. When her best friend, a loan manager in another county, ...more

Hope Clark's Tidewater Murder gives the reader another page-turner mystery in the Carolina Slade series. From beginning to end, the action never stops. Action comes both physically and emotionally in this book, giving it a more human quality than most mysteries.
Carolina Slade’s friendship with co-worker Savannah Conroy at the state Agriculture office takes the first test, which continues throughout the story. Others try repeatedly to remove Slade from the case due to her friendship, but she purs ...more
Carolina Slade’s friendship with co-worker Savannah Conroy at the state Agriculture office takes the first test, which continues throughout the story. Others try repeatedly to remove Slade from the case due to her friendship, but she purs ...more

Hope comes at her mystery from a different direction--not from professional law enforcement or from amateur sleuths, but from the direction of a federal investigator from the Department of Agriculture. Yep, this story took place in the world of tomatoes. And who knew how nerve-racking tomato crops could be?
When the papers for a loan sport different signatures, Slade's best friend, an ag agent in Beaufort, SC, becomes suspected of embezzlement and fraud. Slade investigates, intent on proving her ...more
When the papers for a loan sport different signatures, Slade's best friend, an ag agent in Beaufort, SC, becomes suspected of embezzlement and fraud. Slade investigates, intent on proving her ...more

It is hard to put down “Tidewater Murder”, the second book in the Carolina Slade mystery series. Author C Hope Clark writes with a fast-paced, page-a-minute style that keeps the story moving and the reader on edge. Every word, every sentence drives the story forward. As a follow up to “Lowcountry Bribe”, it builds on the suspense, crackling with anticipation in both plot and character.
Best friends, romantic interest with a professional conflict and single motherhood blend seamlessly in the prof ...more
Best friends, romantic interest with a professional conflict and single motherhood blend seamlessly in the prof ...more

Normally I like to savor my mysteries. I restrict myself to reading one or two chapters a day. I can afford to do that since I feel like I have either purchased or borrowed nearly every American or British mystery ever written since 1974; I don’t feel in as much of a hurry to read every mystery ever written.
Having stated all this, I just want to say that I found it impossible to stick to my two chapter a day reading rule while reading Tidewater Murder by C. Hope Clark. Clark’s narrative flows l ...more
Having stated all this, I just want to say that I found it impossible to stick to my two chapter a day reading rule while reading Tidewater Murder by C. Hope Clark. Clark’s narrative flows l ...more

C. Hope Clark’s Tidewater Murder finds Carolina Slade immersed in a far-reaching mystery that begins with an investigation into questionable loan paperwork that appears to finger her long-time friend Savannah as the culprit. Called on to investigate, Carolina has to navigate her friendship with Savvy, her relationship with Wayne Largo who has come in with the strong arm of the law, and her “what the hell is it anyway?” relationship with her co-worker Monroe and care for her children all while fi
...more

Full disclosure: I'm a Hope Clark fan. I've followed her Funds for Writers site and newsletter for years, and I love her editorials and voice. Her advice to writers is always sensible and right on, and I treasure that newsletter in my inbox! I absolutely loved her Shy Writer Reborn too, and when she came out with her first novel, Lowcountry Bribe, I was thrilled. It was a page-turner! The second in the series, Tidewater Murder, was also well-written. Clark is adept at narrating a story with skil
...more

Tidewater Murder was a pleasant read for several reasons. The violence isn't overly graphic, but still makes it clear as to what is/has happened. The 'colorful' language is kept to a minimum, so that it's impactful when used. Also the characters are appropriately developed according to their part in the story (main vs. secondary).
Each character has specific traits unique to the character. For example, Carolina Slade uses nicknames for people like calling her Senior Special Agent boyfriend 'lawm ...more
Each character has specific traits unique to the character. For example, Carolina Slade uses nicknames for people like calling her Senior Special Agent boyfriend 'lawm ...more

Tidewater Murder is the second book in C. Hope Clark’s Carolina Slade novels. I have to say that I think it is even better than the first novel, Lowcountry Bribe. Her characters are spot-on and full of personality. Each one of them is a fully drawn person that you think you might recognize if you ever saw them in South Carolina. Specifically well done is Slade herself. She’s not perfect, nor does she aspire to be. She goes and gets herself into a muddle because she reacts without thinking a prob
...more

Tidewater Murder, the second Carolina Slade novel by author C. Hope Great read with a well-developed setting, gripping plot and believable characters!
Clark, exceeds expectations and takes readers on a colorful journey into Slade's world as a federal agricultural investigator in the sequel to A Lowcountry Bribe.
The plot takes off when the heroine's best friend is suspected of fraud, challenging Slade's faith in her friend and her professional obligations. I fell in love with the characters from t ...more
Clark, exceeds expectations and takes readers on a colorful journey into Slade's world as a federal agricultural investigator in the sequel to A Lowcountry Bribe.
The plot takes off when the heroine's best friend is suspected of fraud, challenging Slade's faith in her friend and her professional obligations. I fell in love with the characters from t ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
TideWater Murder | 1 | 3 | Jul 05, 2014 01:06PM |
C. Hope Clark was born and reared in the South, from Mississippi to South Carolina with a few stints in Alabama and Georgia. The granddaughter of a Mississippi cotton farmer, Hope holds a B.S. in Agriculture with honors from Clemson University and 25 years’ experience with the U. S. Department of Agriculture to include awards for her management, all of which enable her to talk the talk of Carolina
...more
Other books in the series
Caroline Slade Mystery
(3 books)
Related Articles
If you're a fan of the mystery and thriller genre and young adult books, recent months have brought a bevy of great reads to your shelves! We...
134 likes · 21 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »