In this pulse-pounding short thriller, Maggie Cabot refuses to sit by idly as police re-open an investigation into the mysterious death of a woman her husband used to know.
After two decades in a near-perfect marriage, Maggie and James Cabot are enjoying their first year as empty-nesters in their charming Florida suburb, until two detectives arrive at their front door and change their lives forever.
The remains of a young woman have been found at a campsite in the Florida Keys. Hannah Nilsson, only 21 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen on a camping trip with a group of friends—including James, who dated Hannah long before he and Maggie ever met. Shocked and heartbroken, everyone on the trip said they assumed Hannah had wandered off toward shore, intoxicated from a long night of partying, and drowned. But the discovery of her body 25 years later, half a mile away from the campsite and buried six feet deep, makes it clear that her death was not accidental.
As the police dig back into the case, Maggie begins her own investigation, desperate to piece together the truth and clear her husband’s name once and for all.
Margot Hunt is the author of LOVELY GIRLS, THE LAST AFFAIR, FOR BETTER AND WORSE, and BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. She has also written the Audible Original novellas TELL HER STORY, THE HOUSE ON THE WATER and BURIED DEEP. Her next book, THE GUESTS, will be released in January 2024.
Learn more about Margot and her forthcoming books at margothunt.com.
Insecure American housewife without a job, whose entire life evolves around her lacrosse-playing daughter and surgeon husband, is still jealous of an ex-girlfriend that disappeared 25 years earlier. And because the police are apparently completely incompetent, she decides to solve the matter by pestering his friends.
How Well do You Really Know Your Spouse? Now there’s a question! Since I’m divorced (for good reason), I won’t answer that. Baah!
Married to James for twenty years, Maggie is very happy in her marriage and believes the two don’t have any secrets, until the day that two detectives show up at her door looking for her husband.
Cue the shock and the tears! James has some ‘splaining to do. That’s if he doesn’t get arrested first.
A well done audible original by Margot Hunt, narrated by Therese Plummer. This was my last audiobook for 2019, which captured my attention and sure made me glad that I’m no longer married!
3.5⭐ Entertaining novella especially with Thérèse Plummer narrating!
Buried Deep is a quick and pretty good whodunit set in Florida. Basically, five young people went camping and four returned. It was fun for me going into this one blind so that's all I'll say! 😉
Keep this quote in mind: "Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them."
Similar to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier in these respects:
1) Protagonist constantly feels second-best to her husband after his previous lover died long ago. 2) Protagonist learns the man killed the previous lover in a fit of rage while -- BECAUSE -- the woman stands there laughing at him. 3) The protagonist, on learning of the truth (that her husband murdered his previous lover), covers up and forgives her husband, relishing the relief that a) he loves her more after all, and b) he definitely did NOT love the previous woman because he killed her -- isn't that GREAT??! #sarcasm
But this is NOT Rebecca. Rebecca is hauntingly, sharply accurate in pinpointing human flaws, making it so that the protagonist's ultimate flaws (covering up, forgiving her husband, even possibly being glad that the murder happened) both understandable and complicated.
BUT THIS BOOK? jesus christ. All that plot from above, with nothing to add or nuance the characters. The author* of THIS book, doesn't even blame the man, in addition to not having the protagonist blame him at all either. It's like, he did what he did -- just a little murder because a woman laughingly scorned him -- and well, let's brush our hands, and continue with the plot. I wonder the author has heard of a little something called the #metoo movement, and how shittily her portrayal/remake fits into it.
*On the other hand, Daphne du Maurier, for example, at least let understand the man did wrong and needed a comeuppance, like burning his house down and making him live on the run etc etc
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Buried Deep was a pretty easy mystery/thriller to solve. Which is a smidge sad for me because I would make the worst detective ever. So if it was so freaking easy for me to pick out who the murderer was.. then you would all know just by reading the synopsis.
That being said, this book was messed up. Even though it was a lot shorter than I expected it to be.. so many things were wrong. Yes, people all hid the truth even if people didn't know the whole truth. Little parts of a dreadful secret came out throughout the audiobook that it was quite easy to bring your suspect pool down to two people.
Even after listening to the ending.. I have no idea how to put how I felt into words. It was weird and completely messed up. I am still in shock even though I knew who it was and what exactly happened. Am I surprised that everything went down that way? Hell to the no but hot damn.
This was an okay mystery with a really annoying protagonist who I didn't like at the start and just loathed by the end.
Maggie (our first-person narrator) is living the life of a basic Karen, married to a successful physician and living a pleasant 5%-er lifestyle in a small family-friendly town in Florida. She dabbled with working for a while before settling in as SAHM, and now their talented bundle of procreated genes is heading off to college.
Then Maggie gets a visit from the police, who want to speak to her husband. Like any dipshit privileged white lady, it doesn't occur to her that she and her husband should lawyer up like right fucking now, even when the detective tells her they're reopening the case of her husband's college girlfriend who mysteriously disappeared during a camping trip 25 years ago.
So you can probably already guess where the story goes. Karen- sorry, Maggie- starts nosing around in her husband's past, revisiting all the friends he hung out with and who were on that trip, trying to exonerate her husband who of course she absolutely knows couldn't possibly noway nohow have had anything to do with his ex-girlfriend's disappearance, even after it turns out that the police found her body buried not far from where she disappeared.
So Maggie isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she also starts getting jealous of Hannah, the dead ex. Hannah was incredibly beautiful, and on the cusp of becoming a super-model, and Maggie finds out that her husband, James, actually proposed to Hannah just before she disappeared. And Maggie's thoughts go straight to "Oh, what if I've been living a lie all these years?" You mean because your husband might be a murderer, lady? Why no, because he once loved someone else and maybe he was just settling for her all this time! Every time he expresses remorse that Hannah died, Maggie starts wondering if he'd rather have had Hannah, if he could go back and do it over...
Lady, whether or not your husband is a murderer, the poor girl was murdered, and she's been dead for 25 years. This is not about you and your insecurities, bitch.
So yeah, I didn't love Maggie, and I didn't love the ending. It was a quick enough story, but everything was so obvious that the twists were pretty predictable and I just wanted to see one person show some genuine remorse and contrition. Nope. Why should Barbie and Ken suffer?
Hannah was a Scandinavian bombshell who had just made her modelling breakthrough and was looking forward to a promising career. James recently finished Medical school and was about to embark on his surgical career. Hannah and James were young lovers, newly engaged, when Hannah disappeared on a drunken weekend camping jaunt with a group of friends. One of their friends, Patrick, had seen her walk out alone in the middle of the night in the direction of the beach. The rest of the friends were passed out cold in a drunken stupor. When Hannah never returned, it was presumed she had drowned as her T-shirt was found the next morning on the beach, near their campsite.
Skip ahead about 25 years, James has a successful orthopedic surgery and is a devoted husband and father. His wife, Maggie, is busy happily planning James’ 50th birthday celebration, and their daughter, Paige, has just gone off to college on a lacrosse scholarship. Maggie and Paige are chatting on the phone. Maggie explains that the catering is all arranged, and she is just wondering whether ordering a photo booth will be over the top, when she is surprised by a knock on the door. A police detective is looking for James. After Maggie explains that her husband is at his surgery, she asks if she can be of any help. The detective mentions that Hannah’s remains have recently been uncovered. Pangs of jealously surface at the mention of Hannah’s name – known to have been the true love of James’ life. Just to be clear, Hannah didn’t wash up on shore 25 years later but rather was found buried at a building site excavation several miles away from where the friends had been camping. Since victims of a drowning generally don’t bury themselves, a murder investigation is soon underway with James as the most obvious person of interest. Although clearly there in no solid evidence against him, the police are eager to solve the case and James soon finds himself being arraigned before a judge.
In the meantime, between planning a 50th birthday and trying to cope with a tsunami of social media notoriety, Maggie still manages to find the time to launch her own investigation to clear James’ name, enlisting the assistance of all his old camping buddies – much to the chagrin of her husband. Did any of them know or see anything that could help solve the mystery of Hannah’s death? As it turns out, yes they did. 3.5 rounded up
Buried Deep, a novella written by Margot Hunt, is an Audible Original, available free (no credits) to Audible and Audible Plus subscribers. Although not one of Hunt’s best, the story was good enough to hold my interest throughout.
The main character has extremely annoying jealousy flaws where she's jealous of a dead girl. Jealous everyone paying the dead girls murder attention. Jealous her husband ever loved someone before he ever met her. I lost all respect for the main character after she found out about the engagement secret years BEFORE he met her. She was legit mad it. Like what. She is entitled and rude. Legit. There is a line in the book about how even after hannah died it was still all about her. Wait you mean, during her murder investigation, it's wrong for it to be about her??? Like. You had a whole life with your husband and child. I think a dead girl is entitled to a moment about her. This woman is a terrible person. Like trashy. But her husband is definitely no catch either. They deserved each other.
This is a fast-paced, enjoyable read. I'm rating it 3.5 stars and rounding it down, but it's still worth adding to your TBR list. It's full of unexpected twists and perfect for a binge-read!
I think many reviewers here tend to rate this story lower because they don‘t like the main characters. In my humble opinion, the quality of a story has nothing to do with the likeability of the protagonists. In fact, my only criticism is that the author didn’t really use the full potential of the story - a few more twists and turns and this would have been a very enjoyable 8-10h listening experience. Liked the realism of the plot - I guess most people would just try to protect their everyday lives anyday before wanting to become heroes for a day unveiling a hard truth that would however disrupt their comfortable existence in any way.
Bounce...Bounce...Bounce...........Bounce!!! Wow - this one keeps you guessing until the end - from one suspect to the next - and then there's still a twist at the end.
This Audible Original is at first glance a basic whodunit, and as some reviewers have stated, the mystery itself is predictable. What sets this story apart is its depiction of what it’s like to be a family member/spouse of an accused person. As a criminal defense lawyer, I see what people go through and the emotional toll it takes- while regular life just keeps on going, oblivious to your private hell. This isn’t covered too much in most crime stories. The author did a great job with the jail visit scene; I was impressed with the relative accuracy of it compared with other fiction. Now as to the ending- it was a little tough to relate but after I sat with it awhile, I felt like it was true to the character and well within the realm of possibility.
Must be nice to be in a privileged position to get away with literal murder!
But oh...it was an ACCIDENT! Bull-effing-sh!t.
When your main WASPy character (whose life has basically revolved around her only daughter) spends more time bemoaning that her husband could love a dead woman more than her than the fact that a murder happened, I think you might have a problem!
This was an attempt to give a "nuanced" thriller in the vein of "Gone Girl" which fails miserably - I may not have cared for Nick and Amy, two horrible characters in and of themselves, but I was fascinated by their misery and despicableness. Here, I wished everyone was buried in the campgrounds or drowned or ended up in prison.
I struggled with the rating of this.... the characters are all horrible in their own way and I was appalled at how they lack human decency in the “twist” at the end. However, I also devoured this in one sitting, oftentimes making verbal comments.... so that has to count for something right?
A twisty domestic thriller with secrets buried over decades? Say no more!
What a fun and unique read this was. When a young girl vanishes on vacation with her boyfriend friends 25 years ago without a trace her friends will live with the guilt of not being able to save their friend. Fast forward decades later the missing girl’s boyfriend is now a married doctor who has kept most of his past to himself. When the remains of the missing girl are found find out how her former boyfriend’s marriage and present day life will be affected by this devastating discovery.
This was a fast paced audible original that kept me hooked and wanting to know all of the answers. A couple of my theories were incorrect which made it an even more thrilling read.
I received this as part of my Audible membership and I picked it because of this narrator. I think it’s official I’m totally fangirling over her, her performances, and the pure perfection she brings to each book and each character contained within.
This is not a romance, but it does deal with relationship issues as well as falling in love. I don’t want to spoil anything but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this quick audio. It doesn’t get too involved due to the length, but it was perfect for when I don’t really have the ability to focus on too much due to being busy. I was easily able to follow this as well as they mystery without having to constantly rewind because my mind may have wandered off.
The narrator was okay, it was kinda funny when she did the male voices, but they weren't bad!
So it started off decent, and I WAS engaged all the way throughout (I listened to it in one sitting). But I don't understand why the protagonist started investigating the mystery on her own. Then she becomes jealous of the dead girl, which is kinda crazy. She's so paranoid. The ending is even crazier, she's definitely not mentally stable. But I won't give it away.
This is very short (about 2,5 hours long), so it's very bite-sized and the plot develops very quickly. It's not like your typical mystery, and definitely not as good. But since this was one of the two Audible Originals you could get for free in December, I can't complain that much.
Predictable noirish novella Review of the Audible Original audiobook edition (Dec. 2019)
Probably due to Ebert's Law of the Economy of Characters, this short novella was fairly predictable from its early stages. The narration by Thérèse Plummer was excellent in all voices.
Buried Deep was one of the free Audible Original audiobooks for members for the month of December 2019.
I accidentally saw the reviews from Karen (okboomer) before listening to this FREE book and felt I had to leave a review.
It’s an easy listen - like a beach read - quick and to the point. The author tells a story with detail and a set story line. I think it’s perfect for what it is and highly recommend it.