Deep End: A Mystery

The third appearance of Morgan Hunt, following Blue Chipper , is a welcome addition to the burgeoning list of Florida-noir mysteries. Part - time PI Hunt, a semi-cynical shining knight, has already been compared to John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee, but his grittier past--Vietnam and a stretch in jail for murder--makes him tougher. When Phil Garvey, Hunt's pal from Navy SEAL days, needs help to rescue his marginal diving school on the Gulf coast, Hunt asks his friend, attorney Nat Semmes, to fend off a nasty lawyer. Garvey hints at finding a Spanish treasure off the Florida panhandle and then vanishes. Hunt finds Garvey's boat at the site of a sunken small plane. The plane crash was unreported and there's a modern treasure in the wreck, along with two bodies. He is soon battling a murderous S & L desperado and the nasty lawyer, neither of whom is above kidnapping a boy to recover ``their'' money. Badly outnumbered, Hunt beats the odds in a bloody finale. After a slow start, the pace picks up and doesn't falter. Notable in Norman's deftly depicted cast is the courtly, formidable Semmes, who wouldn't think of calling himself a ``simple country lawyer.'' (Mar.)