Book Review: Swimming With Manatees by Bill Bennett

 This is clearly a passion project of Bill Bennett, an independent author. 

 I would like to thank NetGalley for the advanced digital copy to read and review. 

I was initially attracted by the title and attractive cover, as well as the Florida setting. I do love a Florida setting.  In addition, I did hope to finish this in 2025 as part of my water theme, but I got... Water logged with books, so here we are in January. 

We're given the Story of Ava Martinez, a tough and savvy detective  who is somewhat new to the force she's working on in the Everglades area of Florida. This case is personal, because in a small town, almost everyone knows everyone. 

Readers experience multiple points of view as they read and unravel the mystery of who killed multiple people, and why. The author brings in current uses and interest in marine life as a source of new medical treatments, and was able to hold my attention with some action scenes interspersed with cerebral sleuthing. 

The book is written with a heavy heavy noir style which many descriptions ending in a comparison.  This is an area which Bennett excels. It was repetitive, but I did enjoy reading the prose which took me right into the nostalgic feel of Noir novels and films from days gone by. 

That said, I did not fall in love with any of the characters- I could see how the author attempted to cobble in a backstory - especially for Ava Martinez, but unique as her backstory was, it didn't seem to really influence her current character or do anything to make her seem more real. I found her partner to be much more interesting, and that partner perishes early on!

The mystery of the murders revolves around a fascinating plot of the possibility of new biologics for disease treatment.  For most readers, this is going to be great.  For me, given my career, there were some errors that made it seem less real, but again, that has to do with my familiarity with the subject at hand. 

   I did think that it was a bold move for this male author to chose to create a female main character with a very specifically Hispanic/Latina name. To his credit  ( or discredit?) the only thing female or Hispanic/Latina about this character is the name.  I feel like the book could have had a male main character with the name of John Smith and it would have felt the same.  

So is this a book for everyone?  I suspect there are readers out there who will find this to be a good read. Unraveling the mystery was quite fun, and I enjoyed the description of the Everglades. Other readers may find it a bit difficult to follow, and to be somewhat tedious with heavy prose. 

STATS

First Published : 10/30/2025

Pages: 479

Available as an Audio Book :  No

Trigger Warnings: violence, blood, medical situations, murder, guns,  (not a complete list- be responsible!)