Dead Code: A Trisha Carson Mystery

Dead Code is the third book in the Trisha Carson mystery series by Glenda Carroll. As an amateur detective, Trisha finds herself in a dangerous situation as she stumbles upon some secret information. Trisha and her sister Lena have just rekindled their relationship with their father who left when Trisha was only eighteen years old. Trisha now finds herself living on a property with her father which is owned by a man named Earl. Earl’s grandson, Tyler, often stops by to walk Earl’s boxer “The Babe” named after the legendary baseball player. Tyler is an announcer for the San Francisco Giants and Trisha also works at events at the stadium. The story is set in the northern region of the San Francisco Bay Area between San Francisco and Petaluma but mainly in Marin where Trisha resides. When Tyler goes missing, Trisha knows something is fishy and starts her detective work. First, she must figure out why a man named Burk keeps popping up in her life. And is he dangerous or an innocent player in all of this? As Trisha digs deeper, she finds out that underneath it all is a deep-rooted operation involving a beer company, drones, mini microchips, and hidden codes.

Dead Code is the perfect book for fans of Silicon Valley tech and for learning a bit about the lives of hackers and computer geniuses. As a Bay Area native, I loved the way the author described the scenery as Trisha had to travel from place to place. It truly is a beautiful area of the country. The AI refrigerator named Frida was a nice touch and made me laugh at times although I don’t think I would want a refrigerator that could hear and see me. It’s just a little creepy. Despite being an amateur detective, Trisha does a really great job at putting all of the pieces together. Although she finds herself in dangerous situations, she is somehow able to find her way out of them. This seemed a little unrealistic to me, however, who doesn’t want the main character to be a little invincible at times?

After reading the author’s biography, I had an even bigger appreciation for her writing. They always tell you to write what you know and Glenda Carroll does just that in Dead Code. As a water sports enthusiast, her main character also loves swimming. Carroll is also from the Bay Area and aptly has a dog named McCovey. Dead Code is an exciting, fast-paced mystery with vivid scenery and very likable characters that readers will cheer for from start to finish.