Bottom Feeders

"If you like Florida-based eco mystery-thrillers with action and insight, put "Bottom Feeders" by Leelon Edwards on the top of your reading list." -- Michael Lister, New York Times bestselling author of the John Jordan Mystery Series

A crabber calls the Florida Wildlife Commission office in Panama City, there is a man tied to his crab trap at the bottom of West Bay. Drew Phillips, Florida Wildlife Commission officer, and his partner, Javier, are called to investigate what appears to be a murder with a gruesome but efficient method of eliminating evidence.
MacKenzie Haymer, Drew’s buddy and head of the National Marine Fisheries office, urgently needs help. There are tourists in the hospital with mercury poisoning and seafood appears to be the source. The state is leaning hard on him and he really doesn’t want the kind of help they are getting ready to send him.
Mercury has become a problem worldwide with pelagic fish like mackerel and tuna but not bottom feeders like crab. Could this be natural or is something causing these dangerous mercury levels? This could be a catalyst for a statewide economic catastrophe and there is no obvious source. Could it be dumping? Port ops? Military contaminants? What about the new salvage operation out of St Andrews Marina? Or the Reserve exercise at the airport? No evidence, only speculation. When tourist dollars are at stake, blame must be assigned whether the problem is fixed or not.
Mercury poisoning. His girlfriend is leaving. Mack is out of sorts and there are too many unanswered questions. Drew is feeling trapped by events and he knows that much of it is because he has yet to figure out what he wants. Right now he needs a cool head, intuition, and some luck.