This is the sixth book in A.J. Stewart’s series about South Florida private investigator Miami Jones. Usually centered around some kind of sport, Deep Rough takes Miami back to the country club where his friend and partner, Ron Bennett, is a member.

South Lakes County Club is about to host a major PGA Golf Tournament when a series of incidents happens. The worst is when Miami and his girlfriend, Danielle, are there for a wedding, and at the same time, almost all the members of the wedding party are suddenly violently ill. One of the greens is also damaged, and a groundskeeper is missing.

Afraid of having to cancel the tournament once the local health department sweeps in, the Club hires Miami to investigate alongside the police. This takes him not only through the world of professional golf but also through land development in South Florida and elsewhere.

“The PGA Tour is a tax-exempt organization, like the NFL. Billions of dollars flow through them, but they don’t pay taxes on most of it. And many of the tournaments themselves are run by charitable foundations.”

The mystery here is decent. I don’t think there was any way to really figure it out early on, although I had suspected the right person from the start. Stewart manages to plant enough red herrings that just about anything seems possible until all is revealed.

There is some great character development, though, for the usual characters. Written in the first person from the perspective of Miami Jones, he has always been self-deprecating and that’s one part of his character that makes him likable. Throughout Deep Rough, he’s reflective about the way his life has gone and what he wants his future to look like. This is particularly concerning his relationship with Danielle. She’s being recruited to work for the State of Florida or possibly the FBI, and he has to work out how he feels about that. There’s a lot of reflection about that, but Miami and Danielle have a good relationship. He can appreciate a woman who is independent and can take care of herself while at the same time seeing himself as lucky. This is a refreshing contrast to so many book series with a male protagonist who seems to be more of an author’s fantasy.

Donaldson’s all big talk and self-promotion. He likes the limelight. With him it ain’t how much he has, but how much you know he has.

This was written in 2016. Does it sound like any South Florida developer who is in the media a lot?

There’s some interesting insight into the golfing world as well. Miami makes friends with a few of the players and it’s interesting to see them as humans who are caught up in something bigger than them. He also brings out the decency in a few of them and sees their honorability for what it is when push comes to shove.

This is a solid entry in this series and one that I enjoyed a lot. I didn’t find it quite as humorous as some of the other books in the series, but it was a fun read regardless.

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