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WORK TITLE: A DREDGING IN SWANN
WORK NOTES:
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BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://timgarvin.com/
CITY: Durham
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME:
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PERSONAL
Born in AZ; married Cynthia Drake.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author, potter. Has worked as a potter for forty years; creator of a line of handcrafted porcelain jewelry, Blue Bus Studio, sold in more than 200 galleries around the United States.
AVOCATIONS:Throwing pottery, gardening, reading.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Tim Garvin is an American author and potter. Born in Arizona, he grew up in Alaska and now lives outside of Durham, North Carolina. As he notes on his author website, he lives by a creek with his wife, Cynthia, and dog, Blue. He built a small cabin by the creek where he writes when he is not creating handmade porcelain jewelry.
Garvin’s first two novels, Killer Whale Rock and Bhajan, were self-published. His first commercial work, A Dredging in Swann, was published 2020 and introduced series character Seb Creek, a former Marine and current sheriff’s detective in North Carolina.
Seb Creek is a former Marine MP who is recovering from PTSD. He enjoys his new position as detective in Swann County, North Carolina. He has made a positive impression with the locals, has formed a singing group as a sort of therapy for those with PTSD, and has also found the confidence to invite a good-looking local potter to coffee. His easy-going life is put on hold, however, when a black man in his 70s, Leo Sackler, is found hanged in a well he was digging. This death comes only days after Sackler was released from prison for the murder of a white man, serving a 48-year sentence. Sackler has maintained his innocence in this killing. Creek finds this death very curious, especially as Sackler has just inherited land and a small fortune from a white woman. Meanwhile, a pair of helicopters from a military base close by collide, killing twenty-one people. To complicate matters, several Stinger missiles have gone missing from the crash site. Creek investigates both of these mysteries, scouring the county and delving into hidden secrets and possible treason.
Reviewers had high praise for A Dredging in Swann. Booklist contributor Don Crinklaw noted: “The prose is gin-clear and occasionally striking: one fellow has hair like ‘a crest of dirty foam.’ For readers patient with a ramble.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly writer commented: “The action builds to a suitably thrilling conclusion. Garvin skillfully draws together the many plot threads while also shining a compassionate light on PTSD sufferers bearing the scats of war.” Likewise, a Kirkus Reviews critic felt that Garvin displays a “true ear for dialogue and a talent for character portrayal, creating people who range from the comedic to the poignant.” The critic concluded: “This polished, beautifully written novel makes one hope Garvin keeps exploring Swann County for a long time.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2019, review of A Dredging in Swann.
Publishers Weekly, November 4, 2019, review of A Dredging in Swann, p. 41.
ONLINE
Booklist Online, https://www.booklistonline.com/ (January 1, 2020), Don Crinklaw, review of A Dredging in Swann.
Tim Garvin, https://timgarvin.com (December 12, 2019).
grew up in Arizona, then the Alaskan wilderness north of Juneau (where, I am fond of saying, we lived with whales in the front yard and bears in the back yard).
The photo is Duncan, a friend from Arizona, and me (on left) in the midst of a rafting adventure—with empty paint cans as tip-preventing outriggers.
Now I live beside a creek outside Durham, North Carolina, with my wife, Cynthia, and dog, Blue, both excellent companions. I built a cabin beside the creek (see photos), and in the mornings I go down there to write. In the afternoons, I throw pots, garden, read, discuss life (and plot, character, and pace) with Cynthia, and sometimes lure her and Blue to the coast to float around the Outer Banks in a little sailboat. I just finished a second Seb Creek novel entitled Four Evenings.
Pots? Yes, I make pottery. In fact I earned a living doing that for forty years, part of that time making a line of porcelain jewelry. You can see it at blue bus studio store. It’s made using the ancient millefiori technique of slicing cross-sections from intricate colored porcelain loaves. I’ll get some pictures of it posted in the photo section eventually.
Tim Garvin grew up in Arizona, then the Alaskan wilderness. Now he lives beside a creek outside Durham, North Carolina, with his wife, Cynthia, and dog, Blue. He built a cabin beside the creek, and in the mornings goes down there to write. In the afternoons, he throws pots, gardens, reads, discusses life with Cynthia, and sometimes coaxes her and Blue to the coast to float around the Outer Banks in a little sailboat. He's currently at work on a second Seb Creek book.
QUOTE:
"The action builds to a suitably thrilling conclusion. Garvin skillfully draws together the many plot threads while also shining a compassionate light on PTSD sufferers bearing the scats of war."
A Dredging in Swann: A Seb Creek Mystery Tim Garvin. Blackstone, $25.99 (350p) ISBN 978-1-9825-5084-4
Two knotty cases preoccupy fair-minded, conscientious sheriff's detective Sebastian Creek, a former Marine MP recovering from PTSD, in this intriguing series launch from Garvin (Bhajan) set in Swann County, N.C. Leo Sackler, a black man in his 70s, is found hanged in the well he was digging on his property just days after his telease from prison, having served a 48-year sentence for murder. Sackler had also recently inherited a large estate and $1 million from a reclusive widow. Meanwhile, 21 people die when two Marine helicopters collide over a nearby military base, and a trailer containing three Stinger missiles is taken from the crash site. The separate investigations intertwine as Creek digs into the complex Sackler case, exposing buried secrets and grave injustice, as well as an extensive poaching opetation, unlawful drone surveillance activities, and treasonous intentions. The action builds to a suitably thrilling conclusion. Garvin skillfully draws together the many plot threads while also shining a compassionate light on PTSD sufferers bearing the scats of war. Agent: Peter Pubic, Fine Print Literary. (Jan.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"A Dredging in Swann: A Seb Creek Mystery." Publishers Weekly, 4 Nov. 2019, p. 41+. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A606234549/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d4ac76c5. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A606234549
QUOTE:
"true ear for dialogue and a talent for character portrayal, creating people who range from the comedic to the poignant." The critic concluded: "This polished, beautifully written novel makes one hope Garvin keeps exploring Swann County for a long time."
Garvin, Tim A DREDGING IN SWANN Blackstone (Adult Fiction) $25.99 1, 28 ISBN: 978-1-9825-5084-4
When a man who's recently been released from prison is found hanged in a well, North Carolina detective Seb Creek must figure out if it was an accident or murder--and what about those missing Stinger missiles?
Former Marine MP Sebastian Creek enjoys his work as a detective in Swann County. His dry humor works well with the locals and the local criminals, and he's started a singing group for anyone with post-traumatic stress disorder. He's even gotten the courage to ask a beautiful potter to have coffee with him. But then Leo Sackler, who is black, is found hanged in a well he was digging on a property left to him by a rich white woman in her will. He had recently been released after decades in prison for killing a white man, a crime he claimed he never committed. At the same time, two helicopters from a nearby military base crash, and several Stinger missiles are missing. Investigating the two mysteries will take Seb all over the county, giving debut author Garvin a chance to display a true ear for dialogue and a talent for character portrayal, creating people who range from the comedic to the poignant. If Seb muses a little too often on the vagaries of life, well, he can be forgiven considering the vagaries of life he encounters.
This polished, beautifully written novel makes one hope Garvin keeps exploring Swann County for a long time.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Garvin, Tim: A DREDGING IN SWANN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2019. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A605549543/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cf79e254. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A605549543
QUOTE:
"The prose is gin-clear and occasionally striking: one fellow has hair like 'a crest of dirty foam.' For readers patient with a ramble."
A Dredging in Swann.
Garvin, Tim (author).
Jan. 2020. 350p. Blackstone, $25.99 (9781982550844); e-book (9781982555924).
REVIEW. First published October 24, 2019 (Booklist Online).
“I am the sandman,” the sheriff’s detective says. “I put the past to sleep.” That line either shines with literary merit or reeks of pretension, and readers bothered by the uncertainty won’t be reassured by a novel that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. A crime story? Plenty of that. Detective Seb Creek of the Swann County, NC, sheriff’s office is confronted with the death of a suddenly wealthy ex-con, just as three Stinger missiles are stolen from the wreckage of two mighty Super Stallion helicopters. Or a mainstream novel that happens to bump into a crime or two? Maybe. We have a thief wondering how to sell Stinger missiles. Should he post a note on a terrorist forum? A game chat? A subplot involving a transvestite in love with Sheriff Creek is treated sensitively. The prose is gin-clear and occasionally striking: one fellow has hair like “a crest of dirty foam.” For readers patient with a ramble.
— Don Crinklaw