ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Some of the world's greatest mysteries aren't found on land. They're waiting beneath the surface."
For more than twenty-five years, R. J. Moniz has built a career where science, technology, and exploration intersect. A scientific diver, underwater investigator, journalist, and marine technology specialist, she has worked on research expeditions, pioneered remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations, investigated underwater incidents, and collaborated with scientists, engineers, government agencies, and the maritime industry to solve problems beneath the surface.
A Fellow of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Marine Science Journalism Program and the first female ROV pilot to work with renowned ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, Moniz has spent her career translating complex underwater science and technology into compelling stories. She has served as President of the Underwater Investigative Group, teaches underwater forensics and marine technology, and continues to work with emerging autonomous underwater systems and ocean technologies.
Those experiences inspired The Sarah Holt Series, atmospheric crime thrillers featuring FBI Special Agent Sarah Holt, an underwater forensics specialist whose investigations uncover crimes hidden beneath lakes, rivers, and the ocean. The novels combine authentic investigative procedures with the suspense of modern crime fiction, drawing on real-world diving, marine robotics, and underwater forensic techniques rarely seen in fiction.
When she isn't writing, Moniz hosts the Submerged Evidence podcast, speaks internationally on marine technology, underwater forensics, and ocean exploration, and continues consulting on autonomous underwater systems and emerging ocean technologies. Whether exploring a shipwreck, evaluating the latest marine robotics, or writing her next novel, she remains fascinated by the stories the underwater world has yet to reveal.
THE SARAH HOLT SERIES
A NEW KIND OF THRILLER
Meet FBI Special Agent Sarah Holt - an underwater forensics specialist carrying the weight of a tragic past, investigating crimes in which the water refuses to yield its secrets. Each novel combines authentic forensic techniques, marine technology, and psychological suspense.
BOOK ONE · COMING SOON
THE GIRL UNDER THE PINES
Some secrets refuse to stay buried.
When a decades-old death resurfaces, Sarah Holt is drawn into a cold case that uncovers an illegal toxic dumping operation, buried evidence, and a conspiracy that reaches far beyond a small New England town.
As she searches for the truth, Sarah must also confront the tragedy that nearly ended her own career beneath the water’s surface.
BOOK TWO · COMING SOON
THE DEAD SEASON
BOOK THREE · COMING SOON
THE LAST WITNESS
THE PODCAST
SUBMERGED EVIDENCE
Where underwater investigations meet real life
Conversations with investigators, divers, scientists, explorers, and marine technology innovators. Each episode reveals how underwater evidence is found, documented, and interpreted — and how the ocean continues to challenge everything we think we know.
Whether you’re drawn to true crime, marine science, or cutting-edge technology, Submerged Evidence offers an insider’s perspective on one of the world’s least understood investigative environments.
FIELD NOTES
BEYOND
THE NOVEL
The real stories behind the fiction:
Underwater Forensic
Writing Research
Diving Expeditions
Environmental Crime
Ocean Exploration
Marine Technology
Behind the Series
Ocean Conservation
SPEAKING
SPEAKING &
APPEARANCES
R.J. Moniz speaks nationally on :
Underwater Forensic
Science Communication
Ocean Exploration
Marine Technology
Keynote Speaking
Media Interviews
Women in Ocean Exploration
The Research Behind Crime Fiction