P.J. Alderman, A Killing Tide

A Killing Tide

P.J. Alderman

Love Spell, January 2007, $6.99

ISBN: 0505526964

Only for family would Kaz Jorgenson leave her consultancy job in San Francisco to return to her home town of Astoria, Oregon, but she drops everything when her twin brother Gary needs help. However, her greeting upon her arrival is a fire on one of her family's fishing ships. Once the blaze is contained, a bigger shock hits home when the corpse of family friend Ken Lundquist is found on-board. The police suspect Gary, who has vanished, killed him and set the fire to hide the evidence.

Michael Chapman left scandal and a suspicious death behind in Boston when he came to Astoria as the new fire chief. He is also an experienced trained arson investigator, who begins making inquiries into the deadly blaze. He and Kaz are attracted to one another, but neither plans to act on their feelings. He refuses to have anything to do with the sister of the prime suspect, especially after the fiasco back in New England with his former fianc e; she assumes he wants to hang her brother, so she rejects Michael in order to not betray Gary.

The key to this exhilarating romantic whodunit is the strong cast, starting with the lead couple who have flaws, struggle with feelings and the investigation, and fear what they will eventually uncover. In other words, they seem very real. The support characters also feel genuine, whether they are friends of the family or Gary (mostly seen through the eyes of others). A KILLING TIDE is a strong investigative romance that will bring kudos to new author P.J. Alderman.