Review – Perilous Riptide

From the back cover: Just when the current seems safer, an unseen danger emerges and threatens to destroy everything. When Cassidy Livingston finds a journal hidden deep in the recesses of her ice cream truck, her curiosity kicks into high gear. Islanders suspect that Elsa, the journal’s owner, didn’t die accidentally. Her final entry indicates their suspicions might be correct and that what Elsa observed on her final night may have led to her demise. Against the advice of Ty Chambers, her former Navy SEAL boyfriend, Cassidy taps into her detective skills and hunts for answers. But her search only leads to a skeletal body and trouble for both of them. As helplessness threatens to drown her, Cassidy is desperate to turn back time. Can Cassidy find what she needs to navigate the perilous situation? Or will the riptide surrounding her threaten everyone and everything Cassidy loves? My thoughts: PERILOUS RIPTIDE is the fifth book in this series and while it does stand alone with its own mystery, it does heavily tie in with the other books with an ongoing mystery that is woven through all the books. In order they are: Hidden Current, Flood Watch, Storm Surge, Dangerous Waters, PERILOUS RIPTIDE, and Deadly Undertow. When Ty is arrested for murder, Cassidy is desperate for answers. Understandably. But the evidence is overwhelming, and then became almost cliche as if someone has been reading too many mystery/suspense novels (which could be me, but in this case was a character in the book.) However, who? Three police officers who had access to planted evidence. Three bookish females who love mystery/suspense novels... The suspect list for this reader was growing. And then of course there is Jimmy James who seems so clueless but always knows more than anyone else.... Who done it? Why? I had to keep reading to find out. PERILOUS RIPTIDE was a page-turner for sure, though the riptide mentioned in the title did have my wondering if they were going out to sea... but it was an appropriate analogy for what was actually happening. To quote Ms. Dardus on High School Musical, "Bravo, Brava, Bravo". Great job, Ms. Barritt.