Deadly Tides

 Deadly Tides, by Raemi A. Ray, is the fifth book in the series entitled Martha’s Vineyard Murders. I’ve written very favorable reviews of the first four books: Chain of Pearls, the Wraith’s Return, Widow’s Walk, and Final Exit. The protagonist in all five books is Kyra Gibson, a London lawyer who has left on indefinite leave in order to live on Martha’s Vineyard. Over the first four books, we’ve been introduced by a cast of very interesting characters who once again take key roles in the current story. Kyra has been in a relationship with Detective Tarek Collins who was shot and badly injured in the last book. Since then, he’s been rehabbing. He has moved into Kyra’s house where he is getting frustrated and depressed over the length of time it is taking him to get well. He continues to be on leave from his security work with a private firm. It’s dangerous work and he definitely has mixed feelings about Kyra having received an offer to work there, a job that interests her, but she has not yet made a decision about it.

The plot is about some corruption that is happening on the island and the very rough characters that have arrived to put some muscle behind their activities. While we’ve learned much about other characters who are in Kyra’s life, Tarek has kept secrets about his own family’s dark past. It is especially his father who had abandoned Takek and his mother many years before, and who is connected to some organized crime by an Irish group.

To cut to my criticism, I did not find this book up to the same standard as the early four novels. It’s my sense that the writers of thrillers and murder mysteries must walk a fine line between normal activities and actions that are beyond the norm, beyond the realm of average lives. It what is not normal that makes books interesting, but if the content is too far from normal, then a book just becomes silly and unbelievable. When the action got going in this novel, Kyra had been kidnapped, and Takek was being pulled into the action although his security company had not yet released him to go back to the field. Finally, Chase, who more of a playboy than anything, is the son of a wealthy senator, and is allowed to be involved in the dangerous aspects of getting Kyra back and fighting with the Irish mob. Meanwhile, Kyra shoots off her mouth with the mob, which only increased the likelihood of her being killed. It was just too much out-of-the-norm activity to be believable.