Misty Pines is a sleepy, small coastal town, but lately Sheriff Jax Turner has had his work cut out for him when a local surfboard maker, Terry Chesney, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, and his pushy brother, Gerard, is convinced something has happened to him.
Meanwhile, Jax's ex-wife, FBI agent Abby Kanekoa, is dealing with issues of her own since her mother, Dora, is in the late stages of dementia and she keeps wandering off from the care facility where she lives. Only this time, when Abby sets off to find her mom, she is not only miles from the facility where she supposedly went missing just a few hours earlier, but she is down by the water in Misty Pines holding on to a dismembered foot and insisting it is "finders keepers."
As Jax and Abby compare notes, they not only discover that another man, Jonathan Lilly, is missing from West Shore, the next town over, but also that Walter, a local homeless man known to live in the woods behind Terry's home, has also gone missing. Before long, bodies start to appear and it's no longer a case of a few missing persons, but it seems there's a deadly killer on the loose. But why these particular victims?
Word around town is that a large surfboard manufacturer was pursuing the purchase of Terry's genius designs, but was the old, laid back surfer dude even interested? Then there's the fact that Terry's beautifully restored classic VW Bug was found in the possession of a troubled kid named Scott from West Shore. Was Terry the victim of a simple burglary gone wrong? Unfortunately, teen Dylan Marks might just have the answers, but does Turner really want to tangle with his dad, Commissioner Marks, once again?
One bright ray of hope is the arrival of Rachel Killian, a razor-sharp young woman applying for the full-time deputy position in Misty Pines, as recent events have proven they need more help on the force. Of course, nothing can ever be easy, and it turns out Rachel is his former partner's daughter, all grown up and using her Mom's maiden name. Jameson is not too keen on his baby girl taking the job, but when Rachel starts proving herself to be an invaluable asset, especially since she comes packaged with a search and rescue dog named Koa, Jax will have a tough decision to make.
In addition to everything else going on, it seems Margot Coleman has moved to Misty Pines, the beautiful blonde nurse who cared for Abby and Jax's daughter, Lulu, in the cancer ward before she died and Abby and Jax split up. She definitely seems to be interested in Jax, and maybe she was back then too, but Jax only has eyes for Abby and really wants to get back together with her. Abby's FBI partner, Olek Lasko, seems to have the same idea as Jax, though, so do Abby and Jax even have a chance at this point? Their love lives will definitely have to take a back seat to the bow-wielding murderer terrorizing Misty Pines, and if they're not careful, they just might find themselves in the killer's sites.
Deadly Tides is a great follow-up to Hidden Pieces and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While the ending didn't take me by total surprise the way the previous book did, it had enough nice twists and turns that it kept me guessing and had a good ending. I really loved the addition of Rachel and Koa and I can see that opening up a whole new layer of interesting aspects to potential cases. If you haven't yet checked out Mary Keliikoa's books, do yourself a favor and get her on your radar. I love both this series and also her Kelly Pruett Mystery series. Check them out!
