Oceanographer Riley St. Joe is the granddaughter of the once famous, now infamous oceanographer, Emile LaBreque. For the past year, Emile has been under a cloud of suspicion because his research vessel sank, taking five people with it. Many people blame Emile for the accident. Riley is the only person who still believes in Emile.

While visiting Emile’s cottage in Maine, Riley finds two types of trouble. First, she runs up against John Straker, former bad boy, now an FBI agent recuperating from an injury. Then, Riley finds a body. The body turns out to be that of Emile’s former captain. It doesn’t take long for Emile to disappear – and for the police to brand him as their chief suspect.

Riley wants to prove her grandfather’s innocence, so shhe and Straker find themselves working together on the case. Like all good heroes, Straker wishes Riley would stay still so that she wouldn’t get hurt. Meanwhile, Riley’s sister has a major life crisis of her own. She is pregnant with twins, and her husband is obsessed with trying to prove that Emile is responsible for the accident.

Riley is related through marriage to a wealthy Bostonian family that provided major funding for Emile’s research – and lost a family member in the accident. The intertwined relationships provide plenty of suspects. Could the killer be one of Boston’s most respected benefactors or possibly one of Riley’s own family?

Riley is dedicated to her vocation and brings the same passion to her defense of her grandfather. When no one else is willing to stand up for him, she tries to prove his innocence. Although she is sometimes willing to put herself in danger, we can understand her motivations. Riley has had skirmishes with Straker since they were children, but it’s clear their antagonism had its roots in attraction. Straker has been trying to keep to himself ever since getting shot in the line of duty. Luckily for him, Riley comes into his life, and she won’t let him shut himself out like that.

Straker is more alpha than other Carla Neggers heroes I’ve encountered. When he first comes on the scene, his personality doesn’t blend well with her writing style. Yes, he is cantankerous, but the other characters’ attitudes about Straker’s reputation grew grating. Most of the town kept telling Riley how dangerous Straker was, and even the local sheriff was on his case. Maybe this was supposed to be cute, but it got old very quickly. Once a guy defends the country against terrorists, you’d think they’d stop treating him like the “bad boy” or acting as if he must be insane. Maybe he just grew on me.

The suspects make up a small group, and that makes it easier to keep track of the complicated relationships. It did, however, seem overly convenient that many of the suspects were related through marriage or connected through Emile’s research. Smart readers will rule out some of these people as suspects right away. But not everyone can be cleared so easily.

There are enough suspects to keep most mystery lovers guessing. Suspense readers will find the tension level to their liking, while there is enough tension of the sexual sort to please lovers of romance as well. However, if you are in the mood for banter between the main characters, keep in mind that Straker starts out as a loner, and a rather cranky one at that. But maybe he’ll grow on you, too.