Rip Tide

At the start of this disappointing standalone from McKeegan (The Wild One), 33-year-old Kimmy Devine quits her finance job in London to take over her ailing father’s hardware store in Rocky Cape, N.J. Though Kimmy vowed 15 years ago that she’d never return to her hometown, she’s delighted to see her younger sister, Erin, who has come home to cope with fertility issues and her impending divorce. The sisters’ parents host a homecoming party at their yacht club, which quickly turns tense as former friends and exes show up and poke at old wounds. The next morning, the Devines learn that Erin’s teenage crush, Peter Cameron, has been found dead in an apparent suicide. Shifting between the past and the present, McKeegan gradually doles out details about the disturbing reason why Kimmy left Rocky Cape and how her past and Peter’s death are intertwined. Though McKeegan establishes a vivid sense of place, the drawn-out plot is bogged down by a cast of vapid, largely interchangeable characters, and the mystery’s resolution is too far-fetched. This fails to leave a mark. Agent: Michelle Brower, Trellis Literary. (Aug.)