Riptide

Friedman's seventh suspense, after A Temporary Ghost , is a ripping good yarn marred by the annoying inconsistency of its lead character. Isabel Anders, an out-of-work artist in New York City recently abandoned by her lover, learns that the aunt who raised her in Florida has had an accident on the beach. Although Aunt Merriam was a harsh, embittered woman from whom Isabel had run away as a teen, Isabel decides to return to Cape Cache, where she quickly senses that something fishy is happening. Merriam is agitated about a man in a hood who is trying to hurt her; the arm of a missing Coast Guard patrolman is found in a shark's gullet. Remembering her unhappy past, Isabel talks to Harry Mercer, with whom she'd had an affair as a teen; she meets a little girl whose father is in prison for transporting marijuana. After Merriam's suspicious death, Isabel learns that Harry and a shady partner have found a sunken Spanish ship and are treasure hunting. Friedman deftly weaves these diverse strands into an exciting tale flawed only by Isabel, who alternates unpredictably between resolute self-reliance and a cloying, indecisive vulnerability. (Feb.)