The House at Saltwater Point

Coble’s so-so second Lavender Tides novel (after The View from Rainshadow Bay) finds Ellie Blackmore busy fixing up old houses in Lavender Tides, Wash., until her sister, Mackenzie, goes missing. Blood found aboard Mackenzie’s boat suggests she may be dead. A few days after her disappearance, the town sheriff receives a tip that Mackenzie is alive in North Korea; the anonymous caller claims she was spying for that country and the boat abduction was staged. Meanwhile, Grayson Bradshaw, a civilian working for the Coast Guard Investigative Services, has been engaged in a highly personal search for terrorist Tarek Nasser, who killed his best friend. A cocaine theft that could lead him to Tarek has been linked to Mackenzie, which is news that Ellie, who’s sure her sister is innocent of all wrongdoing, doesn’t want to hear. Cute Ellie and handsome Grayson uneasily join forces in the hunt for the truth, and despite the discovery of more incriminating evidence about Mackenzie, the attraction between them grows. Fans of romantic suspense will best appreciate this unconvincing mix of thriller and cozy elements. (July)