What do you think?
Rate this book
RIPTIDE
Detective Jenna Murphy makes some bad choices after the body of her former best friend, Barb Kelley, turns up on a beach following her twentieth high school reunion. “Murph” and Barb had a heated exchange at the event.
An old flame, Mike Stone, is the prime suspect. Instead of swiftly cracking her first major case, she becomes “entangled” with Mike.
This is just the beginning of a roller-coaster investigation in Santa Cruz, California, once known as the "Serial Murder Capital of the World." Murph fears a dark trend in the sleepy beach boardwalk town, now the target of slick Silicon Valley developers. Murph questions a cast of unusual suspects, from crusty street urchins to earthy mountain dwellers while facing her own demons.
The newly installed detective battles a riptide of city politics and childhood trauma before confronting the actual killer with her bare hands. Through hard fights and fearful memories, Murph begins to uncover why Santa Cruz was once known as “The Serial Murder Capital of the World.”
An old flame, Mike Stone, is the prime suspect. Instead of swiftly cracking her first major case, she becomes “entangled” with Mike.
This is just the beginning of a roller-coaster investigation in Santa Cruz, California, once known as the "Serial Murder Capital of the World." Murph fears a dark trend in the sleepy beach boardwalk town, now the target of slick Silicon Valley developers. Murph questions a cast of unusual suspects, from crusty street urchins to earthy mountain dwellers while facing her own demons.
The newly installed detective battles a riptide of city politics and childhood trauma before confronting the actual killer with her bare hands. Through hard fights and fearful memories, Murph begins to uncover why Santa Cruz was once known as “The Serial Murder Capital of the World.”
204 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2025
3 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 17, 2025
Laura Toland’s debut Riptide, is a thrilling whodunit set in one of my favorite California beach towns – the popular Santa Cruz with its fun boardwalk, pier with great food places and lovely beaches. Her well-developed characters so vividly described had me thinking, “Hey! I know this person.”
Toland’s protagonist, the heroic Detective Jenna Murphy, better known as “Murph,” is flawed as homicide detectives all seem to be, only her flaws are quite relatable for some (or more) females. Murph’s examination and relationship to the victim on the beach is complicated. Throughout the story readers are privy to Murph’s personal investigation of her own shortcomings as she delves deeper into the present and past murders of two former school friends to solve the case.
I felt the detective was sharing her diary baring her vulnerabilities including a secret past trauma. Toland though keeps readers entertained from falling into a gloomy murder darkness in the Capital of Serial Murderers, Santa Cruz (didn’t know that until reading this book) by sprinkling in some dark humor of her own mistakes and the quirky “hey man” hippies and some low-life characters pique one’s curiosity “and then…?”
All in all this story fulfilled my reading pleasure with my favorite genre, good developed with characters, believable dialogue and wow! Never saw that coming.
Other authors I’ve enjoyed and Laura Toland can now stand with them are Sun Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone mysteries and Janet Evanovich’s bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum.
Toland’s protagonist, the heroic Detective Jenna Murphy, better known as “Murph,” is flawed as homicide detectives all seem to be, only her flaws are quite relatable for some (or more) females. Murph’s examination and relationship to the victim on the beach is complicated. Throughout the story readers are privy to Murph’s personal investigation of her own shortcomings as she delves deeper into the present and past murders of two former school friends to solve the case.
I felt the detective was sharing her diary baring her vulnerabilities including a secret past trauma. Toland though keeps readers entertained from falling into a gloomy murder darkness in the Capital of Serial Murderers, Santa Cruz (didn’t know that until reading this book) by sprinkling in some dark humor of her own mistakes and the quirky “hey man” hippies and some low-life characters pique one’s curiosity “and then…?”
All in all this story fulfilled my reading pleasure with my favorite genre, good developed with characters, believable dialogue and wow! Never saw that coming.
Other authors I’ve enjoyed and Laura Toland can now stand with them are Sun Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone mysteries and Janet Evanovich’s bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum.
Displaying 1 of 1 review