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Paradise #9

Rip Tides

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Paradise swirls with deadly currents.
She has to avenge a champion.

Surfing star Makoa Simmons washes up after tragically drowning on Maui, and Detective Lei Texeira plunges into a high-profile case whose dark and tangled motives reach deep into the elite world of professional surfing on the North Shore of Oahu.

He’ll kill to come out on top.

The darkest of motives drive a murderer with multiple axes to grind, and Lei must follow her instincts into new territory even as her husband, Michael Stevens, struggles with heartbreak of another kind.

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 24, 2015

1643 people are currently reading
1370 people want to read

About the author

Toby Neal

83 books984 followers
Toby Neal was raised on Kauai in Hawaii. She wrote and illustrated her first story at age 5. After initially majoring in journalism, she eventually settled on mental health as a career and loves her work, saying, “I’m endlessly fascinated with people’s stories.”

Toby credits her counseling background in adding depth to her characters–from the villains to Lei Texeira, the courageous and vulnerable heroine in the Lei Crime Series, to the wounds and psychological implications of the heroes of the Scorch Series.

Get TWO FREE full length Toby Neal books by signing up for her newsletter here! http://www.subscribepage.com/TobyNeal...

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5 stars
1,171 (47%)
4 stars
858 (34%)
3 stars
370 (14%)
2 stars
55 (2%)
1 star
29 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
Profile Image for Bonnye Reed.
4,696 reviews109 followers
February 13, 2025
Rip Tides, #9 in the Paradise Crime Mysteries by Toby Neal, is a gem of a novel to keep you up nights. Lei and Stephens stay frantically busy with the murder of a local world-renowned surfer in their Maui waters. This is a very convoluted tale, but told well, a bit shocking and certainly surprising. I did not see the resolution coming. Hopefully it will surprise you, as well. One thing I'm sure of - Lei and Stephens need a break! Talk about bad luck...
REVIEWED on January 22, 2025, at Goodreads, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble and BookBub. Not available at Kobo.
Profile Image for David Freas.
Author 2 books32 followers
July 2, 2015
This ninth book in the Lei Crime series is another solid entry.

Lei has evolved completely away from the person she was in the first book. Showing steady growth in a character is something few authors do well, but Neal has mastered it.

As in the last few books in the series, there is a good balance here between main characters’ professional and personal lives although this book leaned a little more toward the personal.

To be completely honest, one of the reasons I like these books is the Hawaii setting. My daughter lives there and since chances are I’ll never get to visit the islands, I can ‘tour’ her world vicariously through these books.

Many characters in this story leave a room, slamming the door behind them. Most of the time it seemed an appropriate actions but one or two times it didn’t.

The resolution here seemed to come a bit more ‘out of the blue’ than that in previous books. But that’s only a minor quibble.

I see there’s another book coming in this series. That’s cause for joy on my part.
Profile Image for Anima.
2,747 reviews52 followers
November 8, 2015
Surfing and murder! Her best murder mystery to date has us twisting in our seats following clues. I thought I had it figured out twice and then she throws a curve again. Did the pro surfer die because someone was jealous? In love? Desperate for revenge? While Lei is working this high profile murder Stevens is having a family crisis. Usually the family troubles link back to Lei and her past but not this time. Stevens and his brother have a visitor from their past that turns their world upside down. Enjoy this fast paced gripping who-dun-it and hang on.
Profile Image for Marie.
165 reviews2 followers
May 3, 2015
Another great mystery romance by Toby Neal. Can't wait until the next book comes out. Love the stories and Hawaiian history that is shared through these books.
1,272 reviews6 followers
September 5, 2021
Action packed with a complex plot, this book will keep you turning pages. There’s death, and a hodgepodge of relationships both professional and personal on both sides of the investigation to complicate things.
Profile Image for Brenda.
91 reviews2 followers
June 12, 2018
This series keeps getting better and better, I can’t stop reading!
1,272 reviews21 followers
May 4, 2021
Rip Tides is split between the murder of Makoa, a famous surfer, that Lei is investigating, and the one way visit from Michael's mother, the alcoholic. Lei is still struggling with guilt and grief over her miscarriage. Michael and his brother have a good relationship, but it has been strained in the past over their mother, and when she shows up uninvited with no place to live, the strain threatens to return. Then she goes missing.

While the explanation behind the murder can stretch the imagination, the investigation is interesting. The family drama is realistic and painful. A solid entry in the series.
Profile Image for Shirley.
120 reviews5 followers
May 25, 2015
Once again Toby Neal has hit a home run! Lei Texeira is back solving another mystery - this time on Oahu! I always look forward to reading each Lei Crime Series book. Toby does a great job with new plots while weaving various subplots into each story. Toby has brought the characters to life in such a way that they are like "old friends" and I can't wait to learn what they will be up to next. With each novel, we learn more about their personal and professional lives. Let's hope Toby comes out with the a new Lei Crime Series book soon!
Profile Image for Jeanette.
300 reviews
May 18, 2015
WHOOHOO...Rip Tides is.....

AMAZING! Absolutely love how difficult it was to figure out "who dunnit." There will be no spoilers in this review. Just know that Lei, Stevens, Pono and the rest are in full kick butt mode in this awesome Toby Neil book. There is suspense, mystery, romance, family, hateful people, scared people and some who cannot be properly described; but have a necessary place in the storyline. If you've read the first 8 books in the Lei Crime Series (and even if you haven't) you will love this one! A page Turner for sure!!!
549 reviews7 followers
September 2, 2015
This series was revived for me with this book. I really liked the surfing backdrop to the murder of a famous surfer. The introduction of Stevens' alcoholic mother and her disappearance was a good subplot, also. I think Toby Neal can get a little more mileage out of this series, but I'm hoping for a happy ending for the couple.
1 review
May 14, 2015
Flawed characters living flawed lives

Not as edge of your seat reading as some of the other I installments, but gripping family drama in this very human collection of characters who make big mistakes but keep loving each other no matter what.
Profile Image for Engrid Penny.
21 reviews2 followers
September 20, 2015
Book 9...Twists & Turns

Loved it! A great "roller-coaster" read. I've just had emergency surgery, with complications, and needed to keep my mind on a good story...Mission Accomplished! Moving on to Bone Hook
Profile Image for Cathy.
128 reviews5 followers
September 5, 2015
Loved, loved, loved this book. It was probably the best in the series for me. Can't wait for the next installment in the Lei Crime series!
16 reviews
April 26, 2015
Twists and turns

Another great read by Toby Neal. A plot involving several twists and turns with a person sub-plot made for a page turning read. Looking forward to the next one.
134 reviews
April 28, 2015
Lei Crime Series

I love reading this series I have read them all. Please keep writing this series love the characters. Hope book 10 comes out soon.
Profile Image for Douglas Cook.
Author 17 books7 followers
April 28, 2015
Both main characters lead terribly eventful lives in the midst of Hawaiian beauty. As usual this installment was well written with strong characters. Quite a twisty ending.
Profile Image for bibiana  Perdomo .
107 reviews1 follower
May 9, 2015
Fantastic

Toby Neal did it again. Giving me another great book. I've read all the book's in this Series and they just get better and better
Profile Image for TeriC.
507 reviews
July 30, 2015
Another good book in this series. Hope there are more.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
1,144 reviews8 followers
March 20, 2017
Interesting

Good plot, twisted ending, good characters and I liked Conan joining the family. I was left a bit sad at Stevens lack of sobriety
82 reviews2 followers
November 5, 2015
I just love these mysteries - primarily because they're set in Hawaii and incorporate the beauty of the islands, something of the culture, and a good mystery. Not high-brow but good fun.
Profile Image for Sandra Whaley.
2 reviews
November 22, 2015
Great story.

It keep you interested in the story line. And the mystery of who done it.Ready to read the next book..
Profile Image for Cornerofmadness.
1,955 reviews17 followers
July 13, 2017
I picked this up probably free from an author giveaway and I don’t usually drop into a mystery series on book 9. While mysteries are stand alone stories (which is why I like them) the character relationships can be hard to get into that deep into a series (not to mention many of them start to peter out once you reach double digits). However, I needed a Hawaiian setting for a reading challenge so I said why not? I have to say I truly enjoyed it and while it was a 3.5 read for me I rounded up because I enjoyed almost everything but had a few quibbles with the end.

Lei is a detective and the novel flip flops between her and her new husband Stevens who has been downsized from his small police station to a job of training recruits at a larger one. Did I have issues picking up everything with their relationship since it’s book 9? Yes and no. It’s pretty clear that a) they are in love b) they have at least two different recurring villains after them and/or on trial outside of the main mystery (which is not one of my favorite tropes) and c) they must have a complicated relationship because they are relatively newly marriage and building a bunker-like home after the bad guys burned down their last one (hurting their dog) and that Lei lost her baby three months ago (stress causing a miscarriage) but Stevens has an infant son, Kiet, from his prior marriage (his wife was murdered) so to me that means they were likely cheating on that wife but I think there’s more to it than that but I’ll have to swing back to figure out what.

As for the mystery, Makoa, a pro surfer drowns while surfing and it turns out it isn’t an accident after someone ‘dropped in’ on his wave. His girlfriend, Shayla and her friend, Pippa and a few others give a vague description of the person on the other surf board. Lei and her partner, Pono, have to sift through professional jealousies, ‘my island is better than your island’ territory scrimishes and non-traditional romantic relationships, not to mention scads of money to be had. In the middle of all this Stevens and his brother, Jared are faced with the sudden appearance of their alcoholic mother bringing up old pain and feelings of betrayal between the brothers, made worse when she disappears into the homeless community.

Overall, I really liked it. Lei’s character is well drawn and the pain of her miscarriage palpable (part of me thought ‘wow, this is brought up literally every chapter’ then on the other hand that is probably the reality of such a loss. I felt like there was a good amount of Hawaiian culture in this (then thought, ‘how would I know how accurate it is? I’ve not been there and I’ve read exactly one book on Hawaiian religious beliefs but it felt real and the author was born and raised there so I’ll buy it).

My quibble? Without spoiling it, I thought the ending was rushed and the confession way too easy. I mean there is literally no forensic evidence so there is every reason for the killer to keep his/her mouth shut. Instead it gets blurted out pretty easily. That aside, I enjoyed this and already picked up two more in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
110 reviews1 follower
October 18, 2019
The difference between this book and the last one is like day and night. This book is a complete return to form, a strong, interesting crime with some personal stuff going on around it – like the earliest books, before the melodramatic vendetta that increased as the books went on. Even the over-dramatic stuff about the ‘Shroud Killer’ is barely mentioned. From the extreme change in tone, I’m guessing the author is reacting to the criticism of the previous book. The result is one of the strongest books in the series so far, a stellar example of why this series is worth reading, and the series worth following.

Another welcome correction is the relationship between Michael and Lei – in the previous book, it had gotten to outright toxic, both disturbing and unhealthy. That’s also disappeared which is relief, it was very unpleasant.

Having an alcoholic mother myself, I understand and appreciate the hard stance the brothers take with their mother. Trying to be supportive only gets you so far, eventually you need to draw the line and live your own life, stop letting them ruin yours. Forcing someone into rehab almost never lasts so Michael and Jared shouldn’t get their hopes up. My mother went in three times and the longest it ever lasted was 3 months. If the person doesn’t want to get sober, then you can’t force them to – it has to come from their own desire to change. If they make a genuine effort, then you can be supportive. Makes me wonder if the author has experience with this – it’s completely accurate.

Loved the final interview sequence – putting conflicting people in a room and seeing what happens. It’s amazing what people will blurt out in passion when someone says something that makes them look bad. The police barely have to do anything but light the match then stand back and watch the explosion.

I’m extremely relieved. After the last book, I was about to abandon this series – now I’m completely back on board. Maybe the author was having personal issues and it came out in her writing, but thankfully, the ugly tone that contaminated the last book has stopped. This is quite possibly the strongest of the series so far.
Profile Image for Vickie Sarmina.
240 reviews4 followers
November 5, 2018
Surfs Up With a Dead Body!!

Superstar Champion Surfer, Makoa Simmon’s body was found floating in the water. He had been riding a wave off the shores of Hawaii, when a person, managed to derail him from the wave. Detective Zei Texeira, has been called to the scene of the crime. As she investigates the case, she finds that it wasn’t an accidental drowning, as it was thought to be initially. The medical examiner found signs of strangle marks on his neck, and bruising. The medical examiner stated that he had been held down until he drowned. There are a list of suspects that need to be interviewed. The girlfriend and model, Shayla, the ex-boyfriend of Shayla, Shayla’s best friend, Pippa, and Makoa’s rival, Bryan. The company Torque, is a sponsor for Makoa. What can Zei find out from the sponsorship? What will his manager be able to divulge regarding his financials? What could possibly be the motive to kill this friendly, caring, superstar? Zei and Pona work the case, but find all kinds of roadblocks. The only way to find out who murdered Makoa, is to get a confession. But there are so many suspects, and as they continue to follow leads, they find that there are quite a few individuals on the prospect list that had something to gain from his murder. Will Zei and Pona find this person? There a multiple themes in this book. I enjoyed the backdrop of Hawaii, as well as the surfer mentality. The plot was well constructed. The characters were believable and flawed, as is such of human nature. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Profile Image for Jerry B.
1,489 reviews150 followers
May 20, 2021
We’ve now polished off five of these currently 14 novels to feature law enforcement officers Lei Texeira and her (now) husband Michael Stevens (assigned to a different unit). Having set these tales on the various Hawaiian Islands, with travel to or actual assignments on different ones, adds unique settings and local lore to mysteries that are not overly violent or complicated – thus a few pleasant reading sessions prevail.

In this ninth outing (“Rip Tides”), Lei is working the case of a famous surfer who drowns while performing, almost certainly a murder. Meanwhile, Michaels’s mother, a serious alcoholic, comes to stay with no future plans (other than to drink herself senseless); when she goes missing, that creates a mildly interesting sub-plot with nothing to do with the surfer crime. Anyway, all ends fairly well after quite a few suspects and their girlfriends are resolved -- to quibble, perhaps a little too easily.

We probably would have been better off to read this series in order, as the relationship between the protagonists and with their police partners changes quite a bit over time; and apparently there was a serious fire and threat to Lei’s life (and a sad miscarriage) in the previous outing, not yet read. Generally these stories are predictably entertaining, without extreme thrills, bad language, or tortuous violence – so good enough to routinely satisfy.
Profile Image for Heather Doughty.
465 reviews11 followers
November 17, 2018
I enjoy this series. Lei is a great character, and I admire her spunk. She is flawed and root-worthy. I love all of the details about the setting: each island has its own character, history, and quirks. The author does a great job of telling the reader about Hawaii. Her love of her home state shows!

Maybe I read up to book 5. In any case, i jumped ahead to book 9. And it felt like a soap opera where I could just pick up where I left off even though some of the story had moved along. Lei is now married, there is a child in the picture, she has a good relationship with her dad, she has more scars and battle wounds. Also, all of our favorite characters are still there.

The author is very careful to make sure the reader feels current with the background - to a fault. Things that happened in previous books are mentioned too many times. Once or twice would be fine, but four or five times is overkill. Because of this, the first half of the book is more review than story. We don't really get involved with the plot until the second half of the book. I found this to be quite irritating.

That being said, I really enjoyed the second half of the book. I'm sure I'll pick up more of these in the future. What can I say - I enjoy a good soap opera!
Profile Image for #ByFelicia.
550 reviews9 followers
October 27, 2017
So in this book we find ourselves on the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. Not a bad place to be if you ask me but maybe not so much when a pro surfer meets his demise while enjoying some gnarly waves. Lei catches the case with her trusty partner Pono, whom I absolutely adore! I enjoyed seeing Lei jump back into action without causing mortal danger to herself and her little family and she actually manages to make it out of this investigation with very little bodily harm which if you know Lei Texeira that’s like a miracle. Meanwhile, Stevens and his equally gorgeous younger brother Jared have a bit of a run in themselves with a family member they hadn’t planned or even expected to hear from. Aside from this bit of personal family business, everything seems to be coming around for Lei and Stevens and their family life.

Dr. Wilson couldn’t have said it better...

”To being afraid and choosing to live fully anyway.”
604 reviews6 followers
July 19, 2023
Another great mystery from this author, with the setting beautiful Hawaii. Most of the action is on the island of Maui, with a few visits to Oahu. Detective Sergeant Lei Texeira is on the case again, this time needing to solve the death of a famous surfer. There is plenty of action and several complicated relationships. Lei is stubborn and will get to the facts no matter what she has to do.

At the same time as she works the case, her husband Michael Stevens, who is also a cop, has to deal with the unexpected arrival of his mother, who he hasn't had a relationship with for several years. Her drinking problem drove him and his brother crazy and they both relocated to Hawaii. So, there is never a dull moment in this story, and its fascinating how one thing keeps leading to another until almost everything is solved, just leaving the reader with enough interest to read the next book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews

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