Select one of the keywords
Dark Tide    by Elizabeth Haynes Amazon.com order for
Dark Tide
by Elizabeth Haynes
Order:  USA  Can
Harper, 2013 (2013)
Softcover, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth

Genevieve Shipley, the protagonist of Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes, lives life by her own rules. This isn't always the best way to do things, as she finds out. She does manage to get herself into a boat load of trouble.

Hating her day job in London, she decides she wants to purchase a houseboat of sorts and refurbish it to live in. She'll take a year off, work on the boat, and then decide what to do next. She hears of a job doing pole dancing and feels that's her way to earn more money faster.

Bad choice. She makes lots of money and is near her goal when she realizes that something's off kilter in the club in which she works. Baring her body to leering men is not the problem. It's the extra hours off the clock her boss Fitz wants her to put in.

During a boat-warming party, a body washes against her home. The corpse turns out to be a woman she had grown to consider a good friend. Now she is starting to get apprehensive – she has left her dancing job behind her. Fitz doesn't like her quitting, feeling she might know more of his business than he wants her to know.

Police enter into the picture with the arrival of the body. Gen is torn between two men, both of whom she feels drawn to. Suspense grows with each turning page. I liked Gen very much. She made and acted on her own decisions, even when she wasn't sure she had picked the right path to follow.

If I were the right age and had the agility Gen possesses, I might like to try pole dancing. Just for myself. Sounds intriguing. Living on her boat would be a blast for a while. The author has made both sound enticing and the research must have been thorough.

Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes is her second novel. The first, Into the Darkest Corner, has won all sorts of accolades. It was named Amazon UK's best novel of 2011 and the film rights have been sold. I am sure Dark Tide will receive the same kind of attention.

Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.

Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews