Breaker’s Reef is Book 4 in the Cape Refuge series by Terri Blackstock. The setting is the fictitious island of Cape Refuge, which lies off the coast of southern Georgia, east of Savannah. The story begins on May 30.
One of the central “characters” of the Cape Refuge series is the Hanover House ministry. Hanover House itself is a refuge. It is a halfway house for former convicts and others who need a place to stay while they get on their feet. It is run by Morgan and Jonathan Cleary who accept only those residents who have made a commitment to Jesus Christ and are seeking to mature in their Christian faith.
Heartbreaking Job
A 19-year-old police rookie, fresh from the academy, discovers the body of a 16-year-old girl floating in a boat near Tybee Island in the first chapter of Breaker’s Reef. Unfortunately, Rookie Scott Crown makes a general mess of things, and Police Chief Matthew Cade is wondering – not for the first time – if it had been a mistake to hire the young man. But Crown is the nephew of Cape Refuge’s best and only detective, Joe McCormick, who vouched for his sister’s boy. So, now Chief Cade is dealing with the young officer’s inexperience, his defiance, and his hero complex.
But Scott Crown is only a minor problem. Chief Cade’s bigger problem is the tragic murder of the young high school student, Emily Lawrence. Chief of Police Grant from Tybee Island is in charge of the investigation, but Chief Cade is involved all the way to his heart. He remembers watching three-year-old Emily hunt for Easter eggs 13 years earlier. Her parents and the whole island of Cape Refuge are grieving over the loss of the gentle teenager. As Chief Cade’s force gears up to aid in the investigation, they are heartsick, as well.
First Suspect
Cape Refuge has a new citizen, a best-selling mystery writer named Marcus Gibson. And he’s looking to hire a secretary. Hanover House resident Sheila Caruso has just finished a secretarial course at the community college, and she wants the job. To her amazement, Gibson hires her. Her stint in prison doesn’t bother him, at all. In fact, he seems intrigued. She may be a useful source of information about prison life for him.
Sheila soon realizes the author is strange. He sleeps all night in the forest sometimes and swims in the ocean with all his clothes on (boots included.) He doesn’t really like to be home when Sheila is there. He just tells her what to work on and leaves. But the exciting job turns sour when Sheila finds a fictional murder in one of Gibson’s old novels that is very similar to Emily’s murder. Suddenly, she’s afraid her new boss was the one who killed the teenager.
Visitors to Cape Refuge
Amelia Roarke and Jamie Maddox are college students who have come to Cape Refuge to find Amelia’s birth mother. The prospect is making Amelia nervous – what if her mother rejects her? Amelia was adopted by loving, generous parents; she’s not looking to replace them. But she wants to know where she came from, who her parents were, and why she was put up for adoption.
The name of Amelia’s bio mother is Sheila Caruso. Amelia knows Sheila has been in prison and moved to Cape Refuge when she was released. It’s not hard to find out where Sheila lives and works, then the girls retreat to the Flagstaff Motel for the night. Amelia promises to gather her courage and go meet Sheila the following day.
Instead, the dead body of one of the girls is discovered in an ocean cave the next day. And the other girl is missing.
Seeking Answers
Besides the who’s? and why’s? of the murders – who did it? and why did they do it? – there are a number of questions needing an answer:
Are the murders connected?
How does Sheila feel about the daughter she gave away 19 years ago?
How will Sadie react to the news that she has a sister?
Will Chief Cade ever get around to proposing to Blair?
Will Morgan, now happily pregnant, have a boy or a girl?
Character List
This list carefully avoids spoilers. Names and descriptions below reflect the original information given about each character. Main characters are listed, along with most minor players, more or less in the order they appear in the story.*
Police Departments - Cape Refuge police unless otherwise noted:• Matthew Cade – Chief of Cape Refuge Police Dept. – nephew of the former mayor – owns a cat named Oswald
• Sarah – daytime dispatcher
• Myrtle – night dispatcher
• Alex Johnson
• Joe McCormick – detective – 2nd in command
• Scott Crown – 19 years old, latest hire, fresh out of academy – Joe McCormick’s nephew
• Chief Grant – Chief of Police on Tybee Island
• Keith Parker – medical examiner
• Bruce Baker
Emily Lawrence – 16 year-old murder victim – found in a boat floating between Tybee Island and Cape Refuge Island
Alan Lawrence – Emily’s father
Marie Lawrence – Emily’s mother
Residents of Hanover House:• Morgan Cleary – owner, with husband, of Hanover House
• Jonathan Cleary – Morgan’s husband, fisherman, preacher, mayor of Cape Refuge
• Sadie Caruso – foster daughter of the Cleary’s – 18 y.o.
• Caleb Caruso – Sadie’s baby brother
• Sheila Caruso – Sadie’s mother – finished a secretarial course at the community college
• Felicia
Blair Owens – Morgan’s sister, owns the town newspaper – right half of her face was damaged by fire in the past
Doc Spencer – Lawrence family’s doctor
Classmates of Emily and/or Sadie • April Manning
• Courtney Grey
• Steve Singer
• Amy
• Danny Brewer
• Lourdes Grant
• Crystal Aimes
• Kelly Jackson
• Cameron Ward – soccer player
• Don Sandifer
• Annie Malone
• Bret Ames
• Steven Pratt – works at Burger King
• Sam – works at Burger King
Matt Frazier – works for his father at florist shop – friends with Sadie – college sophomore
Marcus Gibson – famous mystery writer
Joyce – Girl Scout leader
Clara Montgomery – antique dealer, owns Clara’s Trash and Treasures
Sue Ellen Jargis – member of the Ladies Auxiliary running the library
Zaheer – Pakistani, town jeweler
Amelia Roarke – came to Cape Refuge looking for her birth mother
Jamie Maddox – Amelia’s best friend – came with Amelia for moral support
The Colonel – owner of Cricket’s, a diner at the docks
Yeager and Smith – Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agents
Tina – drug-addicted teenager Amelia and Jamie meet at the Flagstaff Motel
Bob and Lana Roarke – Amelia’s adoptive parents
Mick – Sadie’s and Amelia’s deceased father
Nate – occupant at the Flagstaff Motel
Gus Hampton – a Jamaican and ex-con, formerly staying at Hanover House
Karen – Gus’s wife – has a 7-month-old son, Emory – met Gus while both were living at Hanover House
Wayne Cleary – newcomer to this world
Amelia’s Family and Friends• Bob and Lana Roarke – Amelia’s adoptive parents
• Aunt Millie and Uncle Herbert
• Jimmy – cousin
• Larry and Myra – next-door-neighbors
Melba Jefferson – closest friend of Morgan’s mother
* Footnote:
Usually when characters are listed out of order of appearance (or first mention), it is because they are part of a group in which some appear later than others. Otherwise, I may have missed their first mention and accidentally placed them out of order.
***
Here’s a link to Terri Blackstock’s Breaker’s Reef.
Here are links to my blogs about the rest of the Cape Refuge Series:
Cape Refuge
Southern Storm
River’s Edge
Photo credit: Josmanu1970 on pixabay
Here are links to my blog indexes, which will make it quick and easy for you to find another post to read.
Blog Index – Lists blogs 1-35
Blog Index 2 – Lists blogs 36 to the latest post
Here’s a downloadable version of the Character List, in case you want to print it out.