Having Joanna and Nils Sorenson back in an Ogilvie novel is like having old friends you haven't seen for 10 years ring your doorbell. The Sorensons played starring roles in the "Tide" trilogy - High Tide at Noon, Storm Tide, and The Ebbing Tide - which have long been favorites of Miss Ogilvie's fans.

Lobstering in Maine is the Sorensons' profession now, as it has always been. Their son Jamie is a grown man of 25 who has his own boat, his own line of traps, his own "sweet spot" where the lobster haul is always good. Quiet and self-sufficient, he has never formed any lasting attachment with a woman. As his mother says, "Other men have a line of chatter. Jamie stands around looking like a snow-covered Alp against the sky."

Alas for solid, dependable Jamie. He becomes the target of choice for Eloise Robey, who married to get away from home. Finding the fire of marriage no more congenial than the frying pan of home, she convinces Jamie that she is being physically abused by her husband. A few artistic tears are all that's needed to get Jamie to move in to protect her. For Eloise, Jamie is a new toy who will serve very nicely to feed the jealousy of the wealthy man whose mistress she has been since she was a 15-year-old babysitter for his family.

Turbulence in the state of Maine is not confined to the waters which sometimes lash its shore.