Book Summary

"This is a page-turner of the highest quality, fueled by a well-constructed, suspenseful plot. Muller addresses the issue of domestic violence with sensitivity and insight, and, as always, her take on human relationships reflects complexity and feeling".

Marcia Muller created one of the first modern female detectives in the memorable Sharon McCone over two decades ago. Now, in a major departure from her critically acclaimed series, she introduces us to a new heroine, one who wears a badge and a gun, in a dark, edgy thriller that is complex and relentlessly chilling.

Rhoda Swift, Sheriff's Deputy in California's Soledad County, lives with her haunting dreams of an unsolved mass murder thirteen years earlier. In a remote spot on the rocky Pacific coast two families were found riddled with bullets. Two children lay among the dead. And rookie Rhoda Swift was first at the scene. Unjustly blamed for losing the blood samples that might have cracked the case, Rhoda watched her reputation and marriage crumble. It's taken her all this time to prove herself a damn good cop. But another death is about to shake Rhoda's world. The body of a young woman, pretty in a way that says trouble, is found in the sea off Point Deception. Coming almost on the anniversary of the massacre, the new killing revives a community's fears and suspicions that a monster still walks among them. Further stirring the brew is Guy Newberry, a bestselling New York author and journalist determined to write about the unsolved crime and its dark legacy.

Soon Newberry's digging is dividing a town between those who want the truth and those who want to forget it. Like an incendiary device, the new Point Deception murder is inflaming memories and strong feelings for both Rhoda and Newberry, a man with secrets of his own. They cautiously join forces during the investigation, sharing leads and troubling conclusions.

What they are about to uncover will cut close to the bone for Deputy Sheriff Rhoda Swift, testing her as a cop and a woman...and forcing her to face how far she is willing to go for justice. Or for love.