From the award-winning author of Wildwood and Northwoods (which was called 'an indelible debut' by The New York Times) comes a stand-alone sequel in which the small town sheriff's office is drawn into a cold case with far-reaching consequences.

In the small resort town of Shaky Lake, Wisconsin, Deputy Eli North and his mother, Sheriff Marge North, are practically the entire police force. On the heels of a brutal investigation, Eli is desperate for a quiet summer. Marge even hires a new deputy to lighten the load: former FBI agent Alyssa Mason, whose personal life has just imploded in spectacular fashion.

But peace never lasts long in Shaky Lake.

When Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Serena Powell returns home to investigate the twenty-year-old disappearance of a former classmate, the town turns hostile fast. Serena’s accusations cut close to the bone and, within days, she’s found dead.

Now Eli, Marge, and Alyssa are hunting a killer while reopening a cold case many locals would rather keep buried. As secrets surface and loyalties fracture, the investigation begins to expose something far more dangerous than any one murder: the dark heart of Shaky Lake itself.