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.