A housewife's murder draws a Canadian detective into a twisted family history in this novel by the award-winning "master of the psychological thriller" (Booklist).

Maria Buscombe was a housewife living in Sechelt, British Colombia, until seven years ago when she suddenly abandoned her family. Now it seems she has returned--just in time to be murdered. What made her leave? What made her return? And who was sending her money and photographs of her daughter all that time?

These are the questions nagging at Sergeant Karl Alberg as he searches for Maria's killer. Meanwhile, Alberg's longtime companion Cassandra Mitchell is doing some nagging of her own. Alberg had promised, after all, to hang up his policeman's hat.