"Beautifully set against the backdrop of British Columbia's coast, Abrahamson weaves a story of suspense and family dynamics in this fast-paced novel of death and deception."

— Judy Penz Sheluk, bestselling author of the Marketville and Glass Dolphin Mystery series.

A fearless amateur sleuth must choose between safety and justice when murder threatens a student outing in this gritty novel filled with mystery and adventure.  

The discovery of a woman's body trapped in driftwood off a small, west coast town turns a five-day photography class into a nightmare for Phoebe Clay, her sister Becca, and her niece Alice. Did the woman fall off a boat or has something worse happened? Either way, Becca wants to return home immediately, but Alice, a student in the class, won't hear of it. Phoebe just wants to stay out of the mother-daughter drama.

The specter of murder hangs over the family as they join the other students at an isolated fish cannery guesthouse on the coast of British Columbia. Then on their first night, Alice spots ghostly figures outside and on the first morning, Phoebe finds a dead grizzly bear with parts removed on the cannery's shore. She doesn't want to get involved, but there's something wrong at the Bella Vista Cannery Guesthouse, and someone is not who they say they are.

Against her better judgment, she begins quiet enquiries while trying to keep her sister and Alice safely uninvolved. But not knowing who to trust means answers come at a price. When Alice decides to pursue her own risky investigation, events take a sharp turn, revealing an insidious plot that threatens the lives of everyone Phoebe holds dear.

On the run on the cannery's treacherous, rain-soaked, night-shrouded cedar trails, Phoebe and her family will face the greatest danger they've ever met—brutal foes determined to ensure the family doesn't survive to reveal the cannery's secrets.

Derringer and Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence nominee K.L. Abrahamson offers up the daring fourth installment of the Phoebe Clay Mysteries.