Amber Cowie is a graduate of the University of Victoria and was short-listed for the 2017 Whistler Independent Book Awards. She has also served burgers at a frontier-themed diner, hot chocolate at the only ski resort in Scotland, and pints at a bar in downtown Dublin. She planted trees in northern Canada and staffed the front desk of a hotel on a remote island between France and England. She has also been a reporter for a small-town newspaper, in-house writer for a snowmobile magazine, and freelance pattern designer for knitwear companies. Now she is a mother of two, wife of one, reader of many, and the author of the acclaimed debut novel Rapid Falls. She continues to write books that make her browser search history highly suspicious. For more information, visit her at www.ambercowie.com.

A new town, a new life, and a new home—with an absolutely chilling lakefront view.

Two months a widow, Mallory Dent has made the impulsive decision to pack up and move on. In remote McNamara, nestled in the northern mountains, she can escape her grief, guilt, and pain. But the day Mallory arrives, death follows her, lapping just outside her door. A woman’s body is found floating in Loss Lake—and it’s not the first death on these shores. Locals talk about a monster in the depths with an almost disturbing reverence.

Sergeant Joel Benson understands Mallory’s unease. Years ago, his own brother was killed in the home Mallory now owns. But that was just a tragic accident. Wasn’t it? The more Mallory investigates, the more fearful she becomes. Maybe there are monsters in McNamara. Maybe some have followed her there.

As a winter storm bears down, the refuge Mallory sought has become a trap. It’s time to face her past, the secrets behind the town’s friendly faces, and a reckoning that will shatter the eerie, icy calm of Loss Lake.

The truth can bring out the worst in the best of friends.

Esme and Benedict Werner have an idyllic life in a tight-knit community until an accident in their cul-de-sac ends in the tragic sudden death of one of their dearest neighbors. After vindicating eyewitness accounts morph into contradictory memories, suspicion, and unaccountable accusations, Benedict is arrested. Esme’s life, too, is changed forever.

As the neighborhood largely turns against her and her family, Esme has time to think about her past and what to do next. Then her fellow residents start looking deeper, questioning one another, and themselves, about hidden lies and betrayals.

Esme has more than her share of secrets. And the consequences of what happened on that fateful late-summer evening on Raven Lane are far from over. When the mask of civility slips, can friends and neighbors recover from seeing the monstrous truths beneath?

BookSparks is working in conjunction with Lake Union Publishing.