A hot dry summer and a pall of smoke from the forest fires drifts over the lakeshore. Still, tourists and cottagers flock to Cullen Village, including the Borthwicks, who own Hazeldean, a treasured 100-year-old heritage cottage. Family matriarch Lois Borthwick, in a nearby care home, no longer recognizes any of her four children, each of whom has a decidedly different plan for the old place. The eldest, Donna, a successful local realtor married to a well-known MP, wants to tear it down and build anew. When Donna's lifeless body is found hanged from a pier, the death is ruled a suicide. Case closed. Or is it?

After a life-threatening incident with the Major Crimes Unit, Sergeant Roxanne Calloway has decided to put family before ambition and seek a quieter, safer life with her young son. She now runs the local RCMP detachment in the heart of cottage country, and protocol dictates that she has no reason to participate in the Borthwick investigation, which is being led by her former protegee, Izzy McBain. As more of the unlucky Borthwick clan succumb to foul play, however, Roxanne cannot help but be drawn in.

Jay had not been able to pick up the canoe the day before. They’d been so busy getting ready for the barbecue, he hadn’t had the time. This was tricky since the canoe was at Hazeldean, but he knew exactly where to find it, under a tarp beside the garage. He did notice Finn look questioningly at the yellow police tape that was strung across the driveway when they arrived. There had been just enough space for Jay to park in the driveway in front of it. “POLICE: DO NOT ENTER” Finn read aloud.

“No worries!” Jay told the boys. “We’re not going inside the house. That’s what that tape’s really about.” He should leave the kids in the van but he could use a hand carrying the canoe. He led them to the garage at the side of the cottage––“Don’t worry about the masks, we won’t be long”––and watched their eyes light up as they saw the red canoe. It was old but it was reliable. Jay had paddled it himself when he was their age. They were thrilled to be asked to lift one end and help him lug it to the van. He’d hoist it up, tie it to the roof rack 73and then they would be off, he told them.

Then he led them to the shed behind the garage to find life jackets. There were several stashed in a box on a shelf. Jay knew just where to find them. He and his sisters had worn them when they were kids. “Try these on for size,” he said, passing over two of the smallest. The paddles for the canoe were propped in a corner. Now all he needed was a couple of pieces of rope to tie the canoe to the rack on his SUV. There used to be hanks hanging on nails on the wall of the shed but the nails were empty. There was no rope. The people who cleaned up after Fraser’s party must have cleaned up in here as well. They must have tidied them away, where would they have put them??

Carter and Finn were busy figuring out how to fasten the life jackets, almost ready to go.

“Here, boys.” He gave them the paddles and told them to take them to the car. He was sure bungee cords used to be in the garage. Maybe the ropes had been put with them. He flung open the door. Like the shed, it had been cleaned up and tidied. Half the stuff that used to be there was gone. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find the cords. No rope. Nothing.

The boys were hovering, wondering when they’d be ready to go.

“Not long now,” he assured them. Would there be anything inside the house that would work? There was a broom cupboard under the stairs. Something might be there. He could go inside, couldn’t he, if he went by himself? It wasn’t like he was going to disturb anything.

Finn looked anxious when Jay told them that he was going to go into the house after all. “I need to find a bit of rope. It’ll only take a minute,” he said. “You two stay outside. It’s just me that’ll get heck from your mom if she finds out.” And he winked at Finn. They tried winking, too, and laughed.

“You just stay out front. I’ll be right back.” He strode to the back of the house and waved to Finn and Carter before he turned the corner.

Then he stopped.

Leslie was face down on the dry, grassy ground at his feet, her head lying among the shattered remains of one of the deck’s big flowerpots. There was dirt scattered everywhere, shards of broken clay and a lot of blood. Her glasses lay among the debris. Her clothing was spattered with blood and dry soil.

Jay had no idea what to do.

The two boys raced around the corner behind him and slid to a halt, Carter first. Finn almost crashed into him. Like Jay, they stopped and stared.

“What’s going on, Dad?” Carter looked up at his stepdad.

“Is she dead?” Finn asked in a quiet, awestruck voice.

Jay sprang into action. “Let’s get you two back to the car.” He stood between them and the body so they wouldn’t see the dead figure on the ground. “Don’t look at this.”

“I need to call my mom.” Finn rummaged in a pocket.

“That’s okay, I’ll call the police.” Jay reached out a hand to turn each of them around and began walking them to the driveway. They kept turning back to look, like they couldn’t tear their eyes away. The woman who lived next door had left her deck and was walking along the path on the top of the berm toward them.

“Has something happened? Do you need some help?” she called to him.

Finn had his phone. He shrugged Jay’s hand away. His thumb found his mother’s name.

“Mom!” he said. “You’ve got to come here, right now. There’s a dead body.”

Matt had a cart full of gardening supplies. He wanted peat moss and sheep manure. Roxanne reached out to stop him adding a weed whacker to the pile.

“We have to go,” she told him. “Something’s happened.” She continued talking to her son. Where exactly was he? Who was with him? He told her. Could she talk to her?

“They’ve had a big shock,” June Appleby told her. She had taken them to the front steps of Hazeldean and she would wait with them until Roxanne arrived. And yes, Jay had called 911. He was still talking to the dispatcher. He looked pretty shaken too.

Roxanne asked June to pass the phone back to her son. Matt was talking to a garden centre employee, apologizing for leaving the full cart behind. They had to go. It was urgent. Half of the people in the store knew who Roxanne was, even when she was dressed for a day off, in skinny jeans and a shirt. They watched her and her partner run out to their truck and roar off down the hazy road to Cullen Village.

“Wonder who’s dead now?” A customer said to the employee, who was just about to push away the cart for unloading. And they both laughed.