*received for free from netgalley for honest review* did not see that coming! good ending for sure, very good read.

Sam Hutchings was looking for a writing muse. She hoped that the family cabin at Bird Lake would spark her keyboard, a fire that had been smothered by self-loathing, cheap wine, and her daughter Meg’s summer vacation. An innocent stroll down memory lane begins to unravel the story Sam had heard about her father: What did he do for a living? How did he actually die? Those who know the truth are nearer than she imagines, and protecting their secrets is worth killing for. As the old family stories begin to disintegrate, can Sam and Meg figure out the actual story? And can they uncover the dangerous plot by ex-U.S. military men — before it’s too late?
Excitement all around with this one!

Family secrets and lies. And a small town on a lake in Canada. Sam has come back to the family home on the lake to lick her wounds and write.a novel but finds herself instead investigating her father, who died in 1989. She's joined by her teenage daughter Meg, and together they ask questions that other people don't want answered. it's an interesting read with good characters and if part of the solution is a bit implausible, who's to say? Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

A young women looking to get away in the beautiful woods of Manitoba to discover her writing prose stumbles into a conspiracy about her fathers death. Beautiful scenery and a slow burn mystery provide a solid crime novel.

I read Clark's debut novel "Clean Sweep" almost 4 years ago and thought it was great, so was very eager to receive an ARC of this book. However, this was not nearly as good in my opinion. A book of family secrets set at a lake community near Winnipeg, this book just never pulled me in. An interesting ending brought my rating from 3* up to 4*. His 1st novel showed immense talent and potential so I do look forward to his next. Thanks to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a really slow burn for me. I struggled to finish, to be quite honest. It was a book of family secrets being uncovered that did not stand out amongst the rest of the books I've read it. This was a very predictable book with few plot twists or surprises. The mystery/thriller aspect was really missing for me as there was not a lot of action until the very end. Sam seemed to just stumble upon this secret of her father's death as she procrastinated writing. It was not something she was really driven about until the ending. I would have liked to see Chris more involved. to make it really feel like more of family affair. Overall, I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. It was too slow for me to really enjoy, but I did finish and the ending was a bit redeeming. I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys a slow-burn mystery or thriller.

The legendary Canadian niceness is so potent that at times it carries right into their fiction. Such was the case here in this appealing mystery that managed to remain surprisingly low key despite decidedly high stakes.
Somewhere around Manitoba/Winnipeg area there’s a lovely lake and a surrounding lake community. Places regular people live and/or come to vacation and a fancy lodge for those with Donald Duck kinda moolah. Sam, the novel’s protagonist, definitely one of the former ones, after being freshly laid off, comes to the lake to stay in her family cabin and try to write the Great Canadian novel. She’s got her friends (people she’s known from childhood) around also has her teenage kid come visit for the summer mother/daughter quality time. It’s a fun summer, though she hasn’t written a word.
What Sam instead gets preoccupied with is the past, specifically the fate of her father, a local accountant (or was he) who died in a fire in 1989. And thus Sam ends up entangled in a local (and all kinds of murderous) conspiracy that goes back decades, so much so that her very life and the life of her daughter might be in danger. It turns out the truth Sam’s always been told is quite far from the real thing.
Overall, this was a nice (I know, that word again) character driven small town mystery with a likeable cast and very decent writing. Not the thriller to light the world on fire, too mild mannered for that somehow (even when deadly) but a perfectly good read in its own right and goes by quickly too. Thanks Netgalley.