Wanted: Inner Peace. Signed, Hope Sze, the “detective doctor” sick of solving murders. Hope escaped the crime-ridden city of Montreal. Gone fishing with her dad for his birthday. Long gone girl, trading sirens for misty lakes and crimson maple leaves. A perfect family fun day, until her mother—never the sharpest scalpel in the neighbourhood—drags along crazy uncle Leonard, transforming Black Donald Lake into a very dark place.

Tent flap open. Sandals still neatly lined up in front of the tent. But no sign of odd Uncle Leonard, who can’t swim. Solving two murders back in Montreal made Hope Sze a touch paranoid. Should she: a) call the police, b) comb through the pine forest, c) drag the waters of the Madawaska River, or d) confront the racist scum who might have killed him?

Mayday. Mayday. Unstable man vs. unconscious child. Did the boy slip and shatter his neck? Did he drown in Black Donald Lake? Even if the boy hovers on the edge of death, Dr. Hope Sze could drag him back to life. If only she can pry him from her uncle’s grip.