High Water

"A dynamite tale of family fallout, mystery and intrigue, southern-style. Demands to be read in one all-night page-turning frenzy." —David Baldacci, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

In her beloved hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina, Georgie Smallwood has carved out a life for herself, but it hasn't been easy. A teenage mother at sixteen, she built a thriving business restoring and selling antiques with the help of her steel magnolia mother.


But little does Georgie know how deep the secrets run in her family—until her mother dies under circumstances that she finds suspicious, even if her sister and brother don't. Georgie can't help but think the worst of her controlling, unfaithful father, whose murky military past haunts him. The slow drops of doubt pool into a surging wave of fear that threatens to destroy the bond between Georgie and her siblings—and sink the very foundations they have built their lives upon.

High Water is a gripping Southern thriller about blood ties, betrayal, and the legacy of silence—where the past rises like the tide and nothing stays buried forever.


"High Water is a lyrical, compelling novel about secrets, family, and even love." —Lisa Scottoline, New York Times–bestselling author


"Hightower fills the story with plot twists that will appeal to thriller fans, but the novel, steeped in the feel of small-town South, also offers an introspective look at a woman's life, her personal relationships, and her sense of family loyalty." —Booklist

"This intensely involving study of family dysfunction . . . is distinguished by its driving prose, lyricism and psychological nuance." —Publishers Weekly

"The story hurtles along as rapidly as any of Hightower's police procedurals or thrillers but finds room for a world of family pain and southern warmth." —Kirkus Reviews