Beth

Detective Michael R. Pearce, newly retired after twenty years on the force with the Los Angeles Police force LAPD) plans on doing some fly-fishing in Colorado. Before leaving Los Angeles, he gets a mysterious call from his sister, Mattie, a well-to-do widow who lives near Kingman, Arizona. She wants him to stop by and visit a few days on his way to Colorado and advise her concerning a murder case she has been investigating. Mattie is not a detective but a homemaker.

Mattie's best friends, Jenny and Lou have recently suffered a terrible loss. Their adopted daughter, Beth, and her youngest son, Daniel, were in her car that went into the Colorado River near a virtually abandoned landing, or so the evidence suggests. Daniels' body was found in the car but an autopsy shows he was dead before entering the water. At first, Beth's body is not found, raising many questions until a woman's body is found downstream. Beth's husband Roger, identifies the body as his wife. The police then rule the event a murder/suicide.

Mattie and Jenny do not believe Beth killed her physically challenged son whom she adored nor do they believe the body found was Beth's, contrary to Roger's claim. Especially since he has her quickly cremated.

Beth left behind a series of journals. She began the habit of journaling as a young girl, and continued through out her adult life. The last entry ended just before her disappearance.

While reading the journals, Michael can't help being drawn towards the missing woman and is determined to help find the answers to a puzzle that becomes more and more complicated. He must know if Beth is the victim, or a cold-blooded killer capable of killing her own child.