A housewife's murder draws a Canadian detective into a twisted family drama in this mystery thriller - the basis for the Fox TV and Hulu series Murder in a Small Town. Maria Buscombe was a housewife living in Sechelt, British Colombia, until seven years ago when she suddenly abandoned her family. Now it seems she has returned-just in time to be murdered. What made her leave? What made her return? And who was sending her money and photographs of her daughter all that time? These are the questions nagging at Sergeant Karl Alberg as he searches for Maria's killer. Meanwhile, Alberg's longtime companion Cassandra Mitchell is doing some nagging of her own. Alberg had promised, after all, to hang up his policeman's hat.