Deep Water

May, 1940. Olympic National Park, Washington state. Alone in a remote cabin, Hope Merriweather feels out of step—with her marriage, her work writing for the WPA Washington Guide, herself. A floating body interrupts her fishing on Lake Crescent. She confides in a cankerous old friend as her wish for a peaceful escape tangles with her curiosity. The corpse, a woman made unidentifiable by lake chemistry and nibbling fish, had murky relationships with husbands and lovers that reflect Hope’s own insecurities with surgeon husband Cy and Seth, a fellow writer who stirs romantic interest. A shooting and coma, abortion, a mixed race marriage, and a rich but impotent husband are all part of the mystery that Hope and Seth follow to Seattle and back. An unappealing local sheriff adds tension in a provincial but beautiful place where concealment is part of both landscape and culture.
ISBN 9780692666463