A group of backcountry hikers is trapped in a canyon during a flash flood. Three are swept away by the rushing muddy water. Rescuers are dispatched to recover the bodies, but the find four victims. U.S. Park Service Investigator Doug Fletcher is assigned to identify and find the origin of the fourth victim. With Ranger Liz Carpenter and Navajo Nation Policeman Jamie Ballard, he goes on a trek through the canyons and Arroyo's of the Wupatki National Monument and Navajo Reservation. Along the way the face their demons, fears, a fake shaman, and form bonds that will last long into the future.
Dean is the best-selling author of more than thirty books in three series including the award winning "Family Trees." His Pine County series are set in rural Pine County Minnesota and are hard-boiled thrillers featuring the Pine County Sheriff's Department. His Doug Fletcher series are set in National Parks and Monuments. Fletcher is a retired St. Paul police detective who's drafted by the Park Service to investigate a number of murders, suspicious deaths, toxic waste dumping and other crimes. This series is also somewhat hard-boiled, but include a touch of romance and humor as Doug sorts out his relationship with his former boss, Jill Rickowski. The Whistling Pine series are cozies set in Two Harbors Minnesota. The protagonist is the recreation director of the Whistling Pines retirement community and he deals with the day-to-day issues of his senior citizens and is reluctantly dragged into the investigations of local murders.