A Texas Thriller of Murder and Betrayal

When dusk settles over Lake Tawakoni, the water’s mirrored calm hides a darkness no amount of small-town charm can soothe. For Detective Loretta Smitty and her husband, Detective David Smitty, life in sleepy Quinlan, Texas, was meant to be a refuge. But the pristine shoreline soon becomes a grim crime scene: a fisherman hauls up a bloated body, its chest carved with a single, chilling symbol—a teardrop.

As bodies mount, each marked by the same ritual scar, the Smittys race against time to navigate the town’s hidden depths. Meth addiction has become a silent epidemic in this lakeside community, and rumors of a vicious vigilante who stalks dealers and addicts alike send whispers of fear through church bake sales and barbecue pits. With every murder, the killer’s message grows more brazen—and more personal.

Haunted by grief and driven by justice, Sheriff Tom Willis and his devoted wife, Martha, stand at the heart of Quinlan’s social fabric. But when evidence links the velvet-voiced sheriff’s wife to the grisly crimes—and an isolated cabin by the water reveals secret journals, hit lists, and photographs—detective work collides with betrayal. Loyalties shatter as Loretta and David confront a conspiracy that implicates the very people sworn to protect them.