This begins with the investigation of a murder aboard a houseboat. A woman has been brutally stabbed with a broken bottle. All roads in the investigation lead to a commune/farm where several families live. Someone begins murdering. They are terribly close mouthed about things. One of the suspects is a former lover of Linda's from when she was being treated for depression. Soon there is a threat from the outside, involving a prisoner who is now out but is seeking money from his former companions. He is psychotic and bitter from his long sentence. Linda is little help in that she still has feeling for the one suspect. As it turns out, it is a complex mess of connections and personalities. Suffice it to say that everyone is living in fear for his or her life as well as those of the commune children.
