The Margin of Error
Millhaven Reservoir lies exposed to the October sky, its basin cracked into a mosaic of silt after months of drawn-down water for the annual dam inspection. When a diagnostic sweep at 0500 hours uncovers a body in the mud, investigator Morrigan Vance is called to a town that guards its silence as tightly as its secrets. The death looks accidental, until it doesn't. Every witness offers a different margin of error, and every alibi has a hairline fracture waiting to split. As Morrigan traces connections through Lorraine Phelps, Caleb Holt, Ellis Quintero, and a circle of neighbors bound by loyalty, land deals, and old grievances, she discovers that someone in Millhaven has been measuring their crimes with chilling precision. Each step toward the truth narrows the killer's window of opportunity, and widens the threat against her. With pressure mounting from a department that wants the case closed cleanly, Morrigan must decide how much certainty she demands before she acts, and what price she'll pay if her own margin of error proves too generous.