A male corpse is found dumped in the bayou, and it can't be identified through viewing. Whoever was murdered took a rifle shot to the face, so senior sheriff's detective Nick Fourcade has to rely on dental records if the jawline can be reconstructed (slow) or DNA samples (even slower).
Meanwhile, two men were reported missing in the community. Fourcade's wife, detective Annie Broussard, confronts the mother of Robbie Fontenot in the precinct corridor as she pleads for help. His mother has gone down the rabbit hole of her son's opioid addiction and knows that he is unstable, but she maintains that he has been doing better lately. She first begged the town police for help but they dismissed her concerns and when Annie takes the case, it stirs up a territorial hornet's nest. The other missing person is Marc Mercier, town hero and all-around good guy, who never returned to his young Philadelphia wife and their baby. Nick is lead detective on that case, and the town is outraged that the sheriff's department can't make a positive ID on the corpse or find Marc alive. To make matters worse, Annie finds a woman in the hospital with signs of obvious physical abuse, but she won't let Annie help her or acknowledge that her husband was the culprit. Who does the dead body belong to? Is there some connection between the missing men? Will Annie be able to convince Tulsi to reach out for help before it's too late?
This is the third in Hoag's Broussard and Fourcade series, although it's a good stand-alone. She conjures up an atmospheric place in southern Louisiana, known for Cajun food, tourism, and amazing beauty, while also a dangerous place of mystery where alligators are used to permanently hide corpses. Annie and Nick are marriage partners, but their work relationship sometimes interferes, especially when Annie takes the initiative and Nick has to worry about her. The author does a great job of holding your interest in this tangled web of deceit, and if this is your first taste of Broussard and Fourcade, I recommend reading The Thin Dark Line and The Boy while you're waiting for # four.
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