The River Takes It's Own

The Cedar Valley Files

"Some truths drift. Others return to the surface."

In the shadows of Cedar Valley, the past has a long memory. When the churning currents of the local river yield a dark discovery, the silence that has protected this town for decades begins to shatter.

The River Takes Its Own is a gripping, atmospheric psychological thriller that explores the fractured psyche of a small town built on secrets. Perfect for readers of gritty suspense and character-driven mystery who crave a story where the atmosphere is as thick as the tension.

Every town has its secrets. In Cedar Valley, the river keeps them all.

When Sheriff Rowan Hayes responds to a body in the mist-shrouded Cedar River, she expects another tragic accident. What she finds instead cracks open a twenty-year-old disappearance—and exposes the first unsettling link to her own father’s past.

As Rowan digs deeper, the river begins giving up things long buried: a sealed cassette, missing deeds, a hidden ledger, and a truth powerful enough to shatter the Pike family’s political stronghold.

But the closer she gets, the more the town closes ranks—and the more Rowan must confront the choices her father made in the name of protection.

Set against the haunting beauty of Iowa’s river country, The River Takes Its Own blends slow-burn suspense with a small town’s fractured memory.

The Cedar Valley Files begins with a truth rising from the water—and a detective who finally learns to listen.