Sugarmilk Falls - Ilona Van Mil

He remembered that when he first came to the Sugarmilk country, wolves still sang under the northern lights . . .

Nestled in a glacial valley in Canadian maple country is Sugarmilk Falls, a town rich in tradition and harsh in beauty. With the onset of the soft Spring winds, maple sap drips from the trees, wood fires burn and branches sigh under the weight of silent snow. Between freeze-up and snow-melt no one can enter or leave the valley unless by plane. And year-round the phones click, click, click as nosy residents entertain themselves on the communal party line.

But this serene community has recently been disturbed by the mysterious disappearance of new schoolteacher Marina Grochowska. For Marina's dark hold over certain individuals, her controversial actions and closely guarded past, had caused quite a stir. With her sudden exit, a stream of mistrust and suspicion ripples gently through town.

As a questioning stranger appears, carefully infiltrating the host of wagging tongues, it seems that everyone has a terrible knowledge they wish to conceal. And some will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried . . .