In a House by the River

Sixteen years ago, the man who helped raise Megan Michelson was shot to death at a remote kayaking lodge in Northern California. The writer embarks on a painful search to find out what happened, and why. “At the time, Mom told me Jerry had gotten into a fight and that his body had been found in the doorway of the Otter Bar owners’ private residence. The few times I asked for specifics, Mom’s response was short: ‘You don’t want to know.’ But I’m 28 now, and I do want to know.”