Book ~ "Shallow End" (2017) Brenda Chapman

From Goodreads ~ Teacher, mother, wife and convicted child molester Jane Thompson makes parole after losing everything - her husband, her children, her career and her reputation. But just as she begins trying to build a life out of the public eye, the bludgeoned body of the student she abused four years earlier is found on the shores of Lake Ontario. Sergeant Rouleau assigns officers Stonechild and Gundersund to head up the murder investigation and Jane quickly becomes their prime suspect. 

Meanwhile, Stonechild’s niece, Dawn, has been skipping school and running into trouble in foster care. Gundersund is more trapped than ever in his failing marriage and Rouleau struggles to come to terms with the death of his ex-wife. But all their problems take a back seat as the investigation picks up steam. Stonechild and Gundersund wade through buried secrets to find the truth, which will take them on a twisted journey to the heart of cruelty. The question is - who will come out alive on the other side?

When Jane Thompson was sent to prison for having relations with one of her twelve-year-old students, despite declaring her innocence, she lost everything ... her job, her husband, her children and her freedom.  She is now out on parole and the boy, now seventeen, is found murdered.  His parents demand that Jane be arrested since she is the obvious choice.  Rouleau and his team are assigned the investigation.  Jane's ex-husband has custody of their children and refuses to let Jane see them until this matter is settled.

In the meantime, Rouleau is still grieving the passing of his beloved ex-wife and taking care of his elderly father.  After having her niece removed from her guardianship and placed in a foster home, Kala Stonechild is trying to get on with her life without Dawn.  Stonechild was also brought up in the foster system and wants Dawn to have some normalcy and stability.  Paul Gundersund has accepted that his marriage is over and wants to move on but his wife is determined to win him back.

This is the fifth book I've read by this author (I read the others in last couple of weeks) and I enjoyed it.  It's always nice to read a book that is happening in Ontario (these characters live in Kingston).  I liked the writing style and found the storylines interesting.  It is written in third person perspective with the focus on the various characters wherever the action was happening.  Though it is the fourth (and latest) in the Stonechild and Rouleau series, it works as a stand alone and you don't need to have read the first one to read this one (there is enough background given).  As a head's up, there is swearing.

I look forward to reading future books in this series.