Cold Rain is the 17th book in the Garth Ryland mystery series. Called an exemplary series hero by Publishers Weekly, Ryland lives and works in the small town of Oakalla, Wisconsin ("Lake Woebegone made sinister") where passions run high, scars go deep, and the face of innocence wears a crooked grin. Ryland's morning starts badly on a cold wet December morning and goes downhill from there, as the word comes out that detective Michael Higgins, Ryland's friend and surrogate son, is missing in action. Helen Shirer is being stalked. When she sees someone lead her horse from her barn, she calls 911...