"Is Liam Berne a loving son-or a murderer? The second book in the Ozark Mountain Trilogy, Only by Death is a thought-provoking suspense story of a man who loses everything and learns he must die to find life. After much agonizing, Liam Berne takes his mother, who has Alzheimer's, to the Sure Foot River and drowns her. A mercy killing, he tells himself, to spare her years in a nursing home . And getting his inheritance early isn't a bad thing either. Dixie Berne's body is recovered and the coroner cannot find any sign of foul play, though Liam's sister isn't convinced. Then Liam hears rumors that a twelve-year-old boy has witnessed the drowning. Terrified that he will be discovered, Liam sets out to intimidate the boy into silence. Little does Liam know that someone else suspects him-someone who intends to make him pay." -- ONIX annotation.