David Cross can’t tell Ed or Lucy that he is in some ways happier now that their mother is dead; to his own mind he is more himself than he has been for nearly 40 years. When Nancy was alive, he had secrets that he kept from her. Now that she is dead, he has a secret that he must keep from his children: He is not unhappy.
To Heaven by Water is a touching and hilarious portrait of the Cross family trying to come to terms with the loss of their mother.
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives.