Higher Ground

Courtesan. Musician. Grifter. Guru. Survivor.When Tyler Mackenzie agrees to accompany Sarah's son, Dylan, on his genealogical quest to find an aunt who disappeared 80 years earlier, the adventure is greater than either of them imagined, leading to the lightest and darkest of places. Although Tyler's interest in the Scupper family history dates back decades, what he discovers this time is more twisted and secretive than he ever envisioned.Both prequel and sequel, Higher Ground tells the story of Great Aunt Birdie, who left home in 1940 to work at a mission in Malaysia and ended up as a fugitive from justice. Her journey leads her from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines to the casinos of Havana to the jungle islands of Bocas del Toro. As courtesan, musician, gambler and grifter, she rescues, defends and even helps fund a revolution, while mothering a flock of children and an acoholic husband along the way, until she and her family vanish into the high mountains of Panama looking for peace and safety.As Tyler and Dylan travel through Panama hoping to find this centenarian ancestor, the suspenseful story moves from past to present and back again, racing headlong with passion and complexity to bring the two narratives together in a thrilling climax. While longtime readers will learn the answers to one of the series' most burning questions, the riveting conclusion will leave them wondering about the other unsolved skeletons in the closet of Tyler Mackenzie's extended and dysfunctional family.