Sarah Hawthorne had no idea her life was going to change when she took a seasonal job working on Nantucket. A gifted painter, Sarah was devoted to her art-until she met John Jarad, a handsome, local police Lieutenant. John is deeply rooted in the charming island home his family helped to settle. As Sarah explores John's family history, she reactivates interest in his younger brother's cold case disappearance. A great-uncle's surprising bequest bring family tensions to the surface, and the sudden reappearance of the missing brother shakes the Jarad family tree. A string of mysterious deaths ensue, as John and Sarah forge their investigative talents to solve a sinister island conspiracy. Winner of a 2006 Independent Publisher IPPY Honorable Mention for Mid-Atlantic Best Regional Fiction, The Nature of the Grave promises to be the perfect summer beach read.