Sand Williams is reluctant when she agrees to watch over her neighbor Norah's son, Timothy, and stepdaughter, Dahlia, while Norah and her husband go out of town. Sand's biggest worry is that they'll have big parties. What she doesn't expect is to find Dahlia brutally murdered.

It's a dark stormy night when Sand goes to check on Dahlia and Timothy. Timothy is sleeping on the sofa and doesn't know Dahlia's whereabouts. After searching the house, they find her cold, lifeless body marked with wounds and tucked into her own bed without a spot of blood on her. As a matter of fact, there's no blood anywhere, yet the window to her bedroom is broken indicating a struggle.

With no witnesses and no murder weapon, the police are completely baffled. As the investigation gets underway, fingers point every which way, but they all lead to nowhere. Could it have been a drifter or a past boyfriend? Will the autopsy reveal rape? As much of a fundamentalist as Norah is, that's all she can think about. Since Sand found the body, she's considered a suspect. And people really begin to talk when Timothy is questioned and takes a polygraph test.

Inspired by true events, DAHLIA'S GONE by Katie Estill is a great murder mystery that keeps you guessing up to the end. It's also a good character study about relationships between family, friends and co-workers.