Where the Crawfish Swim: Inspired by the 2016 Pike County, Ohio Murders

*This novel is fictional, but inspired by the 2016 Murders of Eight Family Members in Pike County, Ohio.

Briar County is in Southern Ohio - the gateway to Appalachia. People there move at their own pace. They hunt, they fish, they farm - but their secrets run deeper than the fishing holes that dot the countryside. And Dalton Edwards, DEA agent, is about to uncover a few of them after his boss sends him to Briar County on a low-priority assignment as punishment.

There's something going on in this rural, sleepy county of only 28,000 people, and his higher-ups want Dalton to uncover it. Easier said than done! Dalton immediately discovers the community is tight-knit, and not easily infiltrated. His boss says it's a pot-growing operation, but Dalton thinks it's much bigger than that. Before his assignment is over, eight family members will be murdered under circumstances that Dalton knows have nothing to do with a hydroponic weed operation.

As the mass murder makes international news, Dalton is determined to find the murder (or murderers) and expose the guilty to seek justice for the slain. It won't be easy, and in the end, one more local will perish. Dalton will not rest until those responsible are held accountable.

This is a True Crime Fiction, but inspired by what people refer to as "The Pike County Massacre," which took place in Pike County, Ohio in April 2016. All characters contained in this novel are purely fictional, and conclusions drawn are purely a product of the author's imagination.

© 2025 Andrea Smith (Audiobook): 9798347813315

Release date

Audiobook: 8 April 2025