Down by the Water
A Stevie Diaz Mystery
by Sam Evans
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Pub Date Sep 30 2025 | Archive Date Oct 02 2025
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Description
Stevie Diaz has a husband who won’t speak to her and no clue how to fix the mess she’s made of her life. When a jury duty summons arrives, it’s just one more thing she doesn’t want to deal with.
In the midst of trying to repair her marriage, Stevie is selected for a high-profile case where the details don’t quite add up—a case that dredges up memories of her dad’s death. Stevie can never leave well enough alone, despite knowing better, and her need to uncover the truth before condemning a woman to life in prison drives her to break every rule and shatters her understanding of the past.
Down by the Water is a neo-noir story about the lengths women go to for personal safety—and what happens when buried secrets rise to the surface.
Advance Praise
This book had me HOOKED! Down by the Water is messy, dramatic, and impossible to put down. Stevie Diaz is such a hot mess, and I adore her. Half the time, I wanted to shake her and scream, the other half I wanted to cheer her on.
Sam Evans writes in a way that feels so real but also so cinematic, like a gritty movie unfolding in your hands. Dark, emotional, and addictive, this is absolutely one of my favorite reads of the year.
- The Black Widow - Reviewer NetGalley
Reading Down by the Water is like getting emotionally mugged in an alley by your own bad decisions, and then thanking the assailant afterward for the character development. This book showed up in a leather trench coat, handed me a mixtape called “emotional devastation,” and made me fall in love with a protagonist I wanted to slap and hug in equal measure.
Sam Evans doesn’t write books. She writes trauma ballet. She stitches grief into every paragraph and hands you the needle like it’s a goddamn gift. Stevie Diaz is a walking car crash of unresolved guilt, generational pain, and mascara-stained hot girl rage. And somehow? I couldn’t look away. I didn’t want to.
This isn’t a comfort read. This is a confrontation. It’s a psychological thriller wrapped in grief and grit with just enough romance to make you question your moral compass and your kinks. If you’re not ready to feel seen, attacked, and maybe morally compromised, don’t read it.
But if you’re ready to be ruined on purpose…
welcome. Stevie’s waiting.
- Maniacal Book Reviews
