Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Flynn is called to a crime scene where a foot in a running shoe has washed up along the Pacific shoreline. While there, she meets Therese, the mother of a missing Native woman, Diyanni. The young woman has been missing for almost a month, but the local police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have shown little interest.

Kelly resists Therese's plea for help as she feels overwhelmed with other commitments and the needs of her troubled teenaged daughter. But when Therese tells her about the dismissive attitude of the city police, Kelly decides to help Therese work through the jurisdictional maze of law enforcement agencies.

Kelly finds herself in an eye-opening tangle of disinterest, negligence, lack of resources, and no easy answers for cases involving missing Indigenous people. As she begins to learn more, she works to hold on to her idealism and help find justice for Diyanni.

Flotsam is an awakening to the tragedy of treating people like discarded debris, wrapped up in a page-turning mystery set in the misty Pacific Northwest.