SAN DIEGO — A prolific local true-crime author is working on a new page-turner.
Nearly 10 years after the bodies of a North County San Diego family were found in shallow graves in Victorville, the McStay family murders have raised a lot of questions, many are still unanswered.
Author Caitlin Rother is putting another mystery to print about the McStay family murders in 2010.
It's been 12 years and three days since the McStay family vanished from their Fallbrook home without a trace.
“The mystery is, what happened to that family?" said Rother.
Three and half years after their disappearance, Joseph and Summer McStay were found in shallow graves in the Mojave Desert with their two sons Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3. buried next them. The medical examiner ruled they were beaten to death with a sledgehammer.
“All they had were bones. Three and half years later there is a mystery to this, and I'll be digging into this that as well,” said Rother.
The New York Times bestselling author is writing her 15th book with a tentative title, "Down to the Bone: The Mysterious McStay family murders."
Last year, San Diego-based true crime author released, "Death on Ocean Boulevard: Inside the Coronado Mansion Case," a book about the controversial death of Rebecca Zahau.
She lives in San Diego and followed the McStay case in court and in the media.
“I'm breaking one of my rules writing this book, I don't like writing about murdered children,” said Rother.
She says she won't be going into details about the children's murder. That was left to the prosecutor to convince the jury to convict Joseph's McStay's business partner Charles “Chase” Merritt.
Merritt's trial lasted six months. In 2019, he was convicted and later sent to death row after the prosecution argued Merritt was motivated by money after Joseph accused him of stealing $40,000 from his water fountain business.
“I'm telling you, you are going to see a lot in this book that just didn't get covered,” said Rother.
She wouldn’t divulge what is new that we don't know already know.
Surveillance video and cellphone records connected Merritt to the case but there's still a mystery Rother hopes to answer.
“My biggest questions, who could kill a 3-year-old and 4-year-old boy?” asked Rother.
Rother hopes to release the McStay book by the end of next year or 2024. Meantime a TV series is in the works based off her book about Zahau, Death on Ocean Boulevard.
WATCH RELATED: Charles Merritt sentenced to death for McStay murders (Jan. 2020).