Love, Terror and Tragedy strikes Dartmouth's Royal Regatta week. A body is caught up in the propeller of a sailing yacht returning to The River Dart. Events which follow bring love and tragedy in equal measure, as a young woman journalist gets caught up in acts of terror affecting two of the wealthy family estates on either bank of the river. The Hawley's and the Gilbert's of Langham, two of the wealthiest families have been feuding for generations, but the horrific events at the Regatta Ball bring the families together, along with the people of Dartmouth. Pilgrim's River is set in the town and on the banks of this most graceful and picturesque river in Devon.

Pilgrim River candidly narrates one man's wandering but sincere attempt to come to terms with the overpowering experience of God-a journey from unbelief to nature mysticism in the deserts and mountains of Nevada and Utah, to sojourns through the country of marriage and the republic of letters, and finally to the Catholic Church.

Stutzman gives an honest account of events and questions in his own life that left him feeling just as stuck as the thick, impenetrable swamp weeds that confounded his Mississippi River journey. In a pilgrimage to find answers and clarity on personal and faith issues, he hikes the Camino de Santiago in Spain and ponders how choosing to be a disciple of Christ affects the pilgrimage of a believer.