An enthralling, atmospheric new novel from Emily Littlejohn, the author of acclaimed debut Inherit the Bones, featuring Colorado police officer Gemma Monroe. “Recommend to fans of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache novels.” Booklist On a bright Saturday in early spring, Detective Gemma Monroe responds to a missing person call at Lost Lake, near the small town of Cedar Valley, Colorado. With its … small town of Cedar Valley, Colorado. With its sapphire waters and abundance of wildflowers, the lake is a popular camping destination in the summer. But for now, ice still grips the lake and snow buries the flowers.
When Gemma arrives at the shore, she meets three friends who have been camping there: the fourth of their group, Sari Chesney, has disappeared in the night without a trace. Sari is an assistant curator at the local museum, which is set to host a gala that night–a project she’s worked on for months and would never intentionally miss. As Gemma begins to understand the complex dynamics of the supposedly close-knit friendship group, she realizes that more than one person is lying to her–and that the beautiful, still waters of Lost Lake may hide more terrible secrets . . .
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The 3rd in the Series of Det. Gemma Monroe. But you could read this one as a stand alone.
In the small town of Cedar Valley , Colorado Det. Gemma Monroe gets a call about a missing person at Lost Lake from a group camping there. Sari Chesni has dissapeared and her friends have no idea what happened
Sari works at the art museum as a curator.
Gemma Finds discovers a valuble piece of the museums history is missingn and now the murders start adding up..
This was a good read with Gemma and a lot of colorful characters. It was easy to follow and had a lot of twist”s and turns. Recommend adding to your to read list if you lke mystery and cime with a strong female lead.
It’s a bright May day when Cedar Valley Detective Gemma Monroe is called to Lost Lake. Sari Chesney, who was camping with her boyfriend, his brother, and her best friend, has gone missing. Sari hated the water, and the group is convinced she would never go missing on her own so near the lake. Sari was scheduled to work at a big gala at Cedar Valley’s museum later that evening–a huge event she had been working on for months. Her friends insist she would never miss it. It’s still chilly in Colorado in May, the lake still tinged in ice. Gemma begins the search for Sari, not realizing how quickly one woman’s disappearance will lead to so much more.
“Later, much later, I would regret every decision I made that morning.”
This is the third book in Emily Littlejohn’s Gemma Monroe series, and I really enjoy both Gemma’s character and the series. The books stand alone, but it’s an enjoyable series, and I do recommend reading them from the beginning. At this point, Gemma has a six-month-old daughter, Grace, with her fiance, Brody, and one of my favorite things about the books is how realistically Littlejohn paints Gemma’s struggles as a working mom. She loves her career and yet finds it difficult to leave Grace and juggle working and caring for her daughter.
Gemma is a great character overall, and I always enjoy reading a strong mystery that features a female detective. We find Gemma not only dealing with Sari’s disappearance, but several more things that happen in the aftermath, which lead to her becoming quite busy, and allow us a solid set of cases to follow. This one kept me guessing the whole way, with a few good twists thrown in too. There’s occasionally a bit of telling versus showing, but overall Littlejohn is a strong writer, and you can’t help but root for Gemma.
In this one, I especially felt like Gemma was growing as a person, as we find her struggling in her partnership with Finn (her fellow detective) and second guessing some of the decisions she makes in Sari’s case. It’s nice to see a story where everything isn’t easy, cut and dried, and our heroine seems so human and regular. One of the things I like so much about Gemma is that she seems like someone you could befriend (if maybe she let her walls down once in a while). It leads to an insightful and thoughtful book coupled with a good mystery (or two) as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. I feel like I can always count on Littlejohn for some excellent characterization with Gemma, and I found the plot to be interesting. It kept me engaged and guessing. 4 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
A woman named Sari is missing at Lost Lake and Detective Gemma Monroe is called to the scene. Upon arrival, the three people who were camping with the missing woman state that Sari has disappeared…she seems to have left the camp site during the middle of the night. When Gemma arrives at the museum where Sari works, she finds that a rare artifact, The Rayburn Diary, has gone missing. Are the two cases connected? When a murder occurs at the museum, Gemma now has three cases to investigate as she continues to question the people from the camp site. Gemma must determine how this one missing woman seems to be involved in all three cases. Gemma has a lot on her hands right now as in addition to her work, she is a mother and soon to be married. This is book number three in the series and you could be comfortable in reading this as a standalone as Ms. Littlejohn provides enough back story to the previous books. I have read the previous two books and look forward to book number four. I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to give an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)