Title: Lost Lake
Author: Emily Littlejohn
Series: Detective Gemma Monroe (#3)
Published: November 2018, Minotaur Books
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
An enthralling, atmospheric new novel from the author of acclaimed debut Inherit the Bones, featuring Colorado police officer Gemma Monroe.
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 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 . . .
My thoughts: This is the 3rd book in Emily Littlejohn’s Detective Gemma Monroe’s series but the first book I’ve read. While I usually like to start series at the beginning, I have come to realize that that is not always feasible, so I decided to start with this one and I’m glad I did. I liked this one and so, now I will go back and read the earlier ones. And despite not having the earlier character development, I felt this particular book stood pretty well on its own.
I really enjoy police procedurals and think this one was really well done. Being told all from Gemma’s point of view kept things pretty straight forward, and I liked the small town feel this one had. The case really captured my interest right from the start – it had an eerie nature to it and as the bodies started piling up, and the suspects did, too, I was totally caught up in this mystery. I liked that I was not able to guess where the story was going – there was plenty of twists and turns here to keep me guessing and on my toes. And I liked that the local history/folklore about Lost Lake itself came into play…though I wish that avenue was played up a bit more.
Detective Gemma Monroe is a great character – she’s strong and independent woman, yet she has a lot on her plate. She certainly wears a lot of hats, but it seems she gives 100 percent in whatever it is she is doing at that moment. I like her work ethic, though I’m curious to see how things work out with her and her fiance…I’ve got questions there!
I will definitely be going back to read the earlier books in this series because I want to know the story of these characters…I want that earlier character development that I so love in series. And that’s my only complaint about this book…that I do know a few “spoilers” for the earlier books, but knowing that I won’t be reading the two prior books any time soon, I’m sure it will be fine.
Books in this series:
- Inherit the Bones
- A Season to Lie
- Lost Lake
