Emily Littlejohn impresses once again with the third entry in her mystery series featuring Deputy Gemma Monroe. In Lost Lake, Gemma and her team are flummoxed by the disappearance of a camper in the Colorado Rockies. This is followed by the murder of the missing woman's co-worker and the theft of a valuable diary from their employer, the Cedar Valley History Museum.
The missing woman's fellow campers and the murder victim's family are all in the suspect pool, which is expanded to frustrating levels by the stolen diary. Written by one of the town's founders, it allegedly contains clues to the location of historic gold mines for which any number of people might kill.
Struggling with the emotions elicited by working tragic cases and trying to balance police work with her fiancé and six-month-old daughter at home, Gemma's perspective is a refreshing take on the theme that a career, partner and child constitute "having it all." Littlejohn instead forges steadfastly and candidly into the truth that life is messy. Within the chaos, the small details bring even minor characters (e.g., fabulous nanny Clementine) to vivid life.
As in her debut, Inherit the Bones, Littlejohn herds a multitude of professional and personal plot arcs into one neat package without loose ends. She expands on a solid foundation of diverse characters from which hopefully she can mine material for further additions to this fine series. --Lauren O'Brien of Malcolm Avenue Review