by Vicki Delany
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2009
300 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
In the bucolic mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia, a young woman is found dead of a heroin overdose, her baby lying at her side. While this should be an open-and-shut drug case, restraint marks on the victim suggest that the death might not have been completely accidental.
As the investigation into the young woman's death and life grows, the case becomes increasingly personal for Probationary Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters. Only two things are known about the dead woman: her first name is Ashley, and she has a three-month-old baby boy. Who was she? And was this is just a drug deal gone wrong, or is there something more sinister at play? Smith's mother, Lucky, has taken in the orphaned baby: does he hold the key to solving his mother's murder?
Meanwhile, Winters's wife, Eliza, is considering accepting a modeling contract with the same resort development that seems to be ripping the close-knit community apart. Has the controversial project pushed a member of this quiet community to murder?
"Intertwined subplots, complex characters, and an easy prose style make this a great follow-up to Delany's debut, In the Shadow of the Glacier." - Library Journal.
"Delaney explores the social dynamics of a small mountain community as well as deftly handling the plot's twists and turns as it builds to a pulse-pounding conclusion." - Publishers Weekly.
".... contrasts the beautiful British Columbia wilderness, vividly described by Delany, with the sober realities of contemporary crime." - Booklist.
"Ingratiating until three-quarters of the way through, when everything falls apart with some exceptionally silly plotting." - Kirkus Reviews.
This information about Valley of the Lost was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Vicki Delany lives in Oakville, Ontario, where she is employed as a systems analyst, but her first love is the Canadian wilderness where her novels are set. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and is the editor of the Sisters in Crime, Toronto Chapter, newsletter.
For more information, see the author's home page.
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