A young woman goes missing at Lost Lake, near the small town of Cedar Valley, Colorado. Detective Gemma Monroe is called in and at the lake, she meets the camping party who is missing its fourth member, Sari Chesney. Sari seems to have disappeared without a trace. But, would a woman who is a dedicated assistant curator at the local museum just take up and leave, or is it foul play?

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A missing person call has gone out and Detective Monroe responds. A hiker has gone missing at Lost Lake. Later that weekend, a person is murdered. Is there a connection between this and a missing museum artifact.
An enjoyable well-written mystery, which contained some decent characters. For me it was a good solid read. ( )

Gemma Monroe is a detective with the Cedar Valley, CO Police Department. Gemma is called in to investigate the disappearance of a camper. Sari Chesney was camping at Lost Lake with 3 friends. She disappeared overnight without a trace. Her friends say they have no idea what happened to her. Sari is assistant curator at the local historical museum. With a big gala event at the museum celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Cedar Valley coming up in just days, it's doubtful Sari disappeared of her own accord. When the head of the museum is found beaten and strangled to death, Gemma knows there is more to the story than just a missing camper.

This story is so suspenseful and engaging! This is the 3rd book in the Detective Gemma Monroe series. I'm definitely going to backtrack and read the other two books, Inherit the Bones and A Season to Lie. I like Gemma as a main character. She is intelligent and very good at her job. I liked the setting. Cedar Valley has the beauty of Colorado, the complex characters and vibe of a small town, an interesting history....and a lot of hidden, dark secrets.

The plot moved along at a nice pace with plenty of description, character development and suspense. I liked the tie-in with the historical museum, history of the lake and town, and the case. Already have book 1 in this series checked out at the library! Can't wait for the next book! :)

*I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

3.5 Four friends go camping at lost lake. When one friend goes missing durin the night, Gemma is called to investigate the disappearance. Little does she know that this will be the beginning of something much larger.

Wasn't sure what rating to give this, and I may have gone a little high. I do, however, really love the character of Gemma. She is easy to relate to, a new mother trying to juggle career, motherhood and s relationship with her fiance. Her grandparents who raised her after her parents death are also a factor in her life, like so many of us, the sandwich generation. Since this turns into more than one single case, a local legend is also related, the pages flying by. Some of the dialogue sometimes, not very often, so that they stood out when they happened, seemed clunky. Also the motives for the murders seemed a bit of a stretch. So despite a few reservations this is a new series, this being the third, that I definitely look forward to reading.

ARC from Netgalley. ( )