Desolation Canyon: A Mystery

I really enjoyed this book very much. This book is the sequel to Deep into the Dark. It can be read as a standalone though. If I'm being honest, I wouldn't be shocked at all if I found out these books became a television or movie adaptation. They would be right up there with a lot of thrillers and crime shows. This particular book is about a cult and the darker and not so legal things that they are practicing. Somebody important to one of the main characters is unknowingly involved.

Review I received a free electronic ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) of this Las Angeles police procedural from Netgalley, P. J. Tracy, and St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books. I almost didn't ask to review this book as the blurb sounded pretty depressing. Then there is the cover, very desolate, and the title. But I have read Tracy before, and loved her style - and I am so glad I ask for it! Desolation Canyon is the first of a new series by P.J. Tracy, so I'm in hog heaven. Our heroine Margaret Nolan is a LA homicide detective who just lost her brother in Afghanistan and has also just experienced her first personal on-the-job fatal shooting. The daughter of retired Colonel York Nolan, Margaret understood the unfortunate necessity of war casualties and the cost of enforcing the peace with a gun - or thought she understood, anyway. Not so. Maggie hadn't considered that doing her job protecting the public would still bear the guilt and pain of taking a life experienced by every other conscientious killer. She takes her mandatory off-time to the gun range hoping for advice from friends there. Has lunch with her father, only to find out her grieving mother is going to a spiritual retreat in Death Valley and she must present a strong face for both father and mother. No help there. Meeting her best friend Remy for drinks at the Hotel Bel-Air doesn't help either, though they do encounter and visit with ex-homicide detective Malachai Dubnik, now a private PI re-investigating the disappearance of Remy's sister almost 10 years ago. The trail is very cold. Malachai's only hit on sister Charlotte's photo was from Mike, a "mentally compromised, possibly drug-fried cashier at the Furnace Creek service station... he also hears aliens on a regular basis." where Malachai gassed up when returning from an appointment with a friend of Charlotte's now living in Victorville. And then they find the body floating in the water while walking the paths between the hotel and Bel-Air's private cabins. Perhaps the diversion will help push the worries to the back of Maggie's mind. Or not...

law-enforcement, Russian-mob, scam, murder, murder-investigation, noir, family-dynamics, friendship, fraud, PTSD, crime-fiction, thriller, triggers**** Harsh realities of those traumatized by extraordinary circumstances. A gritty scenario with emotionally fragile protagonists working The Job one day at a time. Add in a fraudulent retreat spa run by a psychopathic ex-con in Death Valley, the Russian mafia, and more weirdness than a Hollywood party. It's a tough read, but well worth it. I requested and received a free temporary ebook from St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books via NetGalley.