Inherit the Bones

September 12, 2016
At the outset of Littlejohn’s engrossing debut, Deputy Gemma Moore examines the body of circus clown Reed Tolliver, who was found inside a storage tent with his throat cut. Nicky Bellington, the teenage son of the mayor of Cedar Valley, Colo., was supposedly killed in a fall from a cliff three years earlier, but no body was found. When a database search of the victim’s fingerprints identifies Tolliver as Nicky, Gemma launches an investigation that reaches back three decades to a summer of crimes that continue to haunt the mountain town—and to which she has a personal connection. Littlejohn effectively captures the tensions of a community struggling with its demons while seeking to attract tourist dollars, and Gemma—six-months pregnant with her first child, uncertain of the future with her partner, and paired with a charming bad-boy cop she doesn’t trust—is a
compelling lead. Readers may solve the mystery early on, but the charming setting, engaging characters, and adroit pacing will keep them turning the pages.

September 1, 2019

Detective Gemma Monroe works for a small-town police department in Colorado. Being a by-the-book cop, staying on task is usually not a problem, but these days, six months pregnant, she struggles with food cravings, finding a uniform that fits, getting enough sleep, and keeping track of her fiancé, who is on his second and last chance, after having previously betrayed her. Detective Monroe's current case--a gruesome, seemingly random murder--presents many questions and few answers. The victim worked for a traveling circus, but when it's revealed that he was the mayor's son, who was presumed dead three years before in a hiking accident, Gemma finds she has more local suspects than she knows what to do with. Gemma is haunted by dreams of an unsolved, decades-old murder of two boys, and she hopes to unmask their killer. Littlejohn launches the series with a typical assortment of personal and professional intrigue, firmly in step with the genre. It goes wrong, however, in the last 30 pages of the book. A random comment by a character unknown throughout the book allows Gemma to catch her current-day killer and connect it to her cold case. Narrator Harper Landry does a competent job in voicing all characters, both male and female. VERDICT An optional purchase for libraries with very large mystery collections.--Laura Brosie, St. Charles City-Cty. Lib., MO.

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