Valley of the Lost

By: Vicki Delany

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

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.

Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters know little more than the dead woman's name. Who was she? Was this just a drug deal gone wrong, or is there something more sinister at play? Does her orphaned baby boy hold the key to solving his mother's murder?

Meanwhile, a controversial resort development is ripping apart their close-knit community. Has the disagreement pushed a member of this quiet community to murder?

©2009 Vicki Delany (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Engaging....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)

Really Good

I'm glad I discovered this series. It has well developed characters and a well written plot. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

Decent mystery

Vicki Delany has written a decent mystery, however, I wasn’t as deeply involved with the characters. I’m thinking this may have been the narrator that distracted me from the story. The narrator made the two main female characters sound more like spoiled teenagers than adults. If I had read this book instead of listening to it I may have had a different opinion. If you’re a fan of police procedurals you might want to read this book, but I don’t recommend the audio firm.

Top notch police procedural

In the small town of Trafalgar in the hinterland of British Columbia, Canada, ageing hippie Lucky Smith finds the body of a young woman in the woods near the women's support centre where she works. Lying by the body is a crying baby boy. The police, including Lucky's daughter Molly who is a probationary constable, soon realise that the dead woman has hidden her past well and they struggle to piece together what might have happened to the young mother. Some are quick to write the death off to the relapse of a heroin junkie but Sergeant John Winters wonders if there's more to it.

Although the mystery itself unfurls relatively slowly it doesn't matter as there's lots going on and I was quickly drawn into the world the author had created here. She does a great job of introducing the various characters and making the reader care about them by showing snippets of their day-to-day lives. Alongside the Smith family and the engaging lead investigator there are a host of other people who play roles that may not have anything to do with the mystery but are still people you want to know more about.

The resolution is ultimately quite complex but credible within the context of the story and very easy to follow. Also, Delany has succeeded in incorporating her political/social commentary into the story via character traits or story threads rather than lecturing to readers as so many books do these days.

The narration is excellent with MacDuffie managing to make it clear which of the many characters is speaking with only minor differences in her tone or inflection.

This was a thoroughly entertaining book with a whole host of great characters and a multi-faceted plot and I'll be looking for more books by Vicky Delany.

good author

Vivki Delany good author enjoyed the books - the reading excellent bought one had to have them all.

No More Carrington MacDuffie

I've enjoyed a few books in the Molly Smith series, but will never read another by Ms Delaney that's narrated by Ms MacDuffie. Her female voices just grate on my nerves. While she has a most-pleasant natural voice, she should use it! Whenever she reads female (and several male) voices, the register goes UP and she sounds like an addled 10 yr old.