Desolation Canyon

I received a digital advance copy of Desolation Canyon by P.J. Tracy via NetGalley. Desolation Canyon is scheduled for release on January 18, 2022.

Desolation Canyon is the second book in a series that follows LAPD Detective Maggie Nolan. I have not read the first book in the series, but this doesn’t seem to have affected my ability to follow the story in this second novel, other than some initial bumps in getting to know characters.

Some of the bumps in getting to know characters may affect all readers. In the first few chapters of the novel, we see the story through the point of view of at least six different characters, only two of whom are carry-over characters from the first novel in the series. This rapid fire introduction to so many different points of view made it a bit difficult to settle into the story, and begin to see the characters fully.

The plot primarily follows Nolan as she investigates the death of an attorney (whose body Nolan discovers while on a questionable outing with a friend). At the same time, we are following the escape of a woman and her child from a cult located in the desert. As the story unfolds, the two plot lines are shown to have unexpected (and multiple) connections.

The plotlines are intricate and woven together well. For me, there were a few too many threads, though. While the authors (Tracy is a mother-daughter writing duo) clearly understood all the pieces of the plot and how they fit together, I struggled to follow the lines at some points in the novel. Despite my struggle, I trusted that the connections were there, and that the pieces fit together tightly, as there were no obvious gaps in the story. I might have followed the threads a bit better, if a bit of weeding had taken place, or if the threads had been given a bit more space on the page to allow me to more easily see how they were woven together.

Overall, Desolation Canyon is a solid detective novel. While all the elements were there, I would have liked a bit more time in the story with both the characters and the plot elements.