Tag: Lost Hills

Finally, we’re at the end of my 2020 wrap-up, it feels like I’ve been at this for a month, not just 11 days. Like I’ve said previously, my intention was to be done three or four days ago, but oh, well.

In a real sense, this was a challenging list to come up with, but the first 7 jumped to mind instantly, even back in December when I started to think about what might show up. It was those last three that I had to labor over—there were so many good candidates (see the list at the end of this post for the six-way tie for 11th place).

Once again, I’ll note that I limit my lists to things I read for the first time (so the nine Robert B. Parker books I re-read last year didn’t make up most of this list). I’d be willing to guarantee anyone reading this page will enjoy at least 6 of these (which six will vary from reader to reader). I’m tempted to say that all the listed books are guaranteed for everyone, but people’s tastes are too varied, so I’ll hedge my bet. Try these, and you’ll be glad you did.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Revelators

by Ace Atkins
My original post
Here, in book 10, Ace Atkins wraps up storylines he’s been building up for ages, characters move on (some are even still alive when that happens), and what comes next for Quinn Colson and his community is anybody’s guess (although, I’m pretty sure there’ll be a white, corrupt politician behind it, because…well, it’s Tibbehah County). A dynamite novel.

5 Stars

Deep Dark Night

by Steph Broadribb

My original post
Lori and JT are finally pressured to do the shady work for the FBI Agent that’s been looming over her head forever, and it goes horribly, horribly wrong. Which is a treat for the reader. You’ve got the JT, Lori, and a whole bunch of unsavory people trapped on the top floor of a Chicago highrise, and the thrills start from there. Strong character development in the middle of some of the tensest action you can imagine. Great ride.

4 1/2 Stars

The Law of Innocence

by Michael Connelly

My original post
I was slightly afraid of that when I read the blurb for this—did we really need two books from Connelly in 2020 where the protagonist is suspected of a murder that there’s no chance at all that he committed? By the beginning of Chapter Two, any trepidation had vanished. By the end, this may be my favorite Lincoln Lawyer book yet. The courtroom action was fantastic. I absolutely loved it.

4 1/2 Stars

The Curator

by M. W. Craven

My original post
What a great hook. What a fantastic series of twists. What a wonderful concept for a killer and modus operandi. Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are a couple of my favorite characters and they got to shine here. I just want to rave and rave and rave about this book, but I have things to do, so I’d better move on.

5 Stars

King of the Crows

by Russell Day

My original post
There’s no way I can sum up my appreciation for this book in this post. Set in a world recovering from a pandemic, there’s a straightforward crime story at the heart of this novel—it’s just surrounded by so many layers, that you can miss it—there’s the disease, there’s the horrible social and political context (both mid- and post-Outbreak), there’s what the characters are going through otherwise—and the whole thing is drenched in social commentary about 2020 society, e.g., sexism, economics, medical care. Yeah, it was bad timing that this book came out in 2020 when the last thing that many people want to read is a novel about a disease that’s out of control. But this had been in the works for months before anyone had heard of COVID-19. I’ve wondered what I’d think of this book if I’d read it last Fall. I’d still like it, I’d still be impressed by it—but I don’t know if it would resonate with me the same way. There’s almost nothing about Gondii that’s comparable to COVID-19. But the way that people and governments respond—well, that’s pretty different, too. but if you can’t see what’s going on around us reflected in this novel? You’re not paying attention. That Day appears so prescient says something about his skill and observation (and a lot about Western culture, too).

5 Stars

Lost Hills

by Lee Goldberg

My original post
A young detective takes advantage of Social Media stardom to get herself a promotion she’s not quite ready for. But she’s determined to get there. She has to overcome her own lack of experience and a department that resents her. Eve Ronin’s first homicide case starts with a grizzly scene and the apparent murder of a woman, her two children, and a dog. Soon, she’s finding herself racing with an out-of-control wildfire that’s about to wipe out any evidence related to the case and the killer’s last victim. A great start to what promises to be a fun series.

4 1/2 Stars

Luck and Judgement

Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
DC Smith and his trainee are brought along with some other government investigators to look into a missing person/death on an oil rig. Smith’s the only one who doesn’t think it’s an accident. He begins to investigate the death as a murder and uncovers a lot more than he bargained for. Humor, heart, and humanity are the bedrock of this series and all of them shine forth in this procedural.

4 Stars

A Bad Day for Sunshine

by Darynda Jones

My original post
This is pure, escapist fun. Think Gilmore Girls mixed with Veronica Mars. A single mom is a new sheriff of a quirky little New Mexico town, with a spunky daughter. There’s a kidnapping, an escaped convict, a missing deputy, and cursed cupcakes. Great dialogue, witty repartee, a mother-daughter relationship that will earn Jones many fans. This is as much fun as you can pack into a police procedural without making it a comedy, but still full of grim, grisly, depravity and darkness. It’s a nice serving of literary comfort food. There’s a freshness to this voice that I just loved, but my appreciation for this book (and the series it launches) goes deeper.

4 1/2 Stars

How the Wired Weep

by Ian Patrick

My original post
There are two protagonists here—one is a small-time criminal, the other is a London Detective Sergeant who recruits and handles informants—excuse me, Covert Human Intelligence Sources. The criminal is fresh out of prison and is being used to get information on an up-and-coming local gang leader. There’s plenty of moral ambiguity to go around here, which is probably pretty realistic for this line of work (on both sides of the law). Patrick gives a more intimate, more powerful novel than he has with his Sam Batford series with this fascinating look into a side of policing most novels don’t.

4 1/2 Stars

Of Mutts and Men

by Spencer Quinn

My original post
I’ve been a fan of this series since chapter 3 or so of the first book. Here in the tenth novel, Quinn is better than ever. There are some really strong emotional moments in the novel, some character growth (not in Chet, our animal narrator, never fear), and a mystery even more complex readers are used to from Chet and Bernie. Still, this is a series about a down-on-his-luck PI and his canine partner—a mix of goofy fun and solid PI fiction, fun, fun, stuff.

4 1/2 Stars

Books that almost made the list—and did in various drafts (links to my original posts): The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes; The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton; The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge; Rattlesnake Rodeo by Nick Kowalski; Far from the Tree by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator); and Light it Up by Nick Petrie

Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg: A Dynamite Beginning to a New Series from One of the Most Reliable Scribes Around

By HCNewton

On January 28, 2020

In Fiction, Lee Goldberg, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Lost Hills

by Lee Goldberg
Series: Eve Ronin, #1

Kindle Edition, 237 pg.
Thomas & Mercer, 2020

Read: January 23-25, 2019
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Mulholland Drive. It was an intersection that generated lots of confusion, and not only because of the nearly identical street names. It was also the intersection of two cities, three neighborhoods, two law enforcement jurisdictions, and on this hot, smoggy Thursday afternoon in December, life and death.

So begins Lee Goldberg’s new series—a story of a young, talented, fallible, inexperienced woman detective in the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Eve Ronin is in this position thanks to being in the wrong place at the right time, and getting herself plastered all over social media just when the Department needed any good publicity it could get. Capitalizing on this, the Sheriff puts her in the high-profile Robbery-Homicide Division where she faces a lot of sexist backlash—and some that’s not sexist, but based on the way she got the job and how unprepared she is for it. Still, Eve knows a good opportunity when she gets it and is determined to rise to the occasion, as hard as it will be.

That’s the novel (and probably the series) in a nutshell—everything else is just window dressing. But man, I tell you, it’s great window dressing.

First off, you’ve got this case. A single mother of two (no longer romantically involved with the man she’s living with, but unable to move out), her kids and their dog are missing. What’s present in their home is a lot of blood. I mean a lot. Enough that there’s little hope that any of them are still alive, but Eve can’t rule out the possibility. So she really has two investigations to get into—the multiple murder case, and a missing persons case. Given the grizzly nature of the crime scene, there’s a lot of public attention on this case, and a lot of pressure on the rookie detective. That there is enough for most novels, but we get more.

What I loved about this book (and, from what I hear in interviews, the series to come), is how it displays that everyone in the L.A.-area is in or adjacent to the entertainment industry. Eve’s mother and the probable victim are chasing stardom, the likely victim’s ex-boyfriend works on a film crew (as does his alibi). There are detectives shopping script ideas around, and clearly will jump on new “material.” You’d think that with the sheer number of police procedurals/PI novels set in LA that this would be well-trodden territory, but it really isn’t. How is that possible? I’m so glad that Goldberg committed to this idea.

At the end of the court was a poorly maintained, unfenced ranch home with two cars in the driveway— an old Ford Taurus with oxidized paint and a Nissan Sentra. A woman in her early thirties paced anxiously in front of the house.

“She’s keyed up,” Duncan said as Eve pulled up to the driveway. “You better talk to her, woman- to- woman.”

“Good idea, because you know we don’t even have to speak to each other,” Eve said, putting the car into park. “Our uteruses can communicate telepathically.”

“I think the correct term is ‘uteri.’”

But what makes this (and any series) work are the characters. Eve is a great character, while her mom was off chasing stardom (and primarily finding work as an extra), she did the heavy lifting when it came to raising her younger siblings. Now she’s taken that sense of responsibility to her career and those she comes into contact with.

Eve’s mom is still in pursuit of the Hollywood dream, if not for her (though that’d be her preference), than for Eve. When Eve shows up on TV being cornered by a reporter, Jen is more focused on how Eve looks than the case in question. When she does think about the case, it’s in relation to how Eve can turn it into a movie deal. I cracked up at Eve’s first conversation with her (and enjoyed the rest), but can easily see where she could be overused on the long-term, and she could easily turn into a one-note joke. I know Goldberg can do something interesting with her if he wants to, I just hope he does.

Meanwhile, Eve’s younger sister, Lisa is a delight. She’s a nurse as well as Eve’s main source of emotional support (and ice cream). The cynic in me thinks she might as well be named Nurse Bechdel Test. But let’s ignore him—she’s a great character for Eve to bounce off of—a sounding board for the emotional beats and struggles that Eve endures thanks to her promotion and career—as well as something that humanizes Eve. She’s not just a cop, she’s a sister with strong maternal instincts/reflexes, who needs someone to take care of her occasionally. I thoroughly enjoyed their interaction and the way they fed off each other, and her continuing presence in the series bodes well for it (and, yeah, probably makes sure these books pass that particular test).

Then there are Eve’s colleagues (who get more real estate in the book than her family does, but I’m going to cover briefly here because I’m rambling). I’ll start with her partner, Duncan—a jaded veteran detective nearing retirement. That gives him a certain detachment from Eve’s catapulting into Homicide, as long as her presence doesn’t interfere with his exit, what does he care. In the meantime, he’ll pass on some wisdom and cynicism. I loved his character and really hope that retirement stays away for a while.

Almost every other detective (both in the Sheriff’s department and the LAPD) doesn’t share his detachment, and will not actively try to derail Eve, but will be skeptical and antagonistic to her. The nicest thing anyone will say about her is that she’s starved for attention and fame. The Sheriff on the other hand, will exploit Eve whenever he can (he needs her to be a star to deflect attention away from serious problems in the department). It’s hard to tell if he has any real confidence in her, or if it’s all opportunistic. I’m not sure it matters much.

I would’ve liked a little more depth to this story, but just a tad. Any more and it would’ve slowed down the fast, driving pace and tension—which wouldn’t have been worth the trade-off. I’d also have liked to gone a bit more in-depth here myself, but if I do, I’d probably not get this posted for two more months, so we’ll call this good.

I haven’t read every novel Goldberg has written, but I have read 26 of them (so far), so I feel like I have a pretty decent idea of what kind of writer he is. There is something distinctly Goldberg-esque about Lost Hills and Eve. At the same time, there’s a freshness and verve to them that is new—it felt like Goldberg has stretched himself to try something in these pages and it worked—a reward for both author and readers. Eve Ronin is a fantastic character that I hope to spend many years reading and exploring the world of. You should, too.

4 1/2 Stars

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