Valley of the Lost

2019 recipient of the Derrick Murdoch award from the Crime Writers of Canada

In the 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 accidental.

As the investigation into the young woman's death and life grows, the case becomes increasingly personal for Probationary Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters. Only two things are known about the dead woman: her first name is Ashley, and she has a three-month-old baby boy. Who was she? Was this is just a drug deal gone wrong, or is there something more sinister at play? Smith's mother, Lucky, has taken in the lost baby: does he hold the key to solving his mother's murder?

In the meantime, Winters' wife, Eliza, is considering a modeling contract with the same planned resort that seems to be ripping the close-knit community apart. Has the controversial resort development pushed one of the members of this quiet community to murder?