City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong

thebookgator

June 17

Read June 2024
Recommended for fans of mysteries and isolation
★ ★ ★ 1/2

Kelley Armstrong made her name with urban fantasy, and it is hard not to look a little side-eyed at one of her new series, City of the Lost, and wonder where the werewolves are going to show up. There's a small town in the middle of Canadian nowhere that serves as a refuge for those who need to drop out of society. You can get in for a price, although your stay will have time and space limits. Casey Duncan isn't looking for an escape, but her best friend Diana is. However, despite being a successful police detective, Casey has her own dark secret in her past, so she isn't adverse to relocating, especially when it becomes clear that Rockton is looking for someone with her investigative expertise.

"I ask for the population and basic stats. Just over two hundred people. Seventy-five percent male. Average age thirty-five. No one under twenty-five. No one over sixty."

It's an interesting frame, and I'll admit that I spent a little brainpower considering the likelihood. Armstrong doesn't dwell overmuch on the details, so if you are looking for thoughts on how to set up your own retreat, you won't find it here. I feel like it probably wouldn't hold under scrutiny, so it's best to just go with it. And go with it I did. Both Casey and the reader are trying to get their grounding when another body is discovered, somewhat mauled by local wildlife. The local sheriff, Eric Dalton, is taciturn and very much in charge. From the beginning, you get the subtle feel of an antagonist-to-lovers trope storyline, although the other deputy, Will, is immediately fascinated with Casey.

"The women are mostly running from bad choices in men. The men are mostly running from bad choices in life."

It's told in first person, and Armstrong is a competent writer. It is readable, and the mixed mysteries of Rockton and the dead body mean there is a lot for Casey to figure out. Unlike another recent book I read, The Last Murder at the End of the World, it's a setting that isn't deliberately obscured by the author, just the normal secrets that are gradually uncovered as Casey builds a picture of the people and situation.

"People come here, and it's a clean slate. A chance to be whoever they want for a while."

It's an enjoyable tale, undemanding and interesting. There's a nice balance of Casey's introspection and dramatic events. However, it is one I'd hesitate to universally recommend, due to it's low reliance on setting believability, and because of a more limited world-view that feels very much like 1980s feminism. Armstrong actually reminds me a lot of Patricia Briggs in her overall sensibility about male-female dynamics, so if you don't find yourself bothered by Briggs, you should do fine here.

Just remember: no werewolves.