Where the Lost Girls Go: A Laura Mori Mystery by R.J. Noonan

She's a new cop and she responds to the accident call with her older cop mentor.  It's a nasty accident.  The car has gone off the road, hit a tree and caught on fire.  By the time they get the body out, it's burnt and not much left.  When they realize the car belongs to the famous author on the hill, they go to visit them and see what they can find out.  They're hoping the burned body is not his daughter's...

Crooked Lane Books sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It is being published today.

Laura and her partner find that the daughter isn't home.  No one knows where she went and her father collapses because he's afraid she was the one in the car.  The stepmother comforts him and asks them to leave.  Laura thinks there is something they are not telling her but she leaves.

This story has crooked cops, a sexual predator, a survivalist living in the woods with underage girls in his camp, and a killer.  It's a twisted tale with all these lives entangled in some way and Laura trying to make sense of it.  The police chief is part of the corruption.  The author couple is hiding deep dark secrets.  And the Lost Girls seem to keep showing up as part of the survivalist's group or buried in the woods.

It's suspenseful read that keeps you going.  Laura gets to the truth but she misreads who the killer is and is almost a victim herself.

This an exciting read with several puzzle pieces moving around in the story.  It's hard to guess who the killer is.  Nobody wants to tell the truth.  I was really impressed with this rookie cop and would love to read more about her.  I like this series although the subject matter was disturbing.  Sometimes the world is not a nice place for the less fortunate.