Reviewer
Lavanya Karthik: Lavanya is from Mumbai, India and is a licensed
architect and consultant in environmental management. She lives in
Mumbai with her husband and six-year old daughter. She loves reading
and enjoys a diverse range of authors across genres.
Author: Margaret Fenton
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
ISBN:
1-933515-51-1
Click Here To Purchase Little Lamb Lost
'Little Lamb Lost'
marks the promising debut of novelist Margaret Fenton, and introduces
a new detective into the mystery genre– Claire
Conover.
Claire is a young social worker with the Department
of Human Services in Birmingham , focused on helping kids from
troubled homes. And yet, when one of her young clients is found dead,
her faith in her abilities at her job is shaken. Could the child be
dead because of her own mistakes in the casework? Faced with
the loss of both reputation and career, Claire sets out to seek
answers, even as the boy’s mother is arrested for the crime.
Claire is armed with little more than determination and a belief in
the young mother’s innocence , yet continues undaunted even
as she begins to fear for her life.
This is a gripping,
fast paced book and the author keeps us guessing right
till the end. Thrills, car chases and red herrings abound, as Claire
inches closer to the truth and suspects multiply. She
finds allies in some unexpected places, and a very interesting
romantic triangle develops . Claire is also confronted with
unpleasant family secrets and the corrosive effects
of drug addiction and abuse .
Debut novels often
borrow from the author’s own life, and this one is no exception.
Much like her heroine, the author has also worked in child and family
welfare, and lives in the Birmingham area in which this story is
set. Claire’s chief romantic interest, the computer geek
Grant, also seems to be modelled on the author’s husband.
Fenton has also had a brush with breast cancer, and a benefit lunch
supporting breast cancer research becomes the scene of an
important confrontation in the story. This book is commendably rich
in detail; the area of Birmingham comes alive in Fenton’s
descriptions of it - I especially enjoyed the detailing of Claire's
drives and even the car chase sequences. Also food - a
lot of the scenes play out over lovingly described meals that
Claire rather guiltily enjoys, even as she worries bout her weight.
Claire the novice detective is nowhere in the league of her
peers yet – Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Sue Grafton’s
Kinsey Millhone readily come to mind - but makes up for this with
dogged determination , a keen understanding of people and a
dedication to helping people find their way.
The writing
does have some uneven moments, especially in the development of
Claire’s romance. The denouement also feels
rushed, and rather conveniently wound up. And while
impulsive, risk taking Claire chooses gentle nerd Grant over
the dashing Kirk, surely there is a crackle of unresolved
attraction there that begs to be explored? Nevertheless,
this book offers much to hook mystery buffs like myself - a gutsy and
endearing heroine, a deft hand with mystery plotting, and the promise
of much more to come in future Conover capers.