What do readers think of Valley of the Lost by Vicki Delany? Write your own review.

An avid mystery reader, I was disappointed in this book. I felt that too many characters were introduced, but not adequately developed. For instance, the two detectives from the USA who didn't appear until the end of the story. The book seemed to be made up of several short stories that the author tried to tie together into one book. Also, I was somewhat offended by the author's obvious push to legalize "pot". I do not feel that a work of fiction should be used as a vehicle to promote one's political views. The story started out with great potential but for me, became bogged down in too many side stories. The ending was rather anticlimactic.

Valley of the Lost takes place in picturesque Trafalgar near Vancouver, Canada. Lucky Smith finds a small baby crying behind the Women’s Support Center where she is a counselor. Lucky discovers the body of a young female. Is she the baby’s mother? Could this be a drug overdose? The next morning a counselor from Child Services demands Lucky turn the baby over to them. They will find a licensed foster home until the baby’s family can be located. Lucky forcefully says no; she will be his foster mother.

Constable Molly Smith, Lucky’s daughter, is a new recruit with the local police department. The detective enlists Molly’s help to solve this case. Molly is popular with the young women in town and thinks she can get more information from them than he can. Molly runs into a stone wall. No one in town has any information other than her name is Ashley (no last name) and the baby’s name is Miller. Many twists and turns drive the mystery to a surprise ending.

Valley of the Lost is a delightful mystery and I look forward to more adventures featuring Constable Molly Smith. The first in the series is In the Shadow of the Glacier.

Valley of the Lost is evidently the second in a mystery series by Vicki Delany. While the story itself has a fairly tight plot and very sharp dialogue, without reading the first in the series, I was fairly lost with the numerous characters and references to the previous book. It seems likely that most of the character development took place in the first novel. Delany's writes quite well, but it felt rather like picking up a book and starting your read at chapter ten.

This book started out pretty good. It takes place in British Columbia, where a young girl is found dead of a drug overdose, with an infant lying by her side. There are some interesting characters, including Molly (given name: Moonlight), a young, probationary constable with a tragic death in her past, and her mom, Lucky, who takes in the baby. The story moves along well enough, but the last quarter of the book, when the villains and the plot begin to unfold, it gets mired down in grade B dialog and plotting. It's a shame that the novel dropped to that level, since it had potential. This book is apparently the 2nd in the Constable Molly Smith series, but I don't plan to go back to read the first.

One realizes quickly that the drug problem is not endemic to the US and British Columbia has problems with marijuana being used frequently as well as hard drugs. Sgt. Winters calls on Constable Molly Smith to assist on interviewing local residents since he's new to the area. He's comfortable working with the RCMP - a view contrary to feelings of police in other books. The different names of the characters was confusing. (Molly is Moonlight Legolas and her mother refers to her as Moonlight.) Thought the ongoing references to the parents as "flowerchildren" was off-putting and not integral to the plot. Molly is likable, however, not enough to want to read future books. Would not suggest it for our mystery book discussion group.

Valley of the Lost by Vicky Delany has all the elements of a good mystery, a beautiful setting, quirky characters and a murder; however, it was more like being lost in the "valley of the lost" than reading about it. Delany introduced over 20 characters in the first 30 pages and unlike other writers in her genre; she did not give enough background for the reader to pick up the story line or provide a desire to return to the first novel for more more details. I wish Delany had spent more time fleshing out the main characters of Molly Smith or Sgt. Winters than racking up some peculiar body count where the author with the most characters in a novel wins. There were just too many holes in the plot to make it an entertaining read.

This was a mildly interesting tale. It might have kept me riveted if Vicki Delaney had not written so much gimmicky detail into the book. Double names for so many people was very confusing. Referencing flower-children parents seemed out of character for the responsible people they became. It was off-putting to read they were "draft-dodgers".

If this book is part of a series, I don't feel compelled to get the other book(s). The plot twists were interesting but Ms. Delaney took so long to get on with the story that I lost interest.

Valley of the Lost, the second mystery in the Constable Molly Smith series, is a disappointing read. Set in beautiful British Columbia, very little of the unique culture or character of the place is found. The plot is interesting, with a couple of good twists, but the uneven writing gets in the way. Reading like a first draft, the story is cluttered with details that add little to character development or plot and detracts from the story. At times, supporting characters seemed more like the hero/heroine than Molly Smith. With all the fantastic books in the mystery genre, this one is mediocre.