"City of the Lost" by Kelley Armstrong

Casey Duncan is a talented police detective, dedicated to her job and her best friend Diana.  Other than her no strings attached relationship with ex-con Kurt, her life is focused on those two things.  But Casey carries with her a very dark secret - she once killed a man, and she got away with it.

Casey and Diana have been on the run for years, from Diana’s powerful and abusive ex-husband.  Once again, he’s found her and now it’s time for Diana to run once more.  But when a figure from Casey’s past shows up and threatens her life, the two women realize that they need to go somewhere they will never be found.

Diana has heard of a place, a town where people who need to disappear completely can go.  Located in the far northern reaches of Canada, this town is their only hope.  Casey and Diana are thrilled to be accepted into Rockton, but when they arrive Casey quickly discovers that all is not as it seems.  Because a hunter has come to Rockton, and it's hunting for people.

City of the Lost, by Kelley Armstrong, is thrilling mystery novel that will have readers guessing to the very end. With a unique premise, it is sure to impress both long-time mystery readers and those new to the genre.

Kelley Armstrong typically writes paranormal books so I will say that I have not read any of her work as that is not a genre I have much interest in.  But I do know from spending time on Twitter how much people love her work and how dedicated her fans are. So when I saw that she was writing a mystery novel, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to give a new to me Canadian writer a read.

This book had me hooked right from the beginning and I could not put it down.  At over 400 pages, it can seem daunting at first, but the writing and the storyline will have you breezing through it in no time.  I couldn’t believe how quickly I got through the first 100 pages, it was all due to being completely engrossed in the story.

This is a creepy and gory mystery but thankfully for as spine-tingling that it is, the writing keeps the reader interested rather than put off.  There were many moments in the book where I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was (different characters each time) and the ending came as a surprise to me which was great.  There’s nothing worse than figuring it out pretty quick then having to read 300 more pages to find out what you already know.  

Casey Duncan is a character that is flawed and troubled but that readers will have no problem warming up to.  I also appreciate that Casey is biracial in a book where the race of the character has no bearing on the story.  What we see in the literary world right now is a default to white characters when race does not affect the storyline so I was happy to see a character that is more representative of our population.  

A town in the north where people can disappear to, it is such a unique premise and it also makes for a very eerie setting for a murder mystery.  I absolutely enjoyed this book and I hope that Armstrong continues to write mysteries because I will definitely read them all.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of Penguin Random House Canada.  The opinions expressed above are my own.