SHATTER THE NIGHT

Digging into the death of a friend threatens a police officer’s idyllic vision of her heroes.

Moments after alerting longtime friend and Cedar Valley police officer Gemma Monroe (Lost Lake, 2018, etc.) that he’s received a series of threatening letters, retired judge Caleb Montgomery is killed in a car explosion. Gemma is horrified. She can barely believe that Caleb is gone. She’s even more alarmed when it appears that Caleb’s murder is related to some ethical improprieties in his earlier career. Whatever morally questionable actions Caleb took seem somehow shared by Gemma’s mentor, police chief Angel Chavez, though he is, of course, vague on details. Gemma fears that she can’t adequately investigate Caleb’s murder without knowing more, though knowing more may unravel her doubt-infused worldview even more. Luckily, the responsibility for investigating falls heavily on Fire Investigator Olivia Ramirez, an outsider to town whose tough exterior mirrors some of the walls Gemma has put up herself. Working in a tenuous triad, Gemma, partner Finn, and Olivia are able to relate Caleb’s death to the life and trials of Josiah Black, a man ostracized by the Cedar Valley community some years ago through a potential miscarriage of justice. If they’re right about the connections among all these histories, Caleb’s murder may be the start of something bigger that could threaten all the town’s residents if Gemma can’t stop it first.

Littlejohn continues methodically building her heroine’s world, shifting from an almost supernatural-inflected focus to small-town secrets.