Book Review: ‘Lost Hills’ By Lee Goldberg

Bestselling author Lee Goldberg (Ian Ludlow and Fox & O’Hare) is back with a promising new series featuring his new character of Deputy Eve Ronin, a homicide detective in Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office has been plagued by a scandal. Then one day Eve Ronin on her day off saw a woman being abused and stepped in and took the guy down. He wasn’t just anyone. He was a Hollywood star and someone had their camera handy and posted the video and it went viral. Eve became an overnight sensation. The Sheriff wanting more positive press played off it and offered Eve whatever she want. Eve asked to be a homicide detective and was soon promoted above a lot of other people. This has caused blow back against her and she was also given the nickname of ‘deathfist’ by her co-workers.

She is partnered with Duncan, a veteran cop, who is very close to retirement. They get their first case when they go to the home where a single mother of two lives with her boyfriend and the kids. Something seems wrong and they enter the house and finds it blood soaked. It’s a murder scene with no bodies. Now Eve has her first case and she is put in charge of it. She makes rookie mistakes but works the case almost 24/7. They get a suspect and charge him even though the evidence is mostly circumstantial. Eve keeps digging and soon realizes they have missed something big and it’s a race against time to get the evidence she needs and save someone and herself before it’s too late.

A solid debut story and character in Eve. She is strong, determined and not letting fame get to her head. The story itself is a standard police thriller with a few twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. It’s cool for a change to have a strong female as the lead in a series. It will be fun to follow along and see where Eve goes in future novels.

You can pick up Lost Hills in stores on Wednesday, January 1st.