Desolation Canyon by P. J. Tracy

 

The Children Of God religious group has chosen to make their retreat in the desert.  Death Valley.  Many say that the group has helped them with their issues, drug or alcohol addiction, lack of meaning in their life, grief over the death of a loved one.  But there's a dark side to the Children Of God.  Their leader, Father Paul, is really an ex-con, a man who only looks to make a profit however he can.  His group is into many crimes that the average person never has a clue about.

Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner are busy back in Los Angeles on a murder case.  Margaret and a date had actually found the body of a successful lawyer in the lake of a luxury hotel while strolling through the grounds.  As they investigate the killing, they learn that he has a connection to the Children Of God.  That upsets Margaret as her mother is currently there working through her grief over the loss of her son.  Is her mother in the hands of a cult?

P.J. Tracy was originally the pseudonym of a mother/daughter writing duo.  After her mother's recent death, Traci Lambrecht, the daughter, created the Margaret Nolan mysteries.  This one is the second in the series and there are now three.  There are lots of threads in this mystery.  There is an ex-army man trying to put his life back together, drug running, child trafficking and a mother and her small daughter trying to escape from the cult.  The author is able to pull all the threads together and create enough interest in her characters that the reader is interested in reading more of the series to find out what happens to them next.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.