The small town of Trafalgar, B.C., seems far more suited to quiet vacations than murder, but the detective duo of Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters know better. Their debut, In the Shadow of the Glacier (2007), unearthed deadly tensions surrounding the town’s ceremonial garden for Vietnam War draft dodgers, and Valley of the Lost allows them to dig up even darker doings.

At first, Ashley’s death looks to be a routine heroin overdose, the baby lying near her the only jarring note. But it turns out that Ashley isn’t really Ashley – and the baby isn’t really hers. Smith and Winters try to figure out who the baby really belongs to, and what prompted someone to kill a girl who “had no past, almost no present … and certainly no future. Except for this tiny, screaming thing.” In the process, other conflicts bubble up to Trafalgar’s surface.

A new resort development promises greater tourism (and career opportunities for Winters’ wife, Eliza) but also greater strife for townsfolk worried about newcomers. The three-month-old baby, without any family members to take her, ends up in the care of Smith’s mother, Lucky, bringing with it visions of grandchildren yet to be born. And a burgeoning romance with RCMP Constable Adam Tkocek adds further complications to Smith’s life.

Delany has a lot of plot and atmospheric elements to balance, but she does so with relative ease. The focus doesn’t waver from the main investigation, and the built-in suspense of Ashley’s true identity increases the story’s momentum. In this second novel, the dynamic between Smith and Winters has the appeal of shoes that have just been broken in. The fun will be to experience the growing comfort level in future volumes.