I was super excited to receive an early copy of PJ Tracy's new mystery from Netgalley - and it did not disappoint.

PJ Tracy, of Monkeewrench fame, is on volume 2 of a new mystery series, this one set in and around Los Angeles, starring homicide detective Margaret Nolan. As with all Tracy mysteries, Desolation Canyon was well-plotted. The story pulled me in right away, and I devoured the book over two days. There were plenty of surprises along the way, which I always enjoy.

The characters in this book are coming together as individuals with complex backstories. I'm already looking forward to the next book to see where the author takes her new "family."

I predict if you like the Monkeewrench plots, you'll also enjoy this series. The characters follow a more traditional homicide detective MO - there is no wacky computer gang - but some of the ancillary characters are intriguing in a new way. There is a strong recurring theme of ex-military and PTSD.

Desolation Canyon's Death Valley setting adds some excellent regional sense of place, contrasting with the typical LA vibe. I hope to see future books in the series bring in other So Cal regions.

My single issue with the book was Tracy's use of names. Some characters had similar names (Remy and Ramey), while others had multiple monikers (Margaret Nolan as Margaret, Nolan, Mags, etc.).

Bottom line? PJ Tracy has a fun new series that's worth reading. Mark your calendar for January 11th to pick up this new release.

As a long-time P.J. Tracy fan, I think this Margaret Nolan series is some of her best so far. It just gets better and better as we learn more about the characters and what makes them tick. The Children of the Desert cult setting is the perfect way to bring together the characters that we were introduced to in Deep Into the Dark. I already want to know more about the Margaret and Sam and Remy. I want to see how their lives will continue to intertwine and the cases they will solve. This is a great series with compelling and engaging plot lines.

Thanks for the opportunity to review! Link to Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CX1zoEeLT2i/

In Desolation Canyon, P. J. Tracy returns to L.A. and Detective Margaret Nolan in her follow up to the series debut, Deep into the Dark.

Part police-procedural and part thriller, this sequel’s success is in the return of Sam Easton’s character, the short, compelling chapters, the even pace, and the suspense created as the author moves to mesh the sub-plots.

I’ll admit to being lost many times as I struggled with a lack of context clues, and then really disappointed with the bad language. This, mixed with a plot featuring too many coincidences made for an unbelievable story line. Despite these challenges, this was still a good read.

The author miraculously and seamlessly ties together the three subplots. In one, Detective Nolan investigates the death of a successful lawyer found dead in Swan Lake on the grounds of Hotel Bel-Air. In another, Sam becomes involved in helping his friend, Lenny, rescue a woman and her daughter who’ve escaped from a cult only to find themselves in danger again. In the third plot, Maggie’s mom is seeking solace and healing at a retreat in Desolation Canyon and it worries her daughter once she discovers that her cases are linked. I wasn't sure if Tracy would be able to pull it off with so many characters, so many subplots, and so many unbelievable coincidences, but she did. That speaks to her writing ability.

Tracy creates an intense read involving mafia, child trafficking, murders, and a cult and keeps readers at bay with her twists.

I was gifted this advance copy by P.J. Tracy, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I received a digital advance copy of Desolation Canyon by P.J. Tracy via NetGalley. Desolation Canyon is scheduled for release on January 18, 2022.

Desolation Canyon is the second book in a series that follows LAPD Detective Maggie Nolan. I have not read the first book in the series, but this doesn’t seem to have affected my ability to follow the story in this second novel, other than some initial bumps in getting to know characters.

Some of the bumps in getting to know characters may affect all readers. In the first few chapters of the novel, we see the story through the point of view of at least six different characters, only two of whom are carry-over characters from the first novel in the series. This rapid fire introduction to so many different points of view made it a bit difficult to settle into the story, and begin to see the characters fully.

The plot primarily follows Nolan as she investigates the death of an attorney (whose body Nolan discovers while on a questionable outing with a friend). At the same time, we are following the escape of a woman and her child from a cult located in the desert. As the story unfolds, the two plot lines are shown to have unexpected (and multiple) connections.

The plotlines are intricate and woven together well. For me, there were a few too many threads, though. While the authors (Tracy is a mother-daughter writing duo) clearly understood all the pieces of the plot and how they fit together, I struggled to follow the lines at some points in the novel. Despite my struggle, I trusted that the connections were there, and that the pieces fit together tightly, as there were no obvious gaps in the story. I might have followed the threads a bit better, if a bit of weeding had taken place, or if the threads had been given a bit more space on the page to allow me to more easily see how they were woven together.

Overall, Desolation Canyon is a solid detective novel. While all the elements were there, I would have liked a bit more time in the story with both the characters and the plot elements.

Before reading this book two of Detective Margaret Nolan series, I've actually read the first book - Deep Into The Dark -first. It was not what I expected as it was more of a psychology suspense.than a detective story. But I was curious enough to want to read this second book hoping it will be more of a police procedural.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. It was really slow and once again the characters were the focus, while the crime/murder mystery was obscured. I lose interest and did not finish this book. I do not know why there was a lot on Sam Easton while this is suppose to be a Detective Nolan series and that was what I was actually hoping for..

Please do not let my review deter you from trying this book and series! If you like character driven, psychological suspense with a dash of murder mystery, then this may be the book for you!

Pub. Date: Jan 18th, 2022

***Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this gifted review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

Had a tough time with thus one and ended up not finishing. I tried the audiobook as well and it helped me get into it more but not my fave. Enjoyed the first book much more.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

Second in series Nolan, Sam and a host of others continue their adventures.

While still a decent read with interesting characters, I felt a little disappointed. It seems disjointed to not have the books namesake as the sole main character, but I do like Sam and want the story to revolve more around him.

2.75☆

Detective Nolan and the gang are back in the second installment of the Detective Margaret Nolan Series and I am here for it! It’s no secret that I enjoy solid crime and police procedural books the best. Especially when I don’t know what I feel like reading, they can always pull me out of a reading funk. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series earlier this year and I was stoked to get an advanced copy of book 2.


Still reeling from her brother’s death in Afghanistan and her own shooting in the line of duty, Margaret Nolan (Maggie) is tackling a bit of PTSD. During one of her rare adventures out with her fellow colleague, they stumble upon the body of a wealthy lawyer at one of LAs most exclusive hotels. As they begin to investigate, their path will lead deep into the Russian mafia and into a religious cult.

At the same time Sam Easton’s makes a return as well brought into the mix by his good friend Lenny. Lenny being the good Samaritan he is, attempts to help a young woman and her child escape from a religious cult. But Father Paul, the cult’s leader doesn’t let his members just leave and the mother and her child may be in more danger than Lenny originally thought.

As Sam and Maggie’s investigations slowly overlap, all of our characters face dangerous obstacles and must face their own personal demons.

If I’m being honest, I’m not sure why this is the Detective Margaret Nolan series. In both the first book and this one we great such a clear picture into the character of Sam Easton, and he plays such a pivotal role in both books. That doesn’t really have anything to do with the books themselves, more just a thought I can’t stop trying to rationalize.

I will say that Tracy has continued to build upon the complexities of our main characters. We even get deeper into the background and lives of some of our secondary characters. While I read these for the action and crime, these are actually great stories for character driven readers. The effort given to crafting such real characters really makes these stand out.

This book has a little something for everyone. Fabulous and well developed characters, a solid mystery, a leap into the crime bosses of LA, a cult, and page turning action. While it’s not necessary to read the first book, I do think it adds to the story simply for the character backgrounds. But the two books really have nothing in common other than the characters themselves and being great stories. Highly recommend picking up for my crime reading lovers!

Desolation Canyon comes out January 18, 2022. Huge thank you to Minotaur Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.

This is the second in the series, and although I missed the first, P.J. Tracy layers in enough back detail for me as as uninitiated reader to keep up. I love Tracy’s writing style, and the plot, though convulsed at times, kept me turning the pages. But the real staying power of a novel, in my mind at least, are the the characters. This one has some good ones. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, her partner, Al, Sam Easton, Remy, Lenny, and on an on. At the start, we find Nolan reeling after her brother Max’s death in Afghanistan. In addition, her parents offer little support. In fact, Nolan worries they’re headed for divorce...from each other and her.

Nolan’s focus shifts when she succumbs to a dangerous attraction with her colleague, Remy, and settles in for drinks at a luxurious hotel bar in Bel-Air. It isn’t the attraction, but rather a body that turns up on the grounds. A local attorney experienced in international trade. This new case will consume the lives of all the major players, including involving Nolan’s own parents. And during the journey, we will encounter villains that make the outcome for Nolan fraught with danger. A very good read!

This is the second thriller starring Detective Margaret Nolan. She is dealing with the death of her brother in Afghanistan and taking a life in the line of duty. She is also dealing with her parents, especially her mother, who isn't dealing with the loss of her son at all well.

Nolan decides to give in to a bit of weakness and go for a drink with a colleague at the luxurious Hotel Bel-Air. Unfortunately, crime rears its head when she and Remy discover a body in the Swan Lake on the grounds. There are lots of questions about why the lawyer who worked in international business was at the hotel and why he died there.

Nolan and her partner go to interview the lawyer's boss and discover a Russian who is the head of a large import-export business who give Nolan the creeps. When they go to notify the lawyer's alcoholic ex-wife, they find that she has been murdered and had her eyes gouged out.

Meanwhile Sam Eaton is running in the desert and gradually getting over the PTSD that came home with him from Afghanistan. When he stops to buy snacks at a small convenience store, he learns that the owner has gone to LA to spend some time on his boat and left a young man who is sure the area has been overtaken by aliens in charge.

When Sam tracks down the owner on his boat, he learns that Lenny has helped a young woman and her small daughter escape from the Children of the Desert enclave, which hosts spiritual retreats. However, someone has kidnapped the woman and child from the boat. Sam and Remy, who has been searching for someone he feared was at the COD complex, team up to find them.

The Children of the Desert complex also draws Nolan's attention because her mother has chosen to attend a retreat there. It is also showing up in other parts of her murder investigation.

The story is filled with Russian mobs, illegal drugs and arms, human trafficking, and an egomaniacal preacher. Meanwhile, Nolan, Sam, and Remy are all trying to work through personal issues while trying to find missing persons and solve murders.

There are numerous plot threads and sections from different points of view which weave together the various elements of the story and give the information needed to solve the crime. I liked trying to figure out the story, even though the Russian names and nicknames almost made me want to grab a note pad to try to keep track of who was who.

I liked getting to know more about the characters I met in the first book in this series but don't feel that reading that book is needed to enjoy this one.

A religious self help retreat in the middle of the desert and a powerful Russian crime syndicate. Are they connected? The action starts from the first page and doesn’t stop. A very twisted road leads you to a surprise at the end. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This is the second in the series featuring LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, and it's every bit as good as the first. Maybe even better, because the first introduced me to a character I loved - Sam Easton, a former electrical engineer who has suffered from PTSD because of a deadly attack in Afghanistan when he was in the military. I hoped to see more of him, and in this book, I got my wish.

As this begins, Margaret is dealing with her own kind of PTSD as a result of her brother's death in Afghanistan and the fact that she killed someone in the line of duty. On one of her days off, she meets up with a sometimes-more-than-friend for drinks at the bar of a posh hotel. When the two wander out for a walk around the property's lake, they get a rather nasty surprise: A dead man is floating in it. Turns out he's a very successful lawyer who got rich in the international trade business.

Meanwhile, Sam's good friend Lenny has some issues of his own and asks Sam for help. Lenny, it seems, has picked up a woman and her young daughter who told him she was trying to escape from a religious retreat located in a remote part of the nearby desert. Run by a man called Father Paul, the retreat is quite popular with the rich and sometimes famous who are trying to get in touch with their inner selves. So why on earth would anyone need to run away?

That's a good question that needs a good answer - even more so when it becomes clear that the mother and daughter may still be in danger. And soon, even more questions pile up as the cases Margaret and Sam are involved in begin to merge with potentially dangerous consequences for all the characters. The subsequent investigations and goings-on kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, although I'll admit to having a bit of trouble keeping all the scenarios and characters straight for the first half of the book or so.

The bottom line? Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended (it's not necessary to read the first book, "Deep Into the Dark," to get the gist of this one, but since it's always a good idea to start at the beginning (and it's an excellent book as well), I'll suggest that possibility. Now, I'm looking forward to the next installment and thanking the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read a pre-release copy of this one. Nicely done!

A foreign criminal network with a self-help cult is the setting for this fast-paced thriller. The good guys are likeable for the most part and the bad guys are despicable. There is a good deal of violence, making it not for everyone but those who like it will find it quite satisfying. It would make a good movie.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I did not read the first book in this new series - this book can be read as a stand alone if you are not curious about Maggie's development.

The writing style is very descriptive - you can see the character's surroundings.

A lot of topics are covered - murder, PTSD, intrigue, multiple crimes and a bit of politics.

Desolation Canyon is a police procedural that will appeal to fans of Kay Scarpetta - several characters to get to know, several plots to keep track of.

Desolation Canyon by P.J. Tracy is the second book in the Margaret Nolan series. I LOVED the first book in the series and couldn’t wait to check this one out. This time around Detective Nolan gets drawn into a messy case involving the Russian mafia and a rehabilitation facility in Death Valley. With the help of old friends, Sam Easton, Remy, Crawford, and others from the first book, Nolan is not going to stop until she solves the mystery.

This book was very entertaining and I really enjoyed the read. I wasn’t quite as in love with it as the first one—the storyline got a little confusing at times with so many moving pets and characters—but I loved being back in Detective Nolan’s world and getting to know more about the characters that I met in the first book. Keep writing ‘em and I’ll keep reading ‘em, P.J. Tracy!

4.5 stars/5

When LAPD detective, Margaret Nolan, meets a colleague for cocktails, they encounter the dead body of an attorney who made his fortune in international trade. As the investigation progresses it seems the murder might have something to do with a cult/resort out in the dessert. Father Frank has rave reviews from many of his clients but now that Nolan’s mother is spending time there, she wants her to come home. This books has lots of offer; PTSD, grief, murder, and intrigue. Great story with several plot lines coming together in an exciting conclusion. This is certainly not predictable!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Desolation Canyon by P.J. Tracy is a police procedural with plenty of action and some international aspects. The story revolves around a large cast. One of the main characters is Margaret Nolan, an LAPD detective who is struggling after killing someone as part of her job. One day, she stumbles across a dead body while on a night out. As the action ramps up, the police have to investigate to find out what happened. Was the man murdered? Who is the murderer? And what will they do to stop anyone from solving the case?

Here is a gripping excerpt from Chapter 1, which introduces us to Nolan:

"A perfect Los Angeles morning: a cloudless sky so devastatingly blue, you’d swear God had Photoshopped it; a hint of sea in the air that embraced you in a balmy hug; palm fronds waving laconically in a gentle breeze. Beautiful people strolled Santa Monica sidewalks and disappeared into polished storefronts that enticed capacious wallets to open wide.
It wasn’t the kind of morning that evoked thoughts of death in normal people. But Margaret Nolan wasn’t normal.
...
Part of me wishes I didn’t know, but it’s too late for that, there’s no going back. I have a killer inside and there’s nothing they can do about it."

Overall, Desolation Canyon is a police procedural that will appeal to fans of Karin Slaughter and James Patterson. I took off 1 star, because the beginning was pretty confusing with the constant 3rd person perspective shifts to different characters. It was difficult to keep track of multiple characters, and I prefer books that stick to 1-2 characters. I know there are readers who don't mind that though. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of police procedurals, you can check out this book when it comes out in January!

In book 2 of this series, LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan is struggling to move forward after the death of her brother in Afghanistan and taking a life in the line of duty. Maggie struggles day to day and I was glad to see Sam as a lead character in this book as well. She must investigate the death of man found in a pond on the grounds of Hotel Bel-Air to determine if it is suicide or murder. Meanwhile, Sam helps his friend Lenny who has helped a woman and her daughter escape an abusive relationship at a cult in the desert. It becomes clear that these two cases are connected. Lots of twists and turns, nefarious bad guys and sinister "good" guys. As with the first book, I found some of the sub-plots hard to keep ordered but I think this was the authors intent. By keeping us confused, she rapidly reins us in at the end. A good story and I would recommend reading book one first to understand the main characters a little better, but it is not mandatory to follow the storyline.
3.5 stars

Most series that I have read, I can jump in and out at any point. The characters stay pretty much the same as the series goes on. This series, and we are just at the beginning so it isn't too hard, I suggest very strongly starting with the first book, Deep into the Dark, before reading this book. Otherwise, you really aren't going to know who Sam is and why he's necessary to the story.
Our Detective Margaret Nolan is just finishing her mandatory days off after firing her service weapon. She's on call, but doesn't expect to have to go to work, so she has a drink with a co-worker, Remy. They meet at an upscale hotel where they don't expect to see any other co-workers. Because life is like that, she sees a body in the lobby fountain pool. She hopes it's an accident or maybe a suicide, so she can hand the body off to another department. But it's a murder and, because she found the body, it's her case.
This case has more branches than a thistle plant, and it's just as sticky. There is a non-profit wellness spa in the desert, Russian mobsters, problematic adoptions, more deaths and assorted other criminal activities. It all fits together.
I found the book mostly captivating. I won't say I couldn't put it down, but I read past my usual stopping place several times. I highly recommend it.
I read a copy of this book for this review on Netgalley.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this advanced copy. Tracy's Monkeewrench series is one of my favorites for it's unusual setting (Minnesota) and creative characters. This is a departure and new start for Tracy. Margaret Nolan is an LAPD detective who is dealing with the loss of her brother in Afganistan. It seems everyone in the story has lost someone, so dealing with grief and PTSD is the undercurrent theme. While at a posh hotel restaurant, Maggie and a colleague discover the body of a man floating in the swan pool. Meanwhile, a woman and her daughter are fleeing the Children of the Desert compound where Brother Paul is as weird as it gets. I had a hard time getting into this one simply due to the number of characters and their backstories. Remy, Sam, local store owner, odd clerk, plus a plethora of bad guys, mostly Russian. Reading it in longer sessions helped and the ending satisfactorily tied everything and everyone together. But it was brain straining occasionally.