Shatter the Night

In Littlejohn’s enjoyable fourth mystery featuring Det. Gemma Monroe (after 2018’s Lost Lake), Gemma and her fiancé, Brody Sutherland, call on an old friend of hers, Caleb Montgomery, a retired judge who lives in the mountain town of Cedar Valley, Colo. The judge reveals that he’s been receiving death threats, and he wants Gemma to investigate. Shortly after their visit, the judge dies in a car bombing, making him the first victim in a string of deaths that seem to have no pattern. Might the murders be related to the sabotage at the newly refurbished Shotgun Playhouse? Or is the reason darker and decades old? As the sins of the town fathers come back to haunt the present Cedar Valley residents, Gemma must find a skilled killer hiding in plain sight. For a cop, she’s surprisingly out of touch with local gossip, unaware, for example, that the judge was separated from his wife. Still, Gemma remains a strong lead readers will want to see more of. Smooth prose compensates for the familiar plot. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Ahearn Agency. (Dec.)