Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Claire Conover is a hard-working and dedicated employee of the Jefferson County Department of Human Services. Dealing with multiple cases at one time, Claire attempts to give each of her clients as much of her time and attention as she can, especially the ones that work hard to make their lives better. Ashley Hennessy, one of Claire’s cases, was successfully recovering from her drug addiction and turned her life around; winning back custody of her two-year-old son, Michael. When Michael is found dead from a drug overdose and Ashley is claiming responsibility, Claire is the only one who believes Ashley is innocent and she intends to prove it.

With strict orders to stay out of it and her job hanging in the balance, Claire’s suspicions continue to drive her to find out who really killed Michael; even when Ashley repeatedly begs Claire to let it go or it could be fatal for all of them, Claire continues to investigate.

Her search for truth takes her from drug-tinged nightclubs to the upper echelons of society. With the help of a newspaper reporter and her new computer geek boyfriend, Claire uncovers long-held secrets and dangerous dealings, which almost cost her everything, including her life.

Fenton’s writing style is easy and straight forward. Little Lamb Lost was a solid first effort. Being an insider at DHS she lends credibility, without making it all about her. Being new to the mystery genre, Fenton chose to focus on the story, rather than throwing a bunch of red herrings in the reader’s path, allowing her to stay on track. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more from this new author. Since she is an insider at DHS it would also be interesting to see a work of non-fiction by her as well.
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Hardcover: 312 pages
Publisher: Oceanview Pub (June 1, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-1933515519