I came to this series further along after having the opportunity to read it as an advanced reader copy. I enjoyed the characters so much, I wanted to go back and see how it all began. The Lost Girls of Penzance is the first book in Sally Rigby’s Cornwall Murder Mystery series.

D.S. Matt Price has arrived in Cornwall, working for the local police force after moving from London following the death of his wife. He’s here to be closer to his parents, who are helping him raise his daughter. D.I. Laura Pengelly is his new boss. She’s scheduled to be off on vacation on a bicycle trip through the country when a call comes in about bones found behind a derelict cottage. Laura cancels her vacation, as she has a hard time letting her team take care of things without her.

While investigating the bones, which are believed to be over 20 years old, a young girl goes missing from her nursery school and has seemingly disappeared without a trace. Matt and Laura are pulled between the two cases. Of course, the missing child takes precedence, but as the two investigate the seemingly impossible crime, they begin to find links between the two cases.

I thought The Lost Girls of Penzance was a great start to this series. The characters are brought in nicely, and it introduces them to the reader without it feeling like an overload. Laura has a hard time handing responsibility to her team, even as good as they are. She’s very much a micro-manager, and it seems like there might be room for her to let Matt take over some of the responsibility once she trusts him. He quickly develops a rapport with the team that she lacks, mostly due to her micro-managing and standoffish personality. It’s an interesting mix of personalities as Matt gives them space that Laura typically doesn’t, and they are learning to adjust.

At the same time, Matt is struggling to be a single parent. He has the confidence to let the team at work take over when it’s necessary, but he second-guesses just about everything when it comes down to being a parent. This is especially the case when his daughter is counted among the children missing from what appears to be very secure nurseries in Cornwall.

There’s a good mystery about what appeared to be the perfect crime. The slow way that they investigate and uncover a story from the past, intertwining with the present, is very good. I guessed a lot of it early on, but it was still a good ride to the end. There still was a good degree of suspense on how it was all going to play out, despite some very obvious clues. I learned a bit more about the background of the characters I met in The Camborne Killings. Rigby’s writing is not the type that flows. It’s more on the informative side rather than flowing, but it also conveys a good deal of information rather than becoming weighted down in flowy descriptions.

The audiobook is read by Clare Corbett, who does a great job. Her diction is clear, which makes it easier to understand for those of us from the other side of the pond. I found her emotions perfect at times which needed that bit of distinction about what was happening. Because there isn’t so much descriptive language, there are a lot of facts thrown at the reader and abrupt changes in scenery or focus. She handled it all well.

The Lost Girls of Penzance is a good police procedural that’s easy to comprehend. That’s important for those readers not from the U.K. who might not be as familiar with how the police work there. I found it easy to follow, and liked that there is room to grow all of these characters from here, rather than having everything about them dumped on the reader all at once. I’m glad I found this series.

Next book in the series: