Taking a page from Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, Nicole Maggi follows A MURDER IN ZION, her 2025 series launch, with LOST IN YELLOWSTONE. The book is set in America’s first national park of 2.2 million acres, Yellowstone, “the most remote place in the continental United States.” Compare that to Rhode Island’s 665,000 land acres.

Combining environmental advocacy with a police procedural surrounded by astounding natural radiance, this intriguing mystery features Special Agent Emme Helliwell of the National Park Service as the gun-toting top cop. “But the ghosts of Yellowstone still haunted her.” She never solved the case of missing ranger David Finch.

"Hairpin plot twists rival Yellowstone’s switchback pathways. Emme seasons this stew with clues from mysteries past and present."

Mystifying a family kayaking on Yellowstone Lake, a geothermal geyser spews a boot-clad foot near them. “Steam hissed out of the geyser, dangerous as a cobra ready to strike.” Emme is summoned to investigate. A coroner identifies the foot as belonging to a malnourished teenager. Emme goes into analytical mode. The shoe is a $185 Merrell Moab hiking boot, which an ill-fed teen would not likely wear. But the strong GORE-TEX material prevented acidic geothermic water from dissolving flesh.

A kayaking family member recalls seeing something red at the foot-spewing geyser. Emme and her ex-boyfriend, park ranger Holden Thrush, risk their lives to find a corroded pocketknife at the geyser rim, which they learn came from Higher Purpose. This “tough love” school forces attitude change through punitive interventions, with parental consent, although such programs face allegations regarding psychological harm and horrific treatment.

It turns out that a group of teens from Higher Purpose had entered Yellowstone a few weeks before. Emme’s gut rumbles not from hunger but from telling her that something is wrong with the scenario portrayed by Higher Purpose’s “counselor,” Papa Bear.

Emotional tension ratchets when Holden attempts to reignite a flame that warmed them both. Emme had jilted their relationship three years ago, perhaps due to not solving the Finch case.

Hairpin plot twists rival Yellowstone’s switchback pathways. Emme seasons this stew with clues from mysteries past and present. Such a tease. Pack your bags; you’re going to Yellowstone National Park!