Good book. Set in The Twin Cities. Afton is a climber, which comes in handy. This book reminded me a of a girl version of the John Sandford Lucas Davenport series. Looking forward to the next one. ( )

3.5 stars.

Little Girl Gone is the first installment in Gerry Schmitt's new mystery series starring family liaison officer Afton Tangler. After a three month old baby is kidnapped, Afton takes full advantage of the unexpected opportunity to hone her detective skills when she gets to work alongside veteran detective Max Montgomery on the case.

A family liaison officer with the Minneapolis P.D. , Afton is a twice divorced mom of two daughters who is hoping to move through the ranks and eventually make detective. An avid outdoorswoman, she is intelligent and tenacious with a keen eye for detail. One of Afton's strongest attributes is her ability to feel empathy for victims and she is determined to find Susan and Richard Darden's missing baby.

While he appreciates modern technology, Max Montgomery is a little old school and relies on copious handwritten notes and good old-fashioned detective work to solve crimes. Believing the truth will be found in the details, he is an excellent mentor for Afton as he teaches her a few tricks of the trade during the investigation for the kidnapped baby. Max fully believes in Afton's ability to become a topnotch detective and he always takes her suggestions seriously.

The investigation into the baby's kidnapping yields few leads since there is very little evidence to go on initially. Knowing time is not on their side, Max and Afton quickly look into the Darden's background. While the couple appear to be on the up and up, the detectives decide to dig a little deeper into Richard's work history. While Max and Afton are still trying to get a clear picture of why he recently changed jobs, Susan stumbles across shocking information about her husband but does this new information have any bearing on the case?

While Max and Afton are looking into the Dardens, their most promising lead seems to involve a woman that Susan met at a doll show in a local mall. Drawn to the woman's display of "reborn" dolls that eerily resemble real babies, Susan eagerly shows off pictures of her baby Emily Ann as the doll maker tries to convince her to commission a doll that will look exactly like her daughter. With little more than a nondescript likeness of the doll maker, will their investigation turn up any viable information about the mystery woman?

Although Max and Afton are fully rounded, interesting characters, some of the other characters (including the kidnappers and an overly ambitious reporter) are woefully underdeveloped. While the identity of the kidnappers is known from the beginning, the motive for the crime is not initially apparent. It is quite intriguing watching Max and Afton slowly sift through the evidence to find the information that will break the case wide open. Although the finale of Little Girl Gone is highly improbable, Gerry Schmitt delivers a pulse-pounding and dramatic conclusion that will completely satisfy readers. All in all a nice beginning the Afton Tangler Thriller series that fans of police procedurals will enjoy. ( )

Afton Tangler works for the Minneapolis Police Department as a family liaison officer but somehow she finds herself deep in the investigation of a kidnapped three-month-old baby. Elizabeth Ann was kidnapped from her parents' home and her babysitter was assaulted. These residents of the posh Kenwood section of Minneapolis have lots of influential friends who keep pressure on the police department and the FBI to find their child.

Afton works with Detective Max Montgomery searching for clues and trying to find connections that will lead to the recovery of the child. Their investigation leads to a mistress for the husband and some sexual hijinks that led to him leaving one med-tech company for another which makes him somewhat suspicious. But the key clue comes from the wife who points to a woman she talked to at a doll show at the local mall. She gave the woman her phone number and showed her a picture of Elizabeth Ann. Unfortunately, the woman gave a false name and the doll show organizer can't help the police locate her.

This story is told from a few viewpoints. Afton's is the most common but we also hear the thoughts of the really creepy doll lady and her equally creepy and murderous son. The story has a wonderful setting. I am quite familiar with winter in Minnesota and the locales - Minneapolis, St. Paul, Cannon Falls, and Hudson, Wisconsin - where the bulk of the story takes place. And, as it happens, I'm writing this while waiting for the kind of snowstorm happening in the story.

I liked Afton as a character but thought it was pretty unlikely that she would get as involved in the investigation in real life. She has the dogged persistence that a good detective should have. She wants to be a police detective and is getting support and training from many of the others on the case.

This was a real page-turner. It is filled with action and danger and scenes that kept me turning the pages until the satisfying conclusion. Fans of police procedurals will enjoy this well-crafted tale. ( )

I thought the writing style seemed more than just familiar and then I learned that Gerry Schmitt also writes as Laura Childs. Family liaison officer, Afton Tangler is assisting Susan and her husband with their trauma of their missing 3 month old baby girl, Elizabeth Anne. It was a small thing... but it bothered me that as the search for the child continues...Afton...the key character in this sad and sometimes depressing story...finds that she needs to inset the comment that the lead FBI agent in the case is “tall and lanky with steel gray hair and warm brown eyes the color of precious amber.” This, and other pronouncements by Afton concerning the agent takes the story from a well told mystery and crime novel, to a romance in almost the blink of an eye. I wish the author had kept to the this tale that she had started so well. I guess readers who don’t mind gratuitous injections of romance into a grim and disturbing plot line will just overlook it and read on. ( )

A baby gets kidnapped and the investigators are off in all directions as to who the kidnapper was. Family secrets come out and the dynamics of some familiies is way out there. Found Afton Tangler to be a very interesting character but I think having her climb an ice hill in the end was two far fetched. Kept my interest. ( )