SACRIFICIAL LAMB

A television producer gets caught up investigating a real-life pitch she’s determined to see through to the end.

Harmony Magnussen isn’t expecting Layla “Leilani” Schultz’s visit to her office on the set of Cold Case Chronicles because the true-crime show typically handpicks guests to appear when their cases are solved after years without leads. Layla wants Harmony’s help to solve the 11-year-old case whose victim was Layla’s infant brother Jake. The problem is that the case was closed when Layla herself confessed to smothering her brother. Layla got it into her head that she might be innocent when she received a note in the mail: “Your [sic] not the one who killed him.” Harmony’s heart goes out to Layla. Figuring she can at least get a good story out of the piece, she starts investigating small-town Gypsum’s hazy past. Unfortunately, Gypsum’s a place where everyone knows everyone else’s secrets but no one talks, at least not to an outsider. So Harmony’s stuck trying to piece together the story in her own imagination. Just as she’s starting a dialogue with those closest to the case, these very individuals start getting knocked off. At the same time, Harmony’s trying to keep the peace with her son, Dane, a typical surly teenager, while maintaining a civil relationship with her ex, who just happens to be a movie star.

Though some leads are dropped without much investigation, it’s easy to get lost in Hofland’s debut, which offers a knowing portrait of Hollywood colliding with a small town.