Review: Lost in Yellowstone by Nicole Maggi

If you have been following along here, you know we are big fans of Nicole Maggi’s National Park Mystery series. Lost in Yellowstone is the second book, following Special Agent Emmeline Helliwell as she investigates a murder in one of the most iconic parks in the country. Each book in the series works as a standalone so if this is your first time hearing about it, you can jump in anywhere. Read on for our full review!

Lost in Yellowstone (National Park Mystery #2)

by Nicole Maggi
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
on May 5, 2026
Genres: Adult, Mystery
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A foot in a geyser. A school in the wild. A truth no one saw coming.
When a human foot is ejected from a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Special Agent Emme Helliwell of the National Park Service is assigned the chilling case.
Tasked with identifying the victim and uncovering what led to such a grisly end, Emme is drawn into the park's vast, unforgiving wilderness—and into the orbit of a private school for at-risk teens where extreme backcountry excursions are part of the curriculum. As disturbing truths begin to surface, Emme must also confront personal fault lines, including the unresolved tension with an ex-boyfriend who's suddenly back in her life and assigned to the same case.
In a place where danger hides behind natural beauty and good intentions can mask darker motives, Emme must navigate both treacherous terrain and emotional landmines to solve a mystery that could cost her everything.
Perfect for readers of C. J. Box and Lisa Gardner
While the novels in the Agent Emme Helliwell National Park Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence
A Murder in Zion
Lost in Yellowstone

Review

Lost in Yellowstone is the second book in Nicole Maggi’s National Park Mystery series, and like any good follow up, it gives you more of what worked without being a copy and paste. Getting back to Emme and the parks felt like catching up with old friends, mostly because Nicole writes her characters so damn well. And if this is your first time in the series, do not worry, each book works as a standalone (but for real, read the first one because you get a whole lot of history!).

One thing I really love about this series is that Nicole does not play nice when it comes to environmentalism. She is incredibly blunt about the fact that our national parks are under attack. She writes about our parks with so much genuine love and specific detail. Yellowstone is not just a generic backdrop here; the park is practically its own character driving the plot.

Plot-wise, while A Murder in Zion tackled religious cults and violence against women, Lost in Yellowstone pulls on a completely different thread, targeting a different industry and a different vulnerable population. I will not say more because the mystery is genuinely worth going in without knowing more, but the twists absolutely landed for me. I did not see them coming, which is always a win.

Nicole is building a fantastic series here that gets better the longer you stick with it. Already ready for book three!