Most days, Claire Conover finds gratification working in the highly stressful foster care system. She tries to keep children safe and encourage willing parents to become rehabilitated, so they can get their kids back. It is Claire's responsibility to determine the safety of the home, the parents' dedication to keeping a clean life, and that everyone in the children's lives are not potentially harmful.

Ashley Hennessy is one of Claire's success stories: Ashley was holding down a job, going to AA meetings and was continuing to take steps to care for her young son, Michael. When Claire gets a phone call from the police that Michael has died, her world crashes apart: she is horrified over the tragedy of a child's death, has to deal with the CYA attitude of her job, is concerned that she may have made a mistake somewhere in the process and is worried about Ashley's response to the situation. As events unfold and evidence points to Ashley as the responsible party in Michael's death, Claire is despondent, but she knows Ashley did not do it.

Intricately woven, LITTLE LAMB LOST paints vivid images of the foster care system, the blame that occurs after tragedy, the convoluted relationships within families by blood and by choice and one woman's choice to persevere even when faced with internal and external barriers to success. The characters are well-written, and the reader can empathize with Claire's desire to help people even in seemingly hopeless situations. The storyline rushes from one plotpoint to the next, creating suspense and an urge to flip the pages even faster to find out what happens next.