The Last Move

by Mary Burton

In this gripping stand-alone from bestselling author Mary Burton, an FBI agent must catch a copycat killer. The only difference this time: she’s the final victim.

Catching monsters helps FBI agent Kate Hayden keep her nightmares at bay. Now an urgent call brings her back to San Antonio, the scene of her violent past. A brutal new murder shows hallmarks of a serial killer nicknamed the Samaritan. Tricky part is, Kate already caught him.

Either Kate made a deadly error, or she’s got a copycat on her hands. Paired with homicide detective Theo Mazur, she quickly realizes this murder is more twisted than it first appeared. Then a second body is found, the mode of death identical to a different case that Kate thought she’d put behind her.

Now Kate and Detective Mazur aren’t just working a homicide; the investigative pair is facing a formidable enemy who knows Kate intimately. While Mazur is personally trying to protect Kate, the closer they are drawn to the killer, the clearer it becomes that in this terrifying game, there is only one rule: don’t believe everything you see…

• ISBN10: 1542046920
• ISBN13: 9781542046923
• Publish Date: 19 September 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Montlake Romance
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



The Last Move by Mary Burton was an August COYER book club pick. I decided to read it because I really like to participate in the book club discussions. Plus it's a romantic suspense and those are right up my alley.

I really liked The Last Move! I've never read Burton before but it won't be the last time I read her. The villain is known to the reader and so is the motivation which usually means an uninteresting plot line as there is very little left to discover. Burton managed to give us a fast paced book that left me wanting more of her writing. I also really liked how she ended the book. All the various strings were tied together with this story which made the ending very satisfactory. It also means I'll be trying more of her books!

Honestly I really wanted to see that this was a series. The story wrapped up nicely but I really wanted more time with Theo and Kate. I really enjoyed the two of them together. Wanting more time with characters even when the case is wrapped up is a pretty good testament to the writing of the characters. Kate is a bit socially stunted. She is fully capable of interacting with people but is too blunt to develop relationships. Theo was not only a good man but a good father. I also thought the villain back story was very well developed.

I went into The Last Move by Mary Burton with zero expectations and I ended up really enjoying it.

[Berls]

I doubt I would have picked this one up if it weren't for coyer book club, but I'm glad I did.

I enjoyed the characters so much - from Detective Mazur and FBI agent Kate to the villains and even Mazur's daughter and Kate's family, hell Baudry's maid whose only in it a few pages! - they are well written and complex. You get the villains perspectives, which doesn't always work for me, but did here.

As far as the plot, you know who's responsible pretty early on. But connecting the dots takes a while and right up to the reveal I was stumped on a couple connections.

And the romance worked, without taking over the story. I would actually really like to see more of these characters... But I'm pretty sure this is a standalone. If that changes, I would pick up another.