Jeff Sexton
Shocking Final Chapters Leave Readers Breathless. This book was one of the more interesting in this series both because the crime being investigated here is one of the more brutal Bratt has ever put into her fiction (at least in my now 5+ yrs of reading most of her work) *and* because Bratt's style doesn't normally lend itself to "oh my god I can't stop reading I have to know what happens next NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" level pacing... and yet this one's last several chapters read exactly that way. Thus, showing a truly deft hand with her storytelling along with strong growth as a storyteller. Indeed, perhaps one minor weakness here is that given the somewhat limited number of characters (wait, what? I know - but bear with me here), it isn't really *possible* to show just how shocking this particular crime would be throughout an entire region of small Southern towns - though even here, Bratt works well within her style and within the world she has crafted through this series to relay that as best as possible. And yes, as others have noted, given everything that happens here... Book 8 *could* be the series finale... but I too agree I'd like to see it continue well beyond that point. Very much recommended.