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The Last Move is a new standalone novel from popular romantic suspense author Mary Burton featuring a prickly but pragmatic FBI Forensic linguistics expert who is frequently called in to consult on complicated cases that need to make use of her skills to analyse the language employed by murderers, kidnappers and other unsavoury characters in order to effect rescues and arrests. It’s a very readable, well-plotted story that seems to be heading in one direction until the author pulls a handbrake turn and sends it beetling off elsewhere – and I was completely gripped by it throughout. On the downside, if you like a romantic suspense novel to have an actual romance in it, then you might be a bit disappointed, because while the story has romantic elements and ends with an HFN which clearly has the possibility of becoming more, the balance here is firmly in favour of the mystery and the romance is very low-key.
Seasoned detective Theo Mazur gave up his job at the Chicago PD to move to San Antonio when his ex-wife moved there with their teenaged daughter, Alyssa. He has just been called to the scene of a murder on the interstate – I-35 – which bears a number of similarities to other killings that were carried out on the same road over the past couple of years; the victim is a woman alone in her car, the car malfunctioned in some way, she’s been shot in the heart at point-blank range and the killer has left a video and a message on a burner phone for the investigators. More specifically, he leaves it for FBI profiler, Dr. Kate Hayden. Mazur recognises the M O of a serial killer nicknamed The Samaritan and puts in a call to his boss, who duly contacts Kate, the agent responsible for arresting and identifying him as one Charles Richardson. But there’s a snag. Richardson is currently in prison awaiting trial.
While the evidence linking Richardson to the Samaritan’s murders is strong, this new killing could completely blow Kate’s case out of the water, so she has to drop her current investigation – into a sick bastard who kidnaps young girls, keeps them locked in boxes and takes them out to repeatedly rape them before letting them die – and head to her home town of San Antonio, somewhere she’s avoided at all costs since the murder of her father ripped her family apart when she was just seventeen.
Though there was never any sign that Richardson had an accomplice, Kate is fairly certain that they’re dealing with either an acolyte or a copycat because, while this recent killing is very similar to the previous ones, the killer has deviated from his M O in his choice of victim. Gloria Sanchez was a successful and wealthy businesswoman, whereas the previous victims were younger and less affluent, usually working in the service industries. It’s only when another murder victim is found, this time displaying multiple stab wounds and the sort of mutilation that is the hallmark of a killer known as The Soothsayer that Kate and Mazur start to suspect that these murders aren’t their copycat’s end-game. By killing using methods used in some of Kate’s previous investigations, he is clearly taunting her, intending to draw her out in order to exact some kind of revenge.
The Last Move is a very well written, strongly plotted thriller and while the serial-killer-who-is-out-to-get-the-female-investigator plotline is a frequently used one, Ms. Burton nonetheless kept me engaged and eagerly turning the pages as Kate and Mazur uncovered a web of infidelity, lies and deadly, long-buried secrets that she cleverly links back to Kate’s past and the murder of her father.  The author puts forward a couple of strong suspects for the murders, but even though I felt they were perhaps a bit too obvious and the reader is privy to some brief chapters from the killer’s PoV, we don’t discover his identity or motivations until Kate and Mazur do. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way and I was kept guessing until the final reveal.
While the romantic aspect of the story is not as strong as in some of Mary Burton’s other books, she does develop a terrific working relationship between Kate and Mazur, whose different skills and approach thoroughly complement each other. Mazur is an easy-going type whose open, friendly manner and frequently deployed humour belies that fact that he’s sharp as a tack and doesn’t miss a trick, whereas Kate is a little awkward and has to consciously work at behaving in a manner appropriate to the situation. She’s practical, forthright and sometimes abrupt to the point of rudeness; she keeps herself very tightly contained, but doesn’t hide the truth of her past from Mazur or the reasons being back in her home town make her so uncomfortable. I liked both characters; Kate for her straightforwardness and Mazur for his insight and humour, and they make a great couple. There’s one love scene fairly late on and we’re left with the impression that these two have the potential to make a future together. Fans of the author’s are sure to enjoy The Last Move, and given it’s a standalone, if you’ve never read her but enjoy romantic suspense novels where the emphasis is on the suspense, this book could be a good way to give her a try.
Buy Now: Amazon
Grade: B
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 21/09/17
Publication Date: 09/2017
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.