Bea Reviews The Last Move by Mary Burton

Publisher: Montlake Romance
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 19th, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository*  | Kobo | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

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.

My Thoughts:

Another FBI agent book! I'm on a roll lately, lol. The other appealing factor to me for this book was the author. I've yet to read a book by her that I didn't like. Like those books, this one was twisty and suspenseful and full of rich characters.

Kate is a fiercely dedicated FBI agent with little personal life, only partially by choice. She's blunt, lacking in social graces, and works too hard. She's driven in part by events in her past. Theo is a divorced cop who left his long-term police job in Chicago to follow his ex and their daughter to Texas. No, he's not stalking them or being creepy; he just wants to stay in his daughter's life and figures he can best do that by being local. The move means he lost seniority and alienated some of local cops who wanted that position.

When Theo catches a high-profile murder, he doesn't hesitate to call in the FBI when he realizes it could be connected to one of their cases. Kate has doubts but does her due diligence, leaves the case she's working on, and arrives to investigate this new case. Soon, it becomes obvious that the killer lured Kate to Texas and it may have roots in her past. Burton teases us, giving us threads that seem disparate at first but then brings them together into a tight plot where nothing has been left to chance. Oh, it had a few unlikely coincidences but the story was so tight that I didn't mind.

The blurb says "don’t believe everything you see." and I'll second that. Holy Hannah but Burton kept throwing curve balls and weaving intricate webs. The story was a roller coaster ride with surprises around many corners. Not to be forgotten are the characters; they are sharp edged, quirky,  and engaging. Kate could come across as cold to people who didn't know her, or had access to her thoughts, while Mazur was sharper than he let on. He had a knack for playing the good ole boy when it suited him, but there was a steel core underneath. There's a romance too but it's secondary to the main story. 

"The Last Move" was a thrilling, chilling, and gripping story that kept me swiping the pages on my Kindle.