Review - Her Last Words by Carolyn Arnold

The glow from the fireplace throws an eerie light over the woman’s carefully arranged body, her lifeless eyes reflecting the flames that slowly burn the evidence of who did this to her…

When Detective Amanda Steele is called to the brutal murder scene of successful local author Felicity Kelley, her blood runs cold. Because Amanda not only knew the victim, but was the last person Felicity called moments before she was murdered. Plagued with guilt that she never answered, Amanda is left wondering whether she could have prevented the murder, and vows to catch the killer, no matter what.

Desperately searching the crime scene for clues, Amanda is shocked when she discovers a Queen of Hearts playing card, suggesting the murder could be an imitation of a scene from Felicity’s bestselling crime novel. Terrified that she is dealing with a crazed fan who could strike again, Amanda’s worst fears are confirmed when another innocent woman is viciously murdered, with the same chilling calling card left behind.

But when Amanda connects the murders with a cold case from fifteen years ago, a case that Felicity appears to have been researching for her next novel, she is forced to question if the killer’s motive is even more sinister than she first suspected. But the closer Amanda gets to unearthing this motive, the closer she gets to becoming the next victim…

I feel that I need to start this review off with a confession - this is the first one of the books in the series that I have read, and this one is number 9!! What a great book to start with though! To answer if you have to read them all before this one then the answer is no, however I do feel that I may have missed some of Amanda's back story - it doesn't matter I don't think - more that it just intrigues me!

I loved the storyline with our over-worked detective coming back off her holiday early due to a murder that had a personal connection. It just seemed to be paced brilliantly, however I found the more the storyline evolved - the more I needed to read. I like the fact that we get to see a little into Amanda's relationship with her work partner as well as into her home and family life.

I think that the storyline was very clever in how it was written and at one point I thought that we were going to run out of time and not find our murderer but it all became clear and loved the ending. I think that I have just accidentally added another 8 books to my TBR pile after finishing this!

Huge thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for the ARC. This book is out on the 17th of October and you can grab a copy here #Aff