She’s chasing a killer. He’s watching her every move.
He hides in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment. Each kill is calculated, planned and executed like clockwork.
Struggling to balance her personal and professional life, young DS Becca Vincent has landed the biggest case of her career—and she knows that it will make or break her. But she can’t catch the culprit alone. Together with facial recognition expert Joe Russell, she strives to get a lead on the elusive murderer, who is always one step ahead of them.
Time is not on their side. The body count is rising, and the attacks are striking closer and closer to home. Can Becca and Joe uncover the connection between the murders before the killer strikes the last name from his list?
I'm delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Her Last Move by John Marrs today. Many thanks to the author, Thomas & Mercer and Emma Welton from damppebbles blog tours for inviting me and for my advance digital copy of the novel which I received through Netgalley.
I need to start this review with a crime fiction lover's confession; this is the first book I have read by John Marrs but having read so many enthusiastic reviews about his previous books, I knew he was an author I need to check out and could tell after just a few pages that I was on to a good thing. The prologue of Her Last Move opens with a well planned and executed murder, and it's a killing that is bound to send chills down the spine of anybody who has travelled by the tube. This is the killer's first murder but he has a list and it's not long before his next target also reaches an untimely, horrific death.
DS Becca Vincent is the first person to realise that two separate deaths may be connected, with both the victim of the same killer but as the body count rises, the police struggle to figure out the connection, particularly as each new death is very different to the last. With so much of London covered by CCTV, CID call in a facial recognition expert from the Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office, nicknamed the super-recognisers. These are people with a photographic memory for faces, their success rate is far higher than facial recognition software and Joe Russell is one of the best. I loved the relationship which develops between Becca and Joe, their initial meeting doesn't go well and they both manage to cast dispersions on each other's jobs but these are two people with their own difficult pasts and a natural sense of empathy and intuition who soon learn to respect one another.
I really liked Becca who, like many women, is torn between her career ambitions and her family life. A tragedy is her past means she has more responsibilities than she had planned for but she isn't managing to balance them well which causes friction between herself and her mother. Her daughter, Maisie has Down's Syndrome and I really must compliment the author on his sensitive inclusion of a special needs child in the book. He recognises that there are adjustments that a parent will need to make but otherwise, Becca's relationship with her little girl and the guilt she feels at not giving her enough time and attention are the same as those experienced by many working parents, regardless of the number of chromosomes their child has.
Joe's expertise is absolutely fascinating and it's not a job I've read about before in police procedurals so I was intrigued to learn more about this real-life but little known area of police work. His own backstory is also marked by tragedy and it's perhaps not surprising that he and Becca should form a bond considering how their pasts continue to strongly influence their lives.
The two very likeable protagonists are a complete contrast to the murderer who is a thoroughly disturbing individual. Some of the chapters are written from his perspective as he continues with his meticulously planned killing spree. The deaths here are disturbing and violent but don't feel gratuitous, the tension comes from the build-up to his next attack but the actual act isn't shown and the reader learns about his victims' fates when the police arrive on the scene to learn just what horrifying murder his deranged mind has devised this time.
I was immediately engrossed by the fast-paced plot and raced through the pages in just a day. There are so many intriguing little strands to Her Last Move and I loved how they are all intricately and very cleverly brought together as the story progresses. It's also a genuinely shocking novel and I know it's a cliche to say so but I really didn't see the twists coming. I said at the start of my review that this is the first book I have read by John Marrs - it most certainly won't be the last. Gripping, surprising and highly recommended!
Her Last Move is published by Thomas & Mercer and can be purchased from;
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Waterstones
BookDepository
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
John Marrs is the author of #1 bestsellers The One (soon to be made into a film with Urban Myth Films), The Good Samaritan (shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader Awards 2018), When You Disappeared, and Welcome to Wherever You Are. After working as a journalist for 25-years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time writer.
Her Last Move is dedicated to John’s late father, Charlie, who was a police officer for 25 years.
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