Her Final Breath (Detective Amanda Steele series Book 7) – ARC Book Review

Faint sunlight dapples the two figures lying on the ground. The mother cradles her daughter close to her side, a stuffed toy elephant next to them. Leaves from the tall trees fall onto their faces, but neither moves to brush them off.

When a dog walker in a local Virginia park finds the bodies of a mother and daughter, Detective Amanda Steele is first on the scene. Her own daughter has a toy just like the girl’s elephant and seeing the child like this is her worst nightmare come true. Heartbroken, she vows to get justice.

They quickly get an ID—Jill Archer and six-year-old Charlotte were reported missing last week, but interviewing Jill’s husband, Roy, Amanda’s gut tells her he is hiding something. When the autopsy reveals a terrible pattern of bruises, she’s certain that a domestic argument escalated out of control, and tiny Charlotte got caught in the crossfire. But just as Amanda is about to arrest Roy, another grave is found, containing another mother and daughter.

Desperate for a lead, she goes to every place the women could have been targeted, and learns from a concerned ER nurse about Leanne Reilly and her young daughter, Gracie, who haven’t been heard from in a week. Amanda hopes that Leanne has simply left her deadbeat husband, but she’s gripped by the fear that they are the killer’s latest victims. Now every second counts for Amanda to find the family and stop a little girl’s nightmare before it ends in tragedy…

This is the seventh book of Detective Amanda Steele series. I have read nearly every single one of the series and make sure to read all of Amanda Steele series.

The story starts out with a dog walker discovering the bodies of a mother and a child in a park. Detectives Amanda and her partner Trent discover that the bodies belong to a woman named Jill Archer and her six year old Charlotte and Jill’s husband is a police officer. But Jill has been suffering from domestic abuse and initially they suspected that Jill’s husband might have been responsible. But when they find the remains of another set of bodies, Amanda and Trent realized that they are dealing with a deranged serial killer.

This was well written, and the author managed to put us on the edge with her writing. This book was quiet unputdownable and there were some twists and turns you find along the book, as we do not know who the real suspect behind the killers is. The book was fast paced which made it really interesting and intriguing and the ending was really great. What’s more, while in the midst of solving the case, I like how Amanda’s personal life was also labeled out in the book.

Overall, this was a great thriller that will keep you up all night–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.