Her Last Whisper: An absolutely unputdownable crime thriller

Her Last Whisper by Jennifer Chase Detective Katie Scott #2 Wham...a woman comes from nowhere and puts herself in front of a police car claiming she escaped from kidnapping that lasted for almost a week. Nearly incoherent and fearful the main word that she says, and is mentioned throughout the book, is TRUTH. That is the hook but we don’t see this woman again till Katie Scott is back on the job after a rest from whatever happened in the first book of the series. Katie’s first cold case happens to be the kidnapping even though the woman is still alive. And there I realized that cold cases are not always murders. Katie is working in her uncle’s police department, is a war veteran who worked as a K-9 handler in the army and is back on the job as a policeman after her time in the war. She has flashbacks and PTSD and is a bit of a mess but manages to hold it together most of the time. When she goes to interview Peyton, the kidnapped woman, she finds a woman still fearful for her life and very difficult to talk to. When Peyton ends up dead...things heat up. There are more kidnappings and murders, red herrings here and there, a friend from the army that shows up needing her to help him find someone, a woman that she eventually helps, an old friend (Chad) that could be more if she is willing and of course...finding out who the serial murder is and the motivation for the murders. I am not sure what I think of Katie. I never really got a “feel” for who she is and what makes her tick. I liked her relationship with Cisco, her K-9 dog from the military now retired, but never really saw who she had been before or during the war or what she found important in her life. She could be intense on the job and focused but she didn’t have “friends” that I could see. For some reason I felt she was guarded and unwilling to put herself out there in situations with people she might be able to be friends with. Perhaps the first book had more about her or the future books will. On the case Katie works with a number of people that will be part of the series and over time become “family”. It seems that she and Chad will be testing the waters for “more” in the next book as he fights fires and she closes cold cases. What I liked: * Not knowing who the killer was right away * Cisco – great dog * The men in Katie’s life – all seemed nice guys who really cared about herrings * Katie’s logical mind and the way she pursued the case * Nick’s part in the book – wonder if he and his brother will show up in future books * Deputy McGaven – seems like a good man * Jane Doe’s happy ending What I did not like: * The sicko serial killer (that’s a given) * Not being able to get a real feel for Katie Did I enjoy this book? I think so Would I read more in this series? Perhaps...to see if Katie grows on me Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review. 3-4 Stars

I received a free electronic copy of this modern police procedural from Netgalley, Jennifer Chase, and the publisher Bookouture. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Her Last Whisper is the second of a new series by Jennifer Chase - yeah! I am happy to recommend Jennifer Chase to friends and family. She writes a tight, compelling mystery. Set in the small California town of Pine Valley, Katie Scott is the orphaned niece of the County Sheriff and is appointed by him to head a new cold case department in his shop on her return from active military duty overseas. One of the lucky ones, she was able to bring her working dog Cisco home which helps with her PTSD. Other than her aunt and uncle Katie has no family except Cisco and her fellow military family, most of whom are still on active duty. Several of the personnel at the county lockup are childhood friends, however, and she feels at home in her new basement office. She begins her new job in a new department with trepidation - she is not sure her unexpected mental reruns into the horror of her military days will allow her to be an effective detective. On the bright side, she and Cisco can exercise and train with the official police dogs and trainers of the city and county police, and when she is working in the field alone she can take Cisco to work with her in either her personal vehicle and that issued by the county, as both are equipped with an electronically-opening canine door emergency release. She is also assigned Chad Ferguson as an assistant. She and Chad were sidekicks since they were eight years old, so the fit was perfect. The first cold case she looks into - the one near the top of the top box of files her uncle sent down - is only six months old but is intriguing. Amanda Peyton, a Pine Valley woman and a nurse in the ICU unit of the hospital, is found in the wilds of an abandoned subdivision wearing only her panties and a tank top, restraint injuries to both wrists and ankles and very confused and dehydrated. She says she was kidnapped in the parking lot of the local grocery and held a prisoner for about a week, but managed finally to escape. She never saw her captor - though he had taken the duct tape off of her mouth he kept her eyes duct-taped over the whole time. She had not been sexually assaulted but when he was there he had whispered to her over and over, to tell her secrets, to tell the truth. For long periods of time, she thought she had been alone. She was terrified and disoriented when found, and not making a lot of sense. Her doctor at the hospital sent her to the local South Street Psychiatric Hospital for a 72-hour evaluation but when released she disappears. Feeling like she wasn't being taken seriously, she quit her job, left her apartment, so the case was stalemated and eventually became another cold case. Katie finds her and tries to assure her that they are trying to find her abductor but have very little to go on. Amanda is very sure he is still watching her, and that he will kill her when he finds her again. Katie begins looking for similar cases back through time and finds one from several months before Amanda's kidnapping and that victim too is at the psychiatric hospital, a woman who cannot remember who she is, found wearing only underwear and bruising and the chaffing of restraints. Are they looking for a serial killer? Jane Doe disappears into a more modern psychiatric hospital about an hour away, but she cannot have visitors. Why? And then Amanda is indeed found dead. Yet another woman is found dead in very similar circumstances. And one more woman, Tess Regan, is reported missing... Katie and Chad have their hands full and new clues are few and far between. Someone is leaving encouraging notes on Katie's car at crime scenes. Who? Will they be able to identify Jane Doe? Do the clues tying the Jamison Doctors of both the local psychiatric hospital and the ICU at the local hospital with the abandoned sub-division have a