Her Last Summer by Melinda Woodhall

 

A Heartless Killer Plays a Deadly Game

When a celebrity author dies under mysterious circumstances in a small Florida town, a vulnerable young woman is the only witness, and Willow Bay’s new chief of police must begin the hunt for a ruthless serial killer who will stop at nothing to hide his true identity.

As reporter Veronica Lee investigates the breaking story, a local woman is brutally killed, exposing a disturbing connection to a dangerous con man who has eluded capture for almost a decade.

After Veronica’s efforts to uncover the killer’s motives lead to a horrifying discovery, she comes face to face with the cunning killer and must overcome her deepest fears to survive his deadly game.

This one hooked me right from the beginning. We open the story with a man and a woman and we think they might be the center of the story then....BAM. Someone is murdered. Since we're inside the killers head at this point, I really didn't expect what transpired, but it sure dragged me in and kept me invested. What was a little frustrating for me is that we had such an inept killer. He was sloppy, scared, unprofessional and made a ton of mistakes. The murder was supposedly well-thought out and had been planned to a 'T', yet he was impatient and made some rookie mistakes. 

I did, however, enjoy my first taste of Veronica Lee. She was smart and witty and I really enjoyed her personality. The cat and mouse between the killer and Veronica was enjoyable, but predictable. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't a stand-out. I'm not sure at this point if I will continue to read any other books in the series.