Their Last Breath is an ambitious
police procedural/thriller that engrosses you from the start. Gillian Lane
returns home from a business trip overseas, hoping to surprise her husband.
Instead, she gets the surprise of her life when she finds a stranger in her
house who chases her out into the road, where she is hit by a car.
Warren
Carter is at home, struggling to cope with retirement when he gets an early
morning call, asking him if he'll come down to talk to a police officer who
works with the Professional Standards Department (PSD). He fears the reason may
be something to do with an old case, called Bloodbath Farm, that involved
police corruption. A few things are clear from the start; Carter is also
mourning his late wife, and he has something to hide about the Bloodbath Farm
case.
He heads
in to talk to Caroline Barker and gets the surprise of his life; will he come
back to work? They have a case and need his help.
Detective
Sergeant Becky Harris is woken by her phone, early, and her husband isn't
pleased. Before she can leave to report to work her husband gets another dig
in. Their relationship is on the rocks. While her career is doing well and she's
recently been commended at work, he wants to start a family and is sick of her
long hours. She finds herself at Gillian Lane's house, where Lane's husband and
an unidentified woman have been murdered.
Carter,
meanwhile, has five dead bodies and a sixth victim en route to hospital after a
fire at an old building that was once a hospital. The victims have been chained
to the wall, suggesting human trafficking. Although the fire destroyed some of
the evidence, they find enough to know that a police officer's warrant card has
been recovered beside the body of one of the women. The ID has been destroyed
by the fire, but because of the potential that a police officer was involved,
PSD will handle the investigation, which will be kept confidential.
Carter
and Harris soon cross paths; they used to work together. Harris's case looks
like the work of a serial killer on the surface, but Carter can't tell Harris
anything about his investigation ... not yet.
This is
the foundation for what turns out to be an intricate story that weaves Carter
and Harris's perspectives throughout the story. The reader gets to follow both
investigations, and can start to see the pieces coming together. There are also
chapters from Gillian's perspective, as well as Hayat's, one of the victims
from Carter's case. The author does a great job of distinguishing each
narrative. One of the things to also appreciate about this approach is that
this isn't a book where lip service is paid to the victims. With sections from
Gillian's and Hayat's point of view, these victims are well developed, with
their histories, fears, feelings and hopes poured out on the pages.
To say
too much more on the plot would start to give some things away. There are some
specific things that I applaud. One is that Carter's investigation went in a
direction I haven't seen specifically tackled in another book. Having read some
other works by Hodge, I'm aware the author is often inspired to address real
world issues in her stories, and this one is no different. A note from the
author is included at the end to that effect.
Another
is that the backstory for Carter is as well developed as the ongoing
investigations. There is a sense of depth and history to all of these characters,
and that really makes it possible to invest in their personal and professional
challenges. You really feel like you've stepped into their world for this, but
that their lives continue on after you've read the last page.
Overall,
this is a compelling thriller that sinks its hooks in early and doesn't let go.
The pace intensifies as the cases progress and left me turning the pages late
into the night. I've enjoyed every one of Hodge's books I've read, and this one
is no exception; I highly recommend it.
Sandra
Ruttan ©2019
Sandra
Ruttan is the managing editor of Bronzeville Bee, an editor with Bronzeville
Books, the author of six novels, including What Burns Within and Harvest
of Ruins, and regularly contributes articles on writing and publishing
at
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