"exciting romantic suspense thriller"

In 1983 in the town of Hatton Shannon Randall disappeared and the chief of police thought that eighteen year old Eric Beale from the wrong side of tracks had something to do with it. Out of his depth he calls in the FBI who sends Special Agent Matt Ranieri to take over the case. Although he couldn't get a confession out of Eric, Shannon was seen in his car, her blood was found on his shirt as was her homework book. When the case comes to trial Matt is so convincing that the jury finds Eric guilty and sentences him to death. He is executed eight years later.

In the present Shannon's body with a bullet and stab wounds is found on Shelter Island off the coast of Georgia. She died approximately eight hours ago which means an innocent person died. Special Agent Andre Shields is assigned to find out who killed Shannon assisted by Matt's daughter FBI agent Dorsey Collins who is unofficially working with him.. When they arrive in Hatton, Dorsey thinks that Shannon ran away and was a victim of abuse. Getting answers in the small town won't be easy as the townsfolk know how to keep secrets. As the FBI agents work the case, romantic feelings spring up but they don't let their feelings get in the way of finding out who beat up Shannon before she ran away and never returned home.

Mariah Stewart can always be counted on to write an exciting romantic suspense thriller and LAST LOOK is no exception. The protagonists are totally believable in their actions and desires especially Dorsey who know what she learns will hurt her father whose reputation was made by the Eric case. Ms. Stewart does a good job of showing how the small town inhabitants close their doors politely to the outside authorities.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 27, 2007

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Summary

News that the body of a recently murdered prostitute—shot through the heart at close range, stabbed repeatedly and dumped on Georgia's Shelter Island—has been identified as Shannon Randall stuns the FBI, particularly Special Agent Dorsey Collins. Twenty-four years ago, nineteen year old Eric Louis Beale was convicted and later executed for Shannon's murder—and the agent in charge of the investigation was Dorsey's father. Now Dorsey is determined to find out where her father's investigation went wrong, what part he played in the death of an innocent young man, and where Shannon has been all this time.

The heat is on FBI Special Agent Andrew Shields to discover what happened to Shannon on that night decades ago, and to find out who killed her and why. Dorsey shadows Andrew's every investigative move, hoping to redeem her father's reputation and capture a cunning killer. Together, Dorsey and Andrew unravel a shocking mystery that will shatter one family, and rock an entire town.