Review of "Last Seen Alive: An Ellery Hathaway Mystery" by Joanna Schaffhausen

 

In this 5th book in the 'Ellery Hathaway' series, the police detective confronts the serial killer she escaped from years before. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

At the age of fourteen, Ellery Hathaway was abducted by a sadistic serial killer who raped her, carved her up with a knife, and shut her up in a dank, putrid closet.



Ellery was on the point of death when she was rescued by FBI Agent Reed Markham.



Hathaway and Markham's names have been linked ever since in articles, books, and movies about the perpetrator, Francis Michael Coben, who murdered at least 17 girls.

The publicity adds to Ellery's distress, because people are constantly approaching her to ask questions and stare at her scars. Nevertheless, Ellery goes on to become a Boston police detective.....



.....and sometimes works on cases with her rescuer, Virginia-based Agent Reed Markham.



Years after the rescue, Ellery and Reed begin a personal relationship, but their 'hero and victim' status - and the constant pointing, staring and gossip - poison their romance. So with Ellery working in Boston and Reed working in Virginia/Washington, the investigators maintain a distance unless work brings them together.

Coben, who's been on death row for almost two decades, has always been suspected of having more victims than were found, and the missing girls' families are in limbo and suffering.



Prompted by a reality TV producer, Coben now offers to provide information about a missing girl named Tracy Trajan on the condition that Reed and Ellery visit him in prison.



The encounter would be filmed for a true crime television show and give Coben the attention he so badly craves. Reed is willing to do the interview but Ellery refuses until the aggressive smarmy TV people and Tracy's parents pressure her into agreeing.





During the prison visit Coben makes it clear he has unfinished business with Ellery, and she's glad he's sequestered from the world. Or is he?

A killing near Boston has all the earmarks of a Coben murder, and Ellery and Reed suspect Coben is the puppeteer for a copycat. The detectives make it their business to determine who the copycat is and how he/she communicates with Coben. Once the investigators figure it out, things take a dramatic and dangerous turn.

All this is very hard on Ellery, who's been trying to get out of the limelight and get on with her life.



It's tough on Reed also, who feels guilty for not having caught Coben sooner. Reed doesn't feel like a hero and shies away from the public adulation.



We get a peek into the detectives' personal lives when Ellery visits her mother in Chicago, plays with her basset hound Speed Bump, and liaises with her Boston Police Department partner Dorie.



For Reed's part, he visits with his daughter Tula and cooks delicious meals.

There's plenty of suspense and surprises in this page turner as well as blood and gore....so not for the faint-hearted. Recommended to readers who like thrillers, especially Ellery Hathaway fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, Joanna Schaffhausen, and Minotaur Books for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars