When Shannon Randall disappeared from her small South
Carolina hometown and her blood was found on a shirt
belonging to 18-year-old Eric Beale, the young man was
tried, convicted and later executed for her murder, even
though Shannon's body was never found. FBI agent Matt
Ranieri, who was involved in the case, became a media
darling, the "go-to" person for TV talk shows whenever a
sensational crime was committed. Now, 24 years later, a
prostitute is found shot and stabbed in Georgia, and she's
positively identified as Shannon Randall.
The discovery sends shock waves through Shannon's town, as
well as the FBI. But perhaps no one is more surprised than
Dorsey Collins, an FBI agent in Florida, who gets a call
about the case long before anything is made public.
Dorsey's father just happens to be Matt Ranieri, and the
Bureau would like Dorsey to break the news to him, despite
the fact that they rarely speak to each other.
Meanwhile, Agent Andrew Shields gets the tricky assignment
of investigating not only Shannon's murder, but now the
older mystery of her disappearance, as well. Not only that,
but he's assigned a partner -- Dorsey Collins. Andrew's boss
figures it's better to have Dorsey working the case in an
official capacity than running off and investigating on her
own, potentially embarrassing the Bureau even further.
This is an engaging mystery with descriptions of summer in
the South that will have you reaching for the iced tea.
Andrew and Dorsey are a strong team, sharing a mutual
respect and trading theories. There are just enough
romantic sparks between them to be intriguing, while not
getting in the way of the story. The two certainly need to
rely on each other, since few people in the town seem
willing to extend that famous "Southern hospitality" to the
FBI. Some blame the agency for an innocent man's death;
some are protecting secrets that have remained as hidden as
Shannon Randall's identity for more than 20 years.
As an added treat for readers of Mariah Stewart's
earlier books, there are references to some familiar names
(the Shields family, in particular, has been featured in
previous works), but this book definitely stands on its own
as a smart, suspenseful read. This thrilling series
continues in consecutive months with LAST WORDS (July) and
LAST BREATH (August).
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.
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