Member Reviews
I loved the first book in the Gina Harte series so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this! Honestly though you could read this as a stand-alone! (Book one is really good so you can always go back and read that too, book one reminded me of Casey Anthony). This book is another amazing detective mystery and really hard to put down! I can’t wait for the next installment of this series!
This is the second book in the Det Gina Harte Series by Carla Kovach. And BOOM that is how a good detective series is written, I loved it from the getgo as you are drawn in straight away.
The story begins with a girl being drugged and raped back in 1993, scroll forward to present day and a woman (Melissa Sanderson) is found murdered in her home tied to a chair and strangled with a blue cord of washing line. In comes DI Gina Harte who is just back from holidays and is thrown into the deep with a murder enquiry. She is appointed SIO on the case and she wants to prove herself.
Is the 1993 rape connected to the present day murder? Det Harte has to dig deep in this case both emotionally and physically as it is bringing back memories/nightmares of abuse she suffered by the hand of her late husband, she is also attacked by someone, is he the killer? How does it all tie together with all the suspects having alibis!!!!
I loved the plot line, old fashioned and was shocked that people in this day and age could act and think that way but won’t delve further for fear of ruining it for any of you! What a twist at the end. The author did an amazing job keeping you guessing all the way through and pulling it altogether. Fantastic.
I will 100% be recommending this book to my friends, I love Detective series and this has shot right up on my list.
Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and of course Carla Kovach for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is the second book in the Detective Gina Harte series although this book starts a bit slow just hang in there because that is just the calm before the storm. What starts as a mystery of who killed Melissa turns into one puzzle piece of a bigger mystery of abuse, rape and killings. This author has a very sinister mind! This book had many twists and kept you reading into the night. I was so glad this book lived up to The Next Girl which was exceptional. I definitely recommend to anyone who loves a great thriller! I look forward to the next book in this series. I will keep reading any Detective Harte book because I absolutely love this series.
This was my intro to detective Gina Harte. This is the second book but can be read as a stand alone. Maybe the cast of characters, and Gina’s past cement more quickly if you do? I liked this story so I will be checking it out!
The story is told mainly in Gina’s voice but does break to introduce us the “the wives”. These chapters really contributed to the creepy vibe and added dimension to the story.
There really isn’t a lot of surprise as to what is happening as you are told details fairly quickly. They mystery really is how the case will be solved and exactly which character(s) committed the murder.
I did enjoy this story and will be checking out more of the author’s work, highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely loved this book! It was so faced paced and kept you guessing. I’m going to be reading the first in the series too. Many thanks to netgalley for letting me review this title
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Her Final Hour, the second novel to feature DI Gina Harte, set in the fictional Midlands town of Cleevesford.
When Melissa Sanderson is murdered in her own home Gina and the team are called in to find the young mother's killer, but as they investigate they find that nothing is as it seems and deep secrets lurk beneath the perfect facade. In her first role as Senior Investigating Officer Gina puts her heart and soul into a case that reverberates close to home.
I thoroughly enjoyed Her Final Hour which has a compulsive plot and a killer twist at the end. The novel is told mostly from Gina's point of view but also has input from the wives of Melissa's husband Darrel's best friends. It gives the reader a better idea of what is going on but takes away some of the element of surprise. I didn't find this multiple viewpoint as annoying as I often do but the psychology of it, which is, I assume, the point of it, is rather heavy handed, to the level of pushing credulity. Nevertheless the novel had me turning the pages rapidly to see what was coming next. I like the gradual buildup of information and theories as the team tries to make sense of what happened and the judicious mix of forensics and common sense, but their early fixation on one suspect with no real evidence, just supposition, did not quite ring true.
Gina Harte is a traditional fictional detective with a troubled past and conflict in her personal life. She is a dedicated detective with good, but not unbelievable, instincts. She lives the case, at some personal cost, and won't give in until it's solved. Her relationship with her boss, Superintendent Briggs, is at an end, but, somehow I think there will be more mileage in it. All the other characters are developed as far as required in a plot driven novel.
Her Final Hour is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.
Excellent second book in this series. Gina is thrust into the murder investigation of a woman found tied to a chair and strangled. Gina is finally designated as SIO (Senior Investigating Officer). Gina is attacked and severely injured. There is no lack of suspects. So many things keep happening, you won't want to put it down. I read this book in 24 hours. Thank you NetGalley, Bookoutre and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book. I hope there is a third book in this series.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
DI Gina Harte is back with her team to investigate the murder of a housewife, Melissa. It soon emerges she suffered terrible domestic abuse was it the husband or the lover? Juggling her difficult relationship with her daughter and her emotional involvement with her boss, Gina, is struggling to find a balance. Soon more bodies are turning up and it seems the husbands and their stepford wives have more involvement than originally thought.
Wow, this topped Carla’s first book without a doubt. Fast paced and gritty and well deserved five stars. This is a series that can roll and roll without losing interest. This was my final read in my goodreads challenge and well worth the title of one of my favourite reads this year!
I read this one a few days ago, Her Final Hour by Carla Kovach. It held my interest from beginning to end and was creepy enough to give me chills as the story wrapped up.
It begins right away with the brutal killing of a young wife and mother named Melissa. Why was she killed? Who did it, was it her lover? Her husband? Something is weird with the husband, is he forthcoming? What about his friends? And when another woman is killed, Detective Gina Harte knows there is more to the story. Soon her own life is threatened, who is watching her? Who tries to murder her in the midst of the investigation?
The official synopsis:
Melissa Sanderson is the perfect wife and mother. She dotes on her daughter, and lives in her dream home in a quiet cul-de-sac in the suburbs. But looks can be deceiving.
Something is amiss in that house – all the neighbours think so. Some say Melissa is having an affair. Others say she’s been drinking too much. Then one night, sirens wake up the whole neighbourhood. Melissa Sanderson is dead.
Her Final Hour is told from a few different points of view and the story flows smoothly keeping the reader interested from beginning to end. I enjoyed it! Due out in August.
Thank you NetGalley, Carla Kovach and BookOuture for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review!
In 1993 a girl was drugged and raped, today she’s looking for justice. Melissa Sanderson lives in her dream home with her husband and young daughter, their lives look perfect. But looks can be deceptive. Something is wrong in the house, some neighbors say she drinks too much and her husband thinks she is having an affair. Then one night, sirens wake up the neighborhood and Melissa is dead. Detective Gina comes back from vacation and is dropped right into the investigation and finds herself being affected by the investigation because of her past. Not everyone is living the happily ever after that they lead you to believe.
I loved that this novel starts off right away with the crime happening and you get to see how everyone reacts to it. I right away didn’t like the husband because of what we learn from Melissa before she dies. I was super curious to who committed the crime right away because the husband was at the bar with his friends. I found it very interesting how these men interacted and how they interacted with their wives. Although, as a bit of a feminist myself, seeing women serve their husbands and friends like it was the sixties really angered me. But I can see how it lent to the story and the big twist in the end.
I really enjoyed the main character Gina, her history and how it made her connect to this case. I felt really sorry for her because of her past, but also because of the way she is stalked and treated in this novel. I really loved the storyline and who was committing these crimes. I loved that there was less technical parts of the way they solve a crime, there was just enough to see how they were going to go about solving the crime without getting bored. I loved the ending and how it all came together and how they were caught. I would definitely recommend this novel, I did not read the first one, but you don’t need to to be able to understand what is going on.
Pick it up August 23!
Her Final Hour. Carla Kovach
Straight off I’m going to say this is one of my Books of the Year.
I was hooked from the first chapter.
In 1993 a girl is drugged and raped.
In the present day a woman is struggling to escape an abusive marriage when she is killed.
DI Gina Harte has just landed after a few days away on holiday and is called in to lead the investigation into the death.
Gina is a good DI with a proven tack history and is well respected amongst her colleagues. What they don’t know is that she was in an abusive marriage for years, and this investigation is going to resurrect memories and take her to a really dark place.
The murder is almost perfect, and it quickly becomes apparent that the team are looking for somebody who is forensically aware and is going to be difficult to identify.
What is the connection to the rape in the prologue, that would be too much of a spoiler, but it’s just one of the strands of this plot that weaves a great story.
Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors, not everybody is living in a happy-ever-after way.
The story also shows the consequences of actions taken by the Police, and the perceptions some people have of them on a personal basis.
Gina manages to put herself in mortal danger, as well as the emotional turmoil she is in as she remembers her late husband.
Her emotions lead this to become a very personal investigation and she will have to dig deep to come out of the investigation with her mind and body intact.
This story made me think. There is something about the crime, and the perpetrator, or is it perpetrators, (you’ll have to read it to find out) that is strikingly obvious, but that I’ve never read about or considered before.
Carla Kovach has come up with an original plot with one hell of a twist at the end.
I didn’t see it coming but it gave me one of those “Of Course. That makes perfect sense” moments
The story starts of fast and just keeps going. I have used the phrase, “ I couldn’t put it down” before, and usually it just means I read it in a few sittings over a couple of days. This one I really couldn’t put down. If I didn’t have to sleep it would have been a one sitting read.
Her Final Hour
Pages: 316
Publisher: Bookouture
Publishing date: 23rd August 2018.
Melissa Sanderson is just too perfect, beautiful, poised, the ideal wife and mother with a lovely home. She’s the kind of woman people love to hate and everyone in her neighborhood suspects there’s something wrong with her, substance abuse, an extramarital affair..... Then all of a sudden she’s dead. A twisty mystery that kept me reading into the night