I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series ‘little girls sleeping’ and now our unlikely duo of Katie and Cisco, her retired military dog are back in a wonderful second story. Kate is on the cold case files and chooses a recent case focusing on a nurse Katie knows from her PTSD treatment at the local hospital. Chase’s writing elevates the novel above traditional police procedurals as the reader really roots for the detective to succeed. A myriad of clues and suspects in a multiple victim scenario finds Katie racing against the clock to discover the killer on her own. I will read the next hundred in the series please.

Detective Katie Scott is back in charge of the cold case department of the Pine Valley police department. She picks her first case to investigate ....

Six months ago two patrolmen came across a young woman, battered and bruised, claiming to have been kidnapped. She was held for several days. She doesn't know where ..she never saw her assailant, but she does remember what he wanted from her ... the truth.

The truth hurts but the lies kill ....

The day after she interviews the woman, her body is found by a jogging couple. Has the kidnapper come back to finish the job he started?

Katie finds a pattern of women being taken captive and showing up dead in remote locations. She and her partner start following the bodies and hoping that they can solve the case before any more victims are taken.

Well written, this one has lots of twists, many plausible suspects to take a look at, and looking into backgrounds of all the victims. I enjoy her back story, and the blend of professional and personal are seamless, making this a credible read.

Many thanks to the author/ Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction/police procedural. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Her Last Whisper’ by Jennifer Chase in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second in her Detective Katie Scott series set in Pine Valley, California. Katie is now officially a detective in the police department and has been assigned to working on Cold Cases.

One of the first cases she looks into is only six months old. Amanda Payton a local nurse had run into the headlights of a passing patrol car, battered and bruised. She claimed that she had escaped a kidnapping but no evidence was found and the case quickly went cold. Then Amanda’s naked body is discovered by a jogging couple.

I enjoyed the first in the series, ‘Little Girls Sleeping’, published in May and so was very pleased to be approved for this follow-up story. Katie is still dealing with the PTSD following her experiences serving in the military. I was pleased to see her K9 counterpart, Cisco, again.

This was a completely addictive read with solid police work and some interesting twists. I certainly look forward to reading more in this series in due course.

WoW.............What a brilliant book Her Last Whisper by Jennifer Chase was. This is the second book in the Detective Katie Scott series.
I loved the first book called Little girls Sleeping and this was cracking read as well.

Detective Katie Scott has finally taking up a new post at the Pine Valley Police Department as a stand alone detective in the new cold cases department. Detective Katie Scott returned to her new position after a period of rest and recovery after working as a member of staff who were working on a very distressing case. Katie suffers from PTSD and sometimes her job role can bring back all emotions and sadness she would like to forget from her past memory. Within this new position she has a chance to investigate old cases that have gone cold and are unsolved within the Pine Valley Police Department and hopefully solve the cases which help loved ones live again after the unexplained death of a loved one.

Detective Katie Scott starts to investigate a cold case from 6 months ago which involved a kidnapping of a young woman called Amanda Peyton, she is a much loved nurse. Amanda was battered and bruised, she had escaped and ran out into the headlights of a passing patrol car. She claimed to have just escaped a kidnapping, but with no strong evidence. The case went cold and it was closed.
Katie mets with Amanda and asks her questions on what happen to her 6 months ago and she promises to keep her safe, especially as Amanda does not feel safe. She knows he will come and kidnap her again. She may not survive this time.

Did the Pine Valley police made a fatal mistake??

However, a day later Detective Katie Scott is called to a murder scene, a couple who were out jogging through the beautiful woodlands of Pine Valley, found the victim of a naked body of a woman. She looked more like a mannequin than a woman, her long brown hair is slick and wet, her body rigid in the grass. Katie recognises her as Amanda Payton, who she was talking to yesterday, this was the woman she promised to protect!!!!!

Who kidnapped and then murdered Amanda Peyton?

Will Detective Katie Scott catch the killer before they strike again?

This book has lots of twists and turns throughout and I enjoyed this book throughout. I highly recommend Her last whisper it was just brilliant!

Big Thank you to NetGalley, the author Jennifer Chase and Bookouture publishers for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Her Last Whisper by Jennifer Chase
Detective Katie Scott #2


Wham...a woman comes from nowhere and puts herself in front of a police car claiming she escaped from kidnapping that lasted for almost a week. Nearly incoherent and fearful the main word that she says, and is mentioned throughout the book, is TRUTH. That is the hook but we don’t see this woman again till Katie Scott is back on the job after a rest from whatever happened in the first book of the series. Katie’s first cold case happens to be the kidnapping even though the woman is still alive. And there I realized that cold cases are not always murders.

Katie is working in her uncle’s police department, is a war veteran who worked as a K-9 handler in the army and is back on the job as a policeman after her time in the war. She has flashbacks and PTSD and is a bit of a mess but manages to hold it together most of the time. When she goes to interview Peyton, the kidnapped woman, she finds a woman still fearful for her life and very difficult to talk to. When Peyton ends up dead...things heat up. There are more kidnappings and murders, red herrings here and there, a friend from the army that shows up needing her to help him find someone, a woman that she eventually helps, an old friend (Chad) that could be more if she is willing and of course...finding out who the serial murder is and the motivation for the murders.

I am not sure what I think of Katie. I never really got a “feel” for who she is and what makes her tick. I liked her relationship with Cisco, her K-9 dog from the military now retired, but never really saw who she had been before or during the war or what she found important in her life. She could be intense on the job and focused but she didn’t have “friends” that I could see. For some reason I felt she was guarded and unwilling to put herself out there in situations with people she might be able to be friends with. Perhaps the first book had more about her or the future books will.

On the case Katie works with a number of people that will be part of the series and over time become “family”. It seems that she and Chad will be testing the waters for “more” in the next book as he fights fires and she closes cold cases.

What I liked:
* Not knowing who the killer was right away
* Cisco – great dog
* The men in Katie’s life – all seemed nice guys who really cared about herrings
* Katie’s logical mind and the way she pursued the case
* Nick’s part in the book – wonder if he and his brother will show up in future books
* Deputy McGaven – seems like a good man
* Jane Doe’s happy ending

What I did not like:
* The sicko serial killer (that’s a given)
* Not being able to get a real feel for Katie

Did I enjoy this book? I think so
Would I read more in this series? Perhaps...to see if Katie grows on me

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

Book 2 in the Katie Scott series. This is the first book I've read from this author and I'd recommend reading book 1 before this, as there are quite a few references to the earlier book.

Although I enjoyed the book some parts were just too unbelievable for me like when Katie, a rookie detective, was allowed to examine and move a body while the forensic team stood and watched!

The book grabbed my attention at the start but sadly I found myself losing interest as the flashbacks to her military service and side investigation for a friend just distracted from the main plot.

I kept reading as I wanted to know who it was and it was a surprise.

I think this is a series that will be a slow burner but will get better.

Katie Scott, suffering from undiagnosed PTSD, has just been promoted to the rank of detective on the Pine Valley police force. Her specific job will be to review and (hopefully) solve the cold cases that have baffled the police. Her first case, just six months old, involves a kidnapping. Fortunately, the victim survived her ordeal but, without evidence, the police have labeled the case “cold”. When her cold case suddenly turns “hot”, Katie is put in charge of solving a murder.

Her Last Whisper is the second book in the Detective Katie Scott series by Jennifer Chase. It is a well-thought out police procedural with a lot of action and suspense, and an interesting array of characters. Although I haven’t read the first book in the series, it was still fairly easy to catch up with the plot line.

While I enjoyed Her Last Whisper, there were some loose ends and unanswered questions that somewhat diminished my enjoyment of the book. The interspersed stories of her military duty were also distracting, as was the additional investigation involving an old army buddy. Nevertheless, I enjoyed many aspects of the book and will probably read more by this author. I would give it 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

What he craves is their truth. "...the unadulterated reality they. Hid from everyone else. Their most personal secret."

Things are really heating up for Detective Katie Scott as she's just been named as the head of the cold case unit with the Pine Valley Sheriff's Department. Her fist day finds her looking through files and getting used to her new office in the basement of the building, close to Forensics. She's coming off some rest after her previous missing girls case when her uncle, Sheriff Wayne Scott, gives her the new assignment and she's immediately put into action. The first item she notices to work on has to do with a 6-month old report on a possible kidnapping and assault case that was dropped because the witness was uncooperative. It surprises her that this is already a cold case but she's completely shocked when Amanda Payton, a 31-year-old nurse at First Memorial Hospital is found dead in a vacant lot near Whispering Pines. Then another woman claims that she also was abducted and managed to escape but is now a fearful resident at the local psychiatric facility. Who is taking these women and why? There's a lot more going on in this complicated investigation. NO SPOILERS.

I enjoyed this second in the series as much as the first. Katie Scott is a very interesting female character with her history of military service in Afghanistan and her Army K-9 training. Her dog, Cisco, is an important member of her team as well as her new partner, Deputy Sean McGaven. Her love interest, Chad Ferguson, a firefighter, has been a life-long friend. Katie, unfortunately, has some issues with PTSD from her time in service and her experiences there. She's tough but quite good at her job. The narrative moves along with plenty of background information allowing the reader to get to know the character as well as the police procedural details. The writing is good and all of Katie's personal and professional relationships enhance the story. I can't wait to read the next installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Her Last Whisper is a fantastic crime suspense. I loved the well crafted plot and the edge of your seat roller coaster ride suspense. I look forward to reading more books in this series. Fans of suspense will not be disappointed. Thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

This is a great series and I really enjoyed this book.
Katie starts her new job looking at cold cases but soon a body is found and she’s asked to lead on the case.
Katie has been to see the victim the day before and feels like she’s let her down so does all she can to find the killer.
Her dog Cisco is part of the story again, and I love that he’s part of the investigation too.
McGaven works alongside Katie and they make a great team working their way though all the leads.
I really liked how this book built up to a breathtaking conclusion which had me racing through the pages.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. I enjoyed the first book in this series so I was excited to get back into the life of Katie Scott. Even though this is the second book in the series you could read it as a stand-alone.

After solving the case of the missing girls (in book 1) Katie Scott has been assigned to the cold case department. When looking through the cases and deciding where to start Katie notices a case that is only 6 months old. Pretty uncommon for cold cases. Katie decides to do some digging but the victim is then found dead a few days later.

Katie is assigned the case along with McGaven. These two work really well together and I can see this becoming a long term partnership. I also enjoyed the K9 elements to the book. It was good to see Cisco having a purpose now he's no longer an official working dog.

The case is quite baffling. The detectives seemed to have a lot to do with very little leads on a suspect. It seemed like they were overwhelmed with information but not all of it very helpful. The case was quite twisty and had me on the edge quite a lot. Katie likes to put herself in dangerous situations which really stress me out.

I loved seeing more of Katie's personal life and background. The side story with her sergeant was heartwarming with the important message that life is too short for silly arguments. I hope we get to see more of Katie's personal life as the series continues.

This book is the second in the series. I had not read the first book and this didn’t spoil anything. This book can be read as a stand-alone book.
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This is a police procedural book where Katie Scott is now in charge of cold cases. She starts to investigate a kidnapping that happened 6 months ago. She visits the victim and then the next day she is called to investigate the murder of the same woman.
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This book also deals with the subject of PTSD. Katie Scott suffers from this after her time in the army.
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This is a book filled with suspense and excitement. I thought the storyline was interesting. There were a few points in the book that made me feel uncomfortable. This was only because I was anxious about what was going to happen next. I loved the way this book was written as it was mainly from Katie Scott’s perspective.
My only negative point is that I guessed who the killer was earlier in the book. Overall, a great read

Brilliant! Brilliant! Absolutely freaking brilliant!! I had liked author Jennifer Chase's first book, I knew that she had to develop her main character. This book proved my predictions and my faith in the author right. The writing had a maturity that the story and its main character Katie deserved.

A police procedural, where Detective Katie Scott was in charge of the cold cases which led her to a 6 month old case and the kidnapping of Amanda Peyton who managed to escape. Katie met with her and promised to keep her safe. A day later, she was called to a murder scene - murder of Amanda Peyton!!

The author took the book from this point and showed me how an investigation ought to be done, with careful examination of each probable suspect and their points of intersection with the victim. Another escaped woman, a dead body and a kidnapped woman added to the ordeal. It was obvious someone was targeting the women. I liked how the author narrowed the field of investigation with every chapter making me feel that Katie was closing in.

Katie was fantastic and so real. Gut instincts and her time in the military gave her an added flair to solve the cases. PTSD affected her, but her sheer strength helped her to overcome it, at least deal with it. Her K9 Cisco was a darling, always by her side. I wished he had been used more in the investigation. McGavern was her partner, loved how in-sync they were.

It was Katie who led the book from beginning to end. Her passion and drive were never ending. The story also had hope in her personal life weaved into it which gave me an added insight about her. I liked her in book 1, I loved her in this book.

Katie has just been assigned a new assignment. Taking over cold cases is something she looks forward to and in a day she is assigned one which is unusual. Just six months old and already consigned to being a cold case because the "victim is not co operative".

Taking it from there trying to find out what and why Amanda is so terrified is not easy and when she fails and her body is found, Katie is more than determined to find out parallel links to other cases in the county and bring justice to the victims.

When another girl goes missing and then another Katie knows she has her work cut out for her because the suspect is someone who is in plain sight, and none of the detectives seem to be able to see it.

Twisty in the nicest possible way, not very complicated where your head turns in trying to connect the dots, this was a good mystery thriller read.

Title: Her Last Whisper
Series:Detective katie Scott #2
Author; Jennifer Chase
Genre: thriller
October 21 ,2019
Bookouture
Rating:5
Katie focuses her mind, trying to keep another anxiety attack at bay. The victim’s long brown hair is slick and wet, her body rigid in the grass. She looks more like a mannequin than the woman Katie had spoken with only yesterday, the woman she had promised to protect…

When a cold, naked body is discovered by a couple on a jog through the lush woodlands of Pine Valley, California, new recruit Detective Katie Scott is stunned to discover the victim is Amanda Payton – a much-loved local nurse and the woman at the heart of an unsolved case she’s been investigating whilst getting a grip on her crippling PTSD.

Weeks earlier, Amanda had run, battered and bruised, out into the headlights of a passing patrol car. She claimed to have just escaped a kidnapping, but with no strong evidence, the case went cold. The Pine Valley police made a fatal mistake…

Katie is certain the marks on Amanda’s wrists complete a pattern of women being taken, held captive and then showing up dead in remote locations around Pine Valley – and she won’t let someone die on her watch again.

But then a beautiful office worker with a link to the hospital where Amanda worked goes missing. With only days before the next body is due to show up, can Katie make amends for her past by saving this innocent life?


My Thoughts
Would I recommend it? Yes
Will I read the rest of the series? yes in fact I have the first book in this series to read and review as well.
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Wow what a story,from the very start to the very end it had me hooked , so much so I didn't want to put it done , now after reading this ,I want to go back and read the first book in this series since I already have it and even though I haven't read it yet I had no problem following this , and the characters are amazing.Other thing I loved about this story was that it addresses the issue of PTSD , and also shows what our soldiers go through .With that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

After her great success in solving a cold case in her hometown, Katie is now officially a Cold Case Detective for the Pine Valley Sheriff's Department, appointed by her uncle, who happens to be the sheriff. Nervous at the immensity of her task, Katie is welcomed to her new job and new office by the whole department. After perusing a few files, Katie decides to focus on a particular case of a mysterious woman who dies after escaping from her kidnapper. She is only able to utter a few words to the police who find her in the woods: "I told the truth." When the body of a dead woman is found, the link to Katie's cold case seems likely, so she takes over as lead detective. Focusing on the case is how Katie keeps her PTSD at bay just as she keeps her childhood sweetheart at arm's length. The uncovering of "the truth" of the murders, causes Katie to realize how much she has to lose. How will this new found perspective influence her behavior is left hanging until the next book.

I enjoyed reading Her Last Whisper. The story gives you the creepers, especially when the perp whispers into his victims' ears - Tell me the truth... tell me the truth... oooooh, scarrryyy!!!

I loved the way Katie's portrayed in the story. Her past might come back to haunt her but as the story ends, she overcomes a couple of her fears. Her bond with Cisco is adorable. McGaven, Chad, Nick and Sherrif Scott are also well portrayed in the story. There's one more character who grabbed my attention - Jane Doe.

I was hooked on to the story until the end. The identity of the killer was totally unexpected!! The reason - which usually has something to do with the perp's trauma/abuse - was not that great, but okay, acceptable. Something seemed amiss. There were parts which seemed dragged while some just flew by. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story.

I recommend this book to those who love to read books of the genre mystery and thrillers.

After reading the first book in this gripping and very addictive series Little Girl Sleeping which I awarded five stars I could not wait to start reading this book. Katie Scott the main character was a rookie cop and she decided she wanted more. Katie joined the army and did two tours of Afghanistan working in bomb disposal. When she came home she brought her partner, a German shepherd named Cisco. Katie goes back to work and has just been made a detective after her first case back at home. Now Katie has been put in charge of cold cases. An assault she interviews the victim and the next day her victim is found dead. Katie's cold case is now a homicide. A real page turner which got my heart racing and tapping my kindle faster and faster while sat on the edge of my seat. Katie is after a very devious serial killer who will not be stopped. A twisty psychological thriller which puts Katie once again in danger. I love this series , Katie and Cisco and the setting Whispering Pines can't wait to visit again. An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Young women are being murdered in the California town of Pine Valley and the police have no suspects until one kidnap victim escapes and Det Katie Scott resolves to find her captor.
This was a fast paced exciting book with great secondary storyline which gives the reader more of an insight into Katie's past. I can't wait for the next book in this series.
Review posted on Goodreads and Amazon