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BOOK INFO
Title: The Last Scoop
Author: R.G. Belsky
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Publish Date: May 5, 2020
Genre: Amateur Investigator
Series: Clare Carlson #3
My Rating: 4/5
BOOK BLURB
The scariest kind of serial killer—one you don’t know exists
Martin Barlow was Clare Carlson’s first newspaper editor, a beloved mentor who inspired her career as a journalist. But, since retiring from his newspaper job, he had become a kind of pathetic figure—railing on about conspiracies, cover-ups, and other imaginary stories he was still working on. Clare had been too busy with her own career to pay much attention to him.
When Martin Barlow is killed on the street one night during an apparent mugging attempt gone bad, it seems like he was just an old man whose time had come.
But Clare—initially out of a sense of guilt for ignoring her old friend and then because of her own journalistic instincts—begins looking into his last story idea. As she digs deeper and deeper into his secret files, she uncovers shocking evidence of a serial killer worse than Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, or any of the other infamous names in history.
This really is the biggest story of Martin Barlow’s career—and Clare’s, too—as she uncovers the path leading to the decades-long killer of at least twenty young women. All is not as it seems during Clare’s relentless search for this serial killer. Is she setting herself up to be his next victim?
MY REVIEW
The Last Scoop is the third book in the Clare Carlson series by R.G. Belsky. When Clare learns her mentor has been killed in an apparent mugging, she takes on his last story. At first, she is looking into corruption in the city. As she investigates, she is led to another story her mentor was working. This one involves a serial killer that has gone under the radar for decades. Clare suspects her mentor was killed because of his stories, so she investigates on her own to discover what led to his death.
Clare is a flawed character, but she has some great investigative skills. She is a Pulitzer Prize winner working for a TV news station. Big stories bring in more money for the news station, but her latest reporting is more personal. She feels guilt about ignoring her mentor, and now that he’s dead, she wants to uncover what happened to him.
I’ve read the first book in this series, but missed the second one. This is a good mystery series, and I plan to read the second book soon to get caught up. I recommend reading the first book, but The Last Scoop can be read as a stand-alone.
Intriguing characters. Gripping mystery. Engaging, interesting, and suspenseful.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Books in the Clare Carlson series:
- Yesterday’s News
- Below the Fold
- The Last Scoop
- Beyond the Headlines
- It’s News to Me
- Broadcast Blues