Excellent story. ( )

An excellent choice for crime fiction enthusiasts. This one kept up my steady attention, but as the tale approached the climax of the book, I was hooked. I literally raced through the last 30 pages and had one of those moments that are just great in books like this – you know the ones where you find yourself saying to yourself, “Nuh uh! That didn’t just happen.” For me, a great ending just “makes” a book.

While I did have a couple of moments of feeling like the author didn’t trust me to understand the story line, or remember past plot points, overall, I do recommend Her Final Words – as long as you enjoy crime fiction, that is, and aren’t uncomfortable with the requisite crime descriptions that take place in this genre.

Balanced viewpoints were presented, the “puzzle” of the story was intriguing; recommended as a 4-star read.

Published August 1, 2020, Her Final Words is available in paperback, Audio CD, and for Audible Audiobook and Kindle. Please consider purchasing through https://bookshop.org/shop/TheBookishBirder – the online bookstore that donates 75% of the book’s profit margin to independent bookstores. Desiree does receive a small commission should you purchase through this link; however, she shares this out of her enduring love for corner, indie bookshops everywhere.

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A seventeen years old girl has confessed to killing a twelve-year-old boy. Even though both the confession and the evidence point to the murder...’ FBI Agent Lucy Thorne decides she needs to dig deeper into the case. This takes her into small town in Idaho with close-knit community with a congregation that exerts a great deal of influence on the community as a whole. The tenets of their belief is that no modern medicine or medical care is allowed for the parishioners...including the children. Idaho’s” shield laws” allow this as it is their legal First Amendment rights...but the question is are the church members involved somehow in a boy murder... and what else are they possibly hiding? I had to check out the law and found that it is indeed a law that is held in more states than just Idaho. That in itself is scarier than the fictional story. Overall, it was a really enjoyable story. It felt believable and contained enough twists to make me want to try another book by this author. ( )

This book was touted as a psychological thriller--it was not. It began when an FBI agent arrived in a small town in Idaho investigating a church "cult" and a recent murder. While there a young lady admits to the murder, and then never speaks again. A good premise--but the execution was very poor. There were too many characters to keep track of which did not advance what little plot there was. Also, each chapter was labeled with a person's name and the date, such as: Lucy, 3 weeks ago, Liza, yesterday. It was very difficult to follow the story--by about 2/3 of the way in, I could have cared less. Not recommended. 347 pages ( )

It seems like an open-and-shut case for FBI special agent Lucy Thorne when Eliza Cook walks into the field office. The teenage girl confesses to murdering a young boy. Disturbingly composed, she reveals chilling details only the killer could know. Beyond that Eliza doesn’t say another word, leaving a vital question met with dead silence: ( )