The last sinner

Is the potential return of a series villain the end for a clever detective and his daughter, a true-crime author, in the last book in Jackson's Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya series? On the streets of the French Quarter of New Orleans, an unnamed killer is plotting his next crime with satisfaction. He's been waiting a long time to go after Kristi Bentz and end her string of true-crime bestsellers. But when the murderer makes his move, he's thrown off course by the unexpected arrival of Kristi's husband, Jay McKnight. In the ensuing struggle, Jay is killed and Kristi left in shock. Her father, Det. Rick Bentz, wants to comfort his daughter, but he and partner Det. Reuben Montoya have other things to worry about when an earlier case resurfaces in a way that seems impossible. They'd thought Father John, a fake priest obsessed with killing women in the name of God, was dead after their last face-off, but their most recent string of cases follow his M.O. to a T: working girls choked to death by a string of sharpened rosary beads. Is Father John back, or do Bentz and Montoya have a copycat on their hands? The case is clearly linked to Kristi, who wrote a hit book on the so-called Rosary Killer and whose agent is demanding she do press and a follow-up volume. As Kristi worries that the unnamed killer may just be waiting to strike again, help arrives in the form of mysterious stranger Cruz Montoya, Reuben's brother, who may need Kristi's help. Excitement for series fans looking to revisit Bentz and Montoya's greatest hits while promising something new for the future. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.