Review: The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Last Echo

Author: Kimberly Derting

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Publication Date: 4.17.2012

Pages: 358

Genre: Paranormal, Romance

Series: Yes (Body Finder #3)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: A-

Summary (from Goodreads):

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.

When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye…

Review:

I went into this series with such a feeling of trepidation, mostly because I believed this was the last book in the series. Kimberly Derting has assured us it is most assuredly not, and thank heavens. I don’t know what I’d do without this series. Hands down the Body Finder series is one of my all time favorites.

The Last Echo is everything I have come to love about this series: It’s romantic, thrilling, mysterious, and hot. By book 3, you know what you’re getting yourself into. Violet is one of my favorite heroines. She is feisty, kind, sweet, and fearless. This is the girl you want in your corner when the chips are down. I could read about her adventures all day.

One of the things I love most about this series is the romance. Violet and Jay are the prom king and queen of the YA world. Not only does their romance sizzle, but I feel like it also showcases a healthy young adult relationship. They aren’t perfect—far from it, but they work through their problems, they respect each other, and they genuinely love each other. The only thing that could throw a wrench in their idyllic love affair is Rafe, but I refuse to admit Derting would pull a love triangle on me.

This isn’t a series that runs short on action and thrills, but I really feel like Derting brought her A game to the table on this one. The writing is sharp and tight, and she can weave a story with twists and turns that makes my head spin. It is such a total joy to read this series. I also love the team aspect to this. I love the cast of characters that have been compiled and how they all have these amazing abilities that click together to make them quite the formidable crime solving team.

I love when people ask me to recommend a YA mystery to them. I immediately point them in the direction of this series and I’ve yet to hear a single complaint about it.

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