The Seventh Victim by Mary Burton

In The Seventh Victim, the Seattle Strangler killed 6 women 7 years ago. One other woman, Lara, survived the attack and moved back to Austin, where she trying to get on with her life. That is, until the police show up with devastating news. The Strangler is back and he's in Austin.

I really enjoyed this psychological mystery. I liked that it was written from different points-of-view and ended up being quite the page turner. I also liked that each chapter was preceded with the date and time. It's such a small thing, but it really helped me with the timeline.

The book is billed as romantic suspense. Had I known that from the start, I may not have picked it up at all. That's really not my thing. Luckily, the romantic part was kept to a minimum. In fact, the sexual tension that did exist between a couple of the characters wasn't needed at all, in my opinion, and mostly felt gratuitous.

The characters were really good. I especially liked Texas Ranger James Beck and Lara, the seventh victim. However, I didn't think she was all that bright in wandering around on her own at night with a serial killer around, especially since he got to her once already. However, I loved that Lara was a photographer because of my own interest in photography. Her obsession with photographing crime scenes, though, was morbid, but to each his own.

The ending contains a nice twist, but was a bit predictable. Perhaps I've been watching too many Criminals Minds type shows on TV.

Recommended. This is the first book I read by this author, but it probably won't be the last. I'd most likely read another book of hers providing I can find one that is more suspenseful and less romantic. ;)

For more information about this book, please visit the Kensington Books website.

For more information about the author and her other books, please visit Mary Burton's website.

Thanks to those nice people from Kensington Books for this review copy.

The Seventh Victim by Mary Burton, Kensington Books, ©2013. ISBN 9781420125054(Advance Uncorrected Proof), 362p.