LAST SEEN ALIVE is the latest entry in Joanna Schaffhausen’s Ellery Hathaway mystery series, a refreshing modern look at the serial killer novel.

FBI agent Reed Markham met Boston detective Ellery Hathaway when he was saving her from the closet of infamous serial killer Francis Coben. Coben has been incarcerated for many years and now sits on death row. In order to move on with her career and save her sanity at the same time, Ellery stopped working with Reed and left her thoughts of Coben behind her.

"The last third of the novel is quite a rollercoaster ride.... [T]he gloves have completely come off and no punches are being pulled. Hang on!"

Everything might have been able to stay this way had Reed not stopped into his favorite coffee spot one morning and been approached by a familiar-looking woman who introduces herself as Kate Hunter. It takes him a moment before he recognizes her as the one who is always on television screaming about crime. They are about to attend a meeting with some other TV people and a few law enforcement types. The subject will be Francis Coben, and the object will be to get a televised interview with him. However, Coben has a big demand --- he only wants to speak with Ellery. Reed knows there are many other girls out there they never found. Coben has promised to give up those locations in exchange for a meeting with Ellery.

Reed’s next stop is to see Ellery in Boston. Not only does he have to tell her about Coben’s proposal, he has a name from him to give her: Maxine Frazier, which she knows from one of her colleague’s cases. It appears that the tip is a copycat of one of Coben’s kills, especially when they find the hands of the victim in a freezer. They need to know who is communicating with Coben --- who is in solitary for 23 hours a day --- and how they committed the crime in his exact style.

Ellery agrees to the prison meetup. Reed feels like Coben toyed with him. But now with Ellery, a former near-victim, in front of him, the situation is markedly different. This scene may be the novel’s best and is quite reminiscent of Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Thomas Harris’ THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. In fact, instead of “quid pro quo,” Coben states “tit for tat” to Ellery. It’s enough to send chills down your spine. All Ellery wants to know is the location of a missing girl they have been trying to find. Coben literally gets the upper hand on everyone and escapes, leaving Reed, Ellery and the rest of the nation’s law enforcement on the lookout for both him and his copycat.

The last third of the novel is quite a rollercoaster ride. I have read Joanna Schaffhausen’s books before, and she has always been a solid author. But with LAST SEEN ALIVE, the gloves have completely come off and no punches are being pulled. Hang on!