Their Final Moments (DI Mike Croft #3) by Jane Adams

My first book of 2020 is this very grisly crime thriller, the third in a series featuring DI Mike Croft. It was originally released in two parts: Part One, "Fade to Grey" in 1998 and Part Two published as "Final Frame" in 1999. Although not completely updated to reflect current technology, the police procedural details were solid and it was tension-filled and full of action. I have not read the first two books in the series, but I do plan to move on to #4 shortly.

In summary, Croft and many colleagues are pursuing a man who is basically a ghost. Jake Bowen operates under many different aliases and his claim to fame is filmmaking. He charms or abducts women into making various types of porn films and then he kills them -- putting it all on tape. As he gets rich from the proceeds of his "made to order" movies, he stumps the detectives by being completely under the radar. He can't be caught because no one knows who or where he really is but he's hiding in plain sight. This is a very complex case and the details of the investigation are thorough and it seems that they will never catch up and stop Jake Bowen. NO SPOILERS.

I am glad that I restarted the book today after being on holiday hiatus so that I could read it all in a single sitting as there are many characters whose relationships are complicated and quite interesting. I am looking forward to meeting up with them again in the next book and getting to know them better. The narrative is told from several points of view, including that of Jake Bowen, and the writing is quite good and the story absorbing. I liked how the switch at the end of the chapters kept me on tenterhooks wondering what would happen next. Lots of grisly details. I enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend. On to the next in the series...

This is the third in a series and this is the only one I've read thus far. It worked fine for me as a standalone and I didn't feel lost or that I'd missed anything.
Genre - crime thriller, police procedural