Erin and her husband Rodney have been living in a religious complex, The Temple of Brighter Light, with their toddler Kylie. Kylie is about to turn three and has been chosen to leave the complex and live with other women and girls in a community where she will be trained as a priestess, but where she will never see Erin and Rod again.  

Erin tells Kelly and Claudia she has changed her mind about allowing Kylie to leave, but now Ron has disappeared with Kylie, leaving only a cryptic note.  Claudia manages to be allowed inside the compound, hired by Brother Stedman the leader, to analyze the handwriting of TBL members as Stedman suspects some of the members are not as devout as they ought to be.  With Kelly in tow, Claudia finds herself in a position to possibly locate Kylie, but things aren’t what they seem and soon the two women are in much deeper than they expected, not sure how to get out and at the same time save a little girl.  

Claudia Rose has a fascinating occupation, though there is not quite as much graphology used to untangle things this time.  Claudia and Kelly are well-developed heroines and Kelly’s past is neatly incorporated into the story.  Detective Joel Jovanic, Claudia’s boyfriend, is still recovering from a gunshot wound, but is very helpful using his law enforcement contacts to help slide the pieces in place, a ultimately saving Kylie, Kelly and Claudia. 

The psychology of the cult and the effects it has on different people, including Kelly, is very interesting and the plot is carefully laid out, allowing readers to guess what is really going on before Claudia and Kelly put all the pieces together.  Some references to ancient religious texts add another lever to Claudia’s fascination with her career.  A thoughtful, intelligent mystery, Last Writes combines the “write” amount of psychological profiling with some good old-fashioned nosing around.                                                    

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry