I love a good book from Carolyn Arnold and this more than lived up to my expectations. This is the sixth book in the Detective Amanda Steel series so, as I usually say, I recommend reading the series for better context, backstory, and character development. While that much is true, there is enough explanation of previous events for this to be a highly entertaining, well written, pacey, standalone novel.

As usual, the story centres on Amanda Steele. Imagine giving your ex a second chance only to find a dead woman on his bed. Amanda is unswerving in her investigation to find the truth and potentially exonerate her ex, or to convict him of murdera. Partner Trent will follow her to the gates of hell and back, and is more than a little in love with her.

I do not want to put out any spoilers so I shall just say that I think this is the best in the series and I’m happy to recommend it to any police procedural/thriller readers, with my usual caveat that your experience will be enhanced by reading how Amanda got to be who she is in this book. I can’t wait to read and review book seven soon. I gave Last Seen Alive, by Carolyn Arnold, five stars

Detective Amanda Steele is on date with old flame Logan and when they go back to his place, things come to a dramatic end when there is a dead body, clearly murdered on his bed. The woman, is Logan’s wife, Claire, but her ID say otherwise. With the proximity to the crime, Steele is not allowed to investigate but twists some arms to be allocated the case. With partner, Trent, Steele tries to track down confirmation the body is actually Claire and how she ended up in town dead. Logan is arrested and Steele needs to clear his name, believing his innocence. Claire had a dark past and those close to her seem to be meeting with ‘accidents’. Then the killer threatens Steele’s family.
A gripping police procedural, Carolyn Arnold always delivers an exciting reading with Steele. It is beneficial to have read previous books to understand Steele’s character and her link to adopted daughter Zoe.

Sixth in the Detective Amanda Steele books
Absolutely love this series
If you are thinking of starting to read a new series this is the one
This book is as good as her first
You won’t want to put it down
Thanks NetGalley

Sixth in this series featuring Detective Amanda Steele.. What a start to a story and the suspense continues throughout. A good read.

I loved this instalment following the death of Amanda's ex lover Logan's estranged wife Claire who is found dead in his bed, it seems like an open and shut case, she's in Logan's bed, in underwear, they have been estranged for 4 years and the gun used to kill her is Logan's. Yet Amanda is convinced Logan isn't guilty and the main factor is she is there when he discovers his wives body as he's brought home for a one night stand. Question is, is Logan innocent or is he using her as an obvious excuse. Because who would bring home a detective if they murdered their ex wife and left their body on their bed.

I love Carolyn Arnold and the Amanda Steele series is one of my favourite there's always so much going on we usually have the investigation, the killer and Amanda and Trent's personal stories in tangent. Which is pretty much the layout of this instalment except we have a lot of flashback chapters in this one which helped me develop a sense of who our murdered girl was yet it didn't explain really the why she had been murdered. But either way I really enjoyed it. The legal knowledge and criminal procedure is written extremely well it reads like someone who has done thee research i frigging love it!!

Amanda is one of my favourite detectives she is a kick ass lady and I love how she is fighting for Logan, as the odds are completely against him. . This is why I love this series! I couldn't help as well but laugh at the dark humour that finally Amanda allows herself to go on a date and her date has a dead woman in his bed.
The mixture of the past and presence made this more interesting and exciting because in the present we are hearing information from Logan and others which is sketchy at best so when the story is slowly reviled it blew my mind.

If you want a great series look no further pick up the Amanda Steele series and get ready for an intense emotional rollercoaster. This instalment is full of twists and turns with fantastic writing Arnold knows how to keep the reader wanting more! I will always want more! Easy 4 stars

Thank you to bookouture, Carolyn Arnold and Netgalley for a an ARC of Last Seen Alive in exchange for my fair and honest opinions.

This is book number 6 in the series. It doesnt matter , you still get a bit of a background story in the book. I was hooked right from the very start. It had me on the edge of my seat and I couldnt wait to find out the ending.

Reading Between the Wines book review #10/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: Last Seen Alive (Detective Amanda Steele Book 6)
Author: Carolyn Arnold
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: The good thing about living in a small area is that you know mostly everyone. The bad thing about living in a small area is that you know mostly everyone.
Amanda is on yet another case where she knows a suspect which tends to warp her judgment, as it would anyone. I sped through this book holding my breath as it seemed Trent and Amanda were getting so much closer but yet further away. The way this book ended had me more excited to see where this relationship is going. Book 7 releases in just under a month!

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Bookouture for an advanced copy of @LastSeenAlive.

#LastSeenAlive #CarolynArnold #Bookouture #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

This is the sixth book in the series featuring Detective Amanda Steele. I haven’t read any of the previous ones but found this read well as a stand-alone. Amanda is persuaded by her friend Becky to have a night out. There she bumps into Logan, an old boyfriend. They head back to his place but get a nasty shock as they discover the body of his ex wife Claire murdered in his bed. He swears he hasn’t seen her for four years but he becomes the main suspect as his prints are found on the gun. Amanda is certain that Logan is innocent and that someone is setting him up. The case becomes more complex when the ID on the body is not Claire. Amanda and her partner Trent have to prove Logan’s innocence but in doing so Amanda puts her newly adopted daughter Zoe in danger. There are so any twists and turns to uncover and these make the book an excellent read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love a good opening scene. Amanda is hooking up with an old boyfriend, Logan, after a night out with friends. The romance is interrupted when they stumble upon a grisly, murder scene in Logan’s bedroom. A woman in lingerie lies dead on the bed. Logan, Amanda’s ex, is the main suspect in this case but Amanda feels like there are more questions than answers and she believes that Logan is innocent. She now has to work with her partner, Trent, to seek answers before Logan is locked away for a crime that she believes, he didn’t commit.

I enjoyed the tension in this case. Amanda was not only racing against the clock but she was also working against her department and in particular, her Supervisor. The case was also multilayered, interconnected with cold cases and other suspicious happenings. This made it quite suspenseful. Amanda’s personal relationship is also full of ups and downs. I enjoy the role that Zoe plays in her life and I am intrigued by her relationship with her partner, Trent.

Another stellar addition to the series. I can’t wait to find out what awaits Detective Amanda Steele in the next installment.

Amanda gives an ex a second chance. they head to his bedroom but their passion is killed in an instant. On the bed is a body. Logan claims it is his estranged wife but her ID says otherwise. Can Amanda trust her instincts that her lover is innocent or has she hooked up with a killer?
Last Seen Alive is the 6th book to feature Detective Amanda Steele. There are mentions of events from previous books and character development plotlines but no spoilers.
As with the earlier books, it is Amanda's character that drives the plot. She is first on the murder scene, involved with the main suspect and convinced of his innocence. Her senior officer thinks she is too personally involved in the case to act objectively but her tenacity reveals discrepancies in the evidence.
Her partner Trent backs her up all the way. He is loyal and a little bit in love with her. I felt his heartache that she has chosen Logan and the case eats away at him because he is friends with the victim's sister.
Most of the novel is written in the present day but there are some flashbacks to show the victim's past. The plot is delivered through reasonably short chapters which maintains a fast pace as Amanda hunts for the truth.
Last Seen Alive is a dramatic detective thriller with a strong lead character.

I have loved reading all the previous in the series and this was no exception. A thrilling storyline and great characters. Looking forward to reading more.

I good solid detective/thriller. The plot was complex and not obvious and the end result was believable. I found the writing style a little clunky as I felt that it didn’t read as easily as I expected., maybe me! But altogether I enjoyed reading this and would be happy to read more in the series. Thank you Neygalley for the ARC.

Detective Amanda Steele is at it again in this new installment of the "Detective Amanda Steele" series by Caroline Arnold. I remember being impressed with Caroline Arnold's writing when I had read "Her Frozen Cry", the previous book in the series and this book has again reinforced my liking of this author. "Last Seen Alive" opens with detective Amanda hooking up with Logan for a one-night stand after a chance encounter, having been out-of-touch with him for quite some time since their break-up several months ago. However, their nightcap is put to a halt when Amanda finds the body of a woman in Logan's bed and the matter only gets more intriguing when Logan says that it is his "ex"-wife Claire.

Though the case gets assigned to other cops in her unit and they proceed full-on with charging Logan for the murder, Amanda is unable to shake off the feeling that Logan is being set-up. After failing to get her points across to her nemesis, the new Sergeant Graves, Amanda goes over her head to the Chief Buchanan and gets the case assigned to her and her partner Trent. However, the case only gets more and more intriguing as they proceed to find out more about Claire and it seems there is a definite possibility that Claire's shady past caught up with her. What are the shady things Claire was involved in? Is that the reason she has been killed? Or is Logan involved in the murder of his wife?

Author Caroline Arnold has put together another story of intriguing characters and complicated events that grabs the reader's attention and pulls them into it's world. The pace of the story never lets up from the beginning; it only heats up more and more with a wonderful car chase towards the end. There are also some interesting moments between Amanda and Trent that only makes us more invested in knowing Amanda as a person too. The fact that she is shown as this person with her own faults and virtues, and someone who is always trying to do the right thing despite of her traumatic past, makes her more real to the readers.

This is yet another wonderful, interesting and very well-written police procedural from Caroline Arnold and the fact that she is the queen of police procedurals is undisputable.

FANTASTIC crime thriller with Amanda caught in the middle of a murder investigation involving an old boyfriend accused of killing his wife Claire. Well written with great characters & lots of suspense throughout amidst a great story line. Enjoyed totally & RECOMMEND fully this & the whole series. Thanks to #NetGalley & #Bookouture for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Last Seen Alive by Carolyn Arnold is the sixth book in the Brilliant Detective Amanda Steele series and one of the best series you can get you teeth into. I have loved this series and always have me glued to my chair from the start till the end. Carolyn's books never disappoint and always been brilliant It's a brilliant police procedural packed with lots of action, especially as it has great twists and turns throughout as well, and will have you up to the early hours of the morning if you start to read just before you go to bed!!!

I highly recommend this Detective Amanda Steele series. They have all been a 5 star read.

4.5 rounded up. Detective Amanda Steele is back to solve another case, but this one is personal. While out for an evening with friends, Amanda runs into an old boyfriend and they hit it off, once again. They head back to his house and when they enter the bedroom, they find a dead body on his bed. The murder victim is his ex-wife who he hasn't seen in several years. He is the main suspect and when the evidence points to Logan as the murderer, he is arrested and charged with the murder. Amanda is sure her did not kill her and that there are too many inconsistencies in the evidence and at the scene. She is sure he is being framed and something in his wife's past is the reason why. When the case is assigned to another detective team by their new sergeant, Amanda is angry. Can she get the case reassigned so she can determine if Logan is guilty or innocent?

I really like the Detective Amanda Steele series. Last Seen Alive is set in Prince William County in northern Virginia. Detective Amanda Steele is partnered with Detective Trent Stenson and they make a great team. Amanda is a great character. She adopted a young girl a year ago, and has to balance being a mom with her job. Luckily she has support from her sister, and Zoe loves spending time with her aunt and cousin. I love getting to know Trent a bit as well. It makes the story more realistic to see their personalities and life. Carolyn Arnold's writing is descriptive, and pulls the reader into the story. The plot moves quickly and there are twists to keep you guessing. The story is basically told by Amanda, but there are some flashbacks into Clair's life to allow us clues to why she was murdered. I enjoyed the surprises along the way, the building of suspense and clues that kept me flipping the pages. I thought I figured out the killer, but wasn't sure until the end. Themes touched on in this book include murder, relationships, families, respect, loyalty, reputation, alcoholism, domestic abuse and secrets. Once again, I enjoyed visiting Amanda's world and recommend this book to those who enjoy crime thrillers, detective stories and police procedurals.

Amanda Steele is back! This is now book 6 and as ever Amanda is faced with an action packed mystery to solve.
This time it involves Amanda having a hook up with an old flame Logan. As they arrive at his place, they find Logan's ex-wife, (who apparently left 4 years ago) in bed, murdered!!! Such a wicked plot! LOL!!!
To complicate things even more, Amanda's daughter Zoe is threatened by the killer!!!
Naturally, Amanda sets out to solve the murder straight away joining forces with her partner Trent who is an amazing character.
It's a brilliant police procedural packed with lots of action, twists and turns.
Brilliant series!

Book 6 in a fantastic series. It is a great story with plenty of twists which grabbed me from the start. I look forward to reading more

This is book six in the Detective Amanda Steele case and another fab edition to the series. I joined the series several books ago and it's great to be able to pick up the thread in both Amanda's personal and professional life, She's a strong determined female character that isn't afraid to fight for what she feels is right despite the potential fall out.

This one was a who dunn it puzzle which was pulled together throughout the story with a few mishaps along the way to reveal the completed picture. A satisfying read that was suspenseful and engaging.

Detective Amanda Steele is having a night out - rare for her, when she bumps into an old flame Logan Hunter and they head back to his place. Only when they get there Amanda knows something is off, and they find the body of his wife Claire on his bed.
But the ID on the body is not in his wife’s name, but Logan’s gun and his prints are found…Amanda is certain he hasn’t killed her and is being set up, but new chief Katherine Graves does not agree.
Amanda and her partner Trent try to find out about Logan’s wife, but she disappeared some time ago. Why would she come back?
Then they find another ex-colleague of Claire’s has died and start to delve into her previous life.
Amanda has someone come to her house, and she is threatened, as well as someone tailing Trent and her - someone wants them to stop investigating.
A good read, a little far fetched at times, but good for holiday read.