"A retired journalist's notes could resolve cold case murders"
The Last Scoop
By: R.G. Belsky
Posted: May 12, 2020
I previously read an earlier book in the Clare Carlson series, about a journalist in New York investigating a murder and chains of corruption. I have to say that for me, THE LAST SCOOP is a better book. I don’t live in New York, but this tale spends time elsewhere too, and by tying two separate stories together in sequence, the author R.G. Belsky ensures that this third novel moves along at a fast pace.
Martin Barlow is killed, probably a mugging, on the street one night. He was a retired journalist who taught Clare Carlson his skills years ago, and he wanted to share information with her about a story. Visiting his family, Clare gets hold of Martin’s notes and of course, she’s off on the scent of a scoop. If Martin was right - he might have been misguided or just going senile – there’s a political scandal to be found in the city, and then there’s the strange matter of twenty unsolved, perhaps unconnected, murders scattered across the country.
Clare is now a news editor for a TV news show, and she’s got all the office rote work you’d expect; plus a new media adviser telling her that she needs a constantly updating website, a stronger brand – you get the picture. Clare has a personal issue running through this novel, but she’s never sure if she’s looking for another husband; it seems to me, she only focuses on men she can’t possibly have a relationship with, in order that nothing serious can develop. Well, maybe three marriages would do that to you.
Clare is a stronger character by now as well, doggedly tracking down all leads although it takes time away from her editing work. She thinks the unthinkable and doesn’t realise how much danger lies in her activities.
If you enjoy a crime thriller, one with not too much gore but plenty of twists, or you want to find out how the investigative journalism you read has been pieced together, this is a great book for you. R.G. Belsky worked in news for decades and is pleased to share his experiences, fictionalised. THE LAST SCOOP is an enjoyable read and comes across with great assurance. I also like the way that, while many characters in positions of influence are male, we meet a female District Attorney who plays a major role. Enough said, now read all about it.
Book Summary
Martin Barlow was Clare Carlson’s first newspaper editor, a beloved mentor who inspired her career as a journalist. But, since retiring from his newspaper job, he had become a kind of pathetic figure—railing on about conspiracies, cover-ups, and other imaginary stories he was still working on. Clare had been too busy with her own career to pay much attention to him.
When Martin Barlow is killed on the street one night during an apparent mugging attempt gone bad, it seems like he was just an old man whose time had come. But Clare—initially out of a sense of guilt for ignoring her old friend and then because of her own journalistic instincts—begins looking into his last story idea.
As she digs deeper and deeper into his secret files, she uncovers shocking evidence of a serial killer worse than Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, or any of the other infamous names in history. This really is the biggest story of Martin Barlow’s career—and Clare’s, too—as she uncovers the path leading to the decades-long killer of at least twenty young women. All is not as it seems during Clare’s relentless search for this serial killer. Is she setting herself up to be his next victim?
Read an Excerpt
by: R.G. Belsky
Oceanview Publishing
May 1, 2020
On Sale: May 5, 2020
Featuring: Clare Carlson
368 pages
ISBN: 1608093573
EAN: 9781608093571
Kindle: B0849R9JPZ
Hardcover / e-Book