New York Times bestselling
author Kat Martin, a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara,
currently resides in Missoula, Montana with Western-author husband, L. J.
Martin. More than seventeen million
copies of Kat’s books are in print, and she has been published in twenty
foreign countries. Fifteen of her recent
novels have taken top-ten spots on the New
York Times Bestseller List, and her novel, BEYOND REASON, was recently optioned for a feature film. Kat’s new novel, THE LAST GOODNIGHT, a Romantic Thriller, will be released in
hardcover on October 26th and is the start of her new Blood Ties
series.
Click here to read PJ's review of The Last Goodnight.
The Last Goodnight
by Kat Martin
Blood Ties, The Logans - Book 1
Publisher: Kensington
Release Date: October 26, 2021
When Kade Logan said goodbye to his estranged wife eight years ago, he never thought it would be the last time he saw her alive. Now her car has been hauled out of a nearby lake and Kade is determined to track down the man who murdered her. Enter Eleanor Bowman, a talented private investigator who’s about to stir up a hornet’s nest on his Colorado ranch.
With old scandals still buzzing about his late wife’s many affairs and new violence erupting, Kade is faced with the discovery of another beautiful woman’s body. Are the two killings linked? Who is the man who seduced, then murdered both victims? Ellie believes they are dangerously close to the truth.
From corporate Denver high-rises to posh Vail mansions, Kade and Ellie sense the killer is closing in again, and this time Ellie is the target. Kade must risk everything to save the woman he’s coming to love—before she becomes the next one to die . . .
Story Ideas
by Kat Martin
I’ve always loved a good plot. People ask me how I come up with ideas for my
novels, but much of the time, I really don’t know.
Sometimes the kernel of an idea grows out of a newspaper
article or something I see on Facebook or just some old movie. In THE LAST GOODNIGHT, I knew I wanted to
write a novel set on a cattle ranch. I
love writing Westerns, both historical and modern day.
I was raised in a rodeo family. My grandmother was a wild west rodeo cowgirl
back in 1916. My dad was a team roper,
my uncle a bullfighter. I’ve spent a lot
of time around horses and cattle and always feel at home in that setting.
Since I write Romantic Thrillers, I wanted to incorporate
ranching into the plot.
THE LAST GOODNIGHT is a cold-case murder mystery, something
I hadn’t really written before. In the
novel, when Kade Logan said goodbye to
his wife eight years earlier, he never thought it would be the last time he saw
her alive. Then her car is found in a
nearby lake and Kade is determined not to fail his dead wife again--this time
he won’t rest until he finds her killer.
Eleanor Bowman, a
private investigator, joins him in the search.
Having been raised on a ranch in Wyoming, Ellie is able to fit in
undercover on the ranch.
And of course the
chemistry between the two is hot from day one.
The plot challenged me, and the Colorado ranch setting
provided an intriguing background. I
hope you’ll watch for THE LAST GOODNIGHT and that you enjoy it.
Next up for me is THE LAST MILE, the second Logan brother,
Gage, a world renown explorer, the man Abigail Holland hires to find her
grandfather’s missing treasure. It’s a
high-action adventure I hope you will watch for.
Till next time, happy reading and all best, Kat
Excerpt
The Last Goodnight
Kade
Logan stood on the bank watching the sheriff and his deputies haul the
mud-covered vehicle out of the lake. The
crane groaned as the automobile tilted upward, the rear end lifting into the
air, the front wheels dragging across the spongy earth. Brackish lake water poured out through the
open windows.
For
eight long years Kade had been haunted by the mystery of what had happened to
the dark green Subaru that belonged to his dead wife. Her body had been found in a shallow
depression in the hills at the base of the mountains outside Denver, but until
now, eight years later, her car had never been found.
And
her killer had never been caught.
“You
okay?” Sam Bridger, Kade’s best friend,
stood beside him, a tall blond man Kade had known for years.
“She’s
been dead eight years, Sam. So yeah, I’m
okay.” But the rage he felt had never
lessened. It should have. At the time of her death, their marriage was
already on the rocks. The second time
Kade had caught Heather cheating, he had filed for divorce.
“Maybe
they’ll find something in the car that’ll give them a reason to reopen the
case,” Sam said.
“Maybe.” Kade hoped so. He wanted Heather’s killer found and
punished. No matter how things had
turned out between them, he owed her that much.
He
glanced back at the car. The last time
he had seen the dark green SUV was the night Heather had left him. That night, she had packed her things, taken
the car, and driven away without a backward glance. Kade had never seen her again.
Since
then, he had been tormented by guilt, had lived each day with a terrible sense
of failure that he had never found the man responsible for her death.
Never
made the bastard pay.
“I’ve
seen enough,” Kade said. “I’m heading
back to the ranch.”
“That’s
it?” Sam asked, a blond eyebrow edging up.
Kade
thought of Heather and felt the old rage burn through him. “Not by a long shot,” he said.
Eleanor
Bowman sat at her oak desk near the front door of the office, a two-story brick
structure on Acoma Street in Denver.
Photos
of local wildlife hung on the walls, elk, deer, a big black bear, along with
autographed photos of celebrities the company had done business with over the
years. The faces of Tom Selleck, Clint
Eastwood, Denzel Washington, and Kevin Costner looked down from sturdy oak
frames.
Though
most of the guys who worked at Nighthawk Security held P.I. licenses, Ellie and
a woman named Skye Delaney were the only two female private investigators. Since Ellie had just finished a case, she was
looking for something to do, hopefully something interesting, but work was
work. She didn’t want her savings
account to dwindle.
She
looked up as the glass door at the front of the office swung open and a tall,
broad-shouldered man wearing a dark brown Stetson walked in. People thought of Denver as a western town,
but it had been years since Ellie had seen a guy in a cowboy hat who looked
like it belonged on him.
In
crisp dark blue jeans that fit snuggly over a pair of narrow hips, brown
lizard-skin boots, and a white shirt with pearl snaps on the front, the man
removed his Stetson, revealing neatly trimmed, golden brown hair, and strode
toward the desk closest to the door, which happened to be hers.
“My
name’s Kade Logan.” He had a lean,
muscular build, and the long, powerful legs of a bulldogger. His deep, masculine voice fit him as
perfectly as his hat, and his hard, handsome face could rival any of the
celebrities hanging on the office walls.
“I have an appointment with Conner Delaney.”
“Yes,
Conn mentioned he was expecting you.”
Her boss, the dark-haired, handsome man who owned and ran the company. Ellie wondered if Kade Logan could possibly
be the client Conn had in mind for her.
She
smiled up at Logan. “His office is down
the hall. Go ahead and go on in.” A little under five-foot-four, she was at
least ten inches shorter.
Logan
gave her a cursory nod, then strode off and disappeared inside Conn’s
office. She wondered what kind of help
he needed.
Ten
minutes later, she found out.
“Kade
meet Eleanor Bowman.”
His
eyes narrowed, tiny sun lines forming in the corners. “You’re Eleanor Bowman?”
“I’m
Ellie.” She smiled and stuck out a
hand. “Pleasure meeting you.”
His
jaw tightened an instant before he reached out and accepted her handshake.
He
turned back to Conn. “Eleanor. With a name like that, I thought she’d be an
older woman, someone with more experience.
Either way, this is a bad idea.”
“What
idea is that?” Ellie asked.
“Eight
years ago, Kade’s wife was murdered,” Conn explained. “Her body was discovered in the mountains
outside Denver, but the killer was never found.
Two weeks ago, the car Heather was driving the night she disappeared was
discovered in a lake near Coffee Springs.
It’s possible the killer abducted her, dumped the car in the lake, then
drove her somewhere else and murdered her.”
“And
that’s the reason you want to hire me?
To find out who murdered your wife?”
Logan’s
gaze swung to hers. “First off, I don’t
want to hire you. Conn thought it would
be a good idea. He said your specialty
is working undercover, but the last thing I need on my ranch is a female playing
detective.”
Irritation
bubbled up and her spine went straighter.
“Did Conn tell you I was born in Wyoming? I was raised on the Grass Valley Ranch near
Jackson Hole. Did he tell you I can ride
just about anything you have in your remuda?
And the weather doesn’t bother me.
I know ranching, Mr. Logan. I can
fit seamlessly into your operation. I
can do whatever it takes to make people accept me and gather the information
you need.”
Silence
fell.
Conn
Delaney’s lips twitched. “I think you
can see why I thought Ellie was the right person for the job.”
A
muscle worked in Logan’s square jaw. He
raked a hand through his hair, mussed a little from the hat.
“I
need some time to think about it.”
“Are
you sure?” Ellie asked. “Because you’ve
already had eight years to think about it.”
Kade’s
golden eyes narrowed, seemed to burn into her green ones. “You really think you can do it?”
“If
you want me to succeed, I’ll need straight answers to any questions I ask. If you’re willing to do that and if the
information is out there, I’ll find out who it was.”
For
the first time she caught a glimmer of respect in Logan’s eyes. “When can you start?”
“I
can be there tomorrow, if we can figure out the best place for me to fit
in. That way I’ll know what I need to
bring.”
Logan’s
hard mouth edged up. “You mean besides
your pistol?”
“You
better make that plural.” Ellie flashed
him a phony smile. “Remember, Mr. Logan,
I’m from Wyoming.”
