First there was Maestra. Then there was Domina. Now - there is Ultima. The final book in the Trilogy - full of fun, art, death and lots of sex.

The lacklustre conclusion of the Maestra series, I wish Hilton had stopped at book two and not bothered with Ultima at all.

This is a page-turner in the worst possible way! There was a half-decent plot buried in the heart of this book but buried deep. The superficial sex and murder is to the fore with gratuitous detail and pointless emphasis. I read this book because I know the author's works are widely popular. I can understand why they are popular. Unfortunately I am a very different target market.

Disappointed with the ending of this trilogy, struggled to make it to the end of the book, the story became completely unrealistic, and Judith quite unlikeable

Thanks Bonnier Zaffre and netgalley for this ARC.

Ultima is the climax of a series that was a breakout knockout, sexy, strong, and murderous- everything we love and wouldn't change a thing. Can';t wait to see what Hilton will do next.

Third book in the trilogy with our heroine Judith Rashleigh but a good stand alone book.
She is mixed up in trying to sell a fake work of art to pay off crooks. She enjoys the thrill of the Chase but will it catch up with her this time.
A very enjoyable read

This is the third and final part of L S Hilton's trilogy about art gallery owner Judith Rashleigh, a woman who is often on the wrong side of the law. In this installment, Judith turns art fraudster with a crazy plot about selling a Gauguin painting to pay off some dangerous crooks she met in the previous books. On the way she has lots of sex with random strangers and kills some people (as in the previous books). Basically, think of a kind of British Jackie Collins novel but with some quite highbrow art references (the writer is an art historian so she absolutely knows her stuff).

If you have read the previous books and liked them, this is more of the same. In fact, the plot of this one is slightly more straightforward than the previous ones (less jet-setting, fewer characters to keep track of) which I felt lacked narrative structure. It's a page turner, although partially because you want to find out what horrifying thing Judith might do next; her motivations for her actions aren't always clear and she seems, at times, quite sociopathic.

If you haven't read the previous books, don't start with this one - try out 'Maestra' to see whether the style suits you as it doesn't pull any punches on the sex and violence, which some readers might find distasteful. Personally, I wanted to finish off the trilogy, although I have struggled at times with how unsympathetic all the characters are.