Warning: this is a book that's hard to put down.

I read Holly Lisle originally for her fantasy novels. While there certainly is a fantasy element in Last Girl Dancing, the mystery-thriller far overrides all else.

Even so, Lisle writes compelling and sympathetic characters and imbeds enough hook into the tale to leave you turning pages well into the night. The one downside is, I'm not sure I enjoyed the insider's view of strip clubs, although Lisle did her research well, and she managed to give her strippers vivid character.

The plot: A trio of serial murderers is killing strippers in one of Atlanta's best strip clubs, Goldcastle. Police Detective Jess Brubeck is called in to go undercover -- as a stripper. This is her big break to become one of the Grand Old Men of Crime -- and secretly her hope to find out who killed her twin sister Ginny 13 years before.

But, things do not go as well as she'd have liked. She's teamed up with a psychic. Enough of those fakes took her for everything she was worth when her sister disappeared. But this one, Hank Kamien, is the real thing. The ex-Ranger who gained his powers at the cost of scars over half his body is the Real Thing. Jess and Hank quickly suspect the attraction they feel for each other is the Real Thing, too.

Last Girl Dancing is definitely a tough, gritty novel with some interesting surprises. This is a departure from much of Lisle's fantasy writing, which could be termed for more of a family audience. Definitely worth setting aside several hours to read if you are a thriller fan.