The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets

She's finally found a job that fits her.  She works with dogs to find scat and get knowledge about the animals that live in the area they examining.  She really enjoys working with the dogs.  When they assign her to Tate, she discovers she might have a romantic interest, too.  Life is good.  But it doesn't stay that way...

Berkley and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 5th.

The story begins with her learning her new job, training her assigned dog, and working with Tate.  Eventually she falls in love with Tate and sleeps with him.  But when she finds out about the murders done near their base of operations, she looks into the local cases.  She notices Tate can be charming and nice and he can be brash and odd, too.  But she loves him and tries to work around it.  Then she finds out that Tate has been attacked by a bear and killed.  She grieves him but she also wonders if he might have had something to do with the murders.

When she asks a former investigator to help her sort out her suspicions, he agrees.  The first thing he discovers is that Tate isn't who he said he was.  After she shares conversations with him, he finds Tate knows things that only the murderer would.

Marian checks on his work schedule and finds he wasn't around when the women died, so she thinks she was mistaken.  Then she checks further and finds out he lied about where he was.  Suddenly it could be possible...

This is a tale of those that died earlier, just how manipulative Tate could be, and even more about him.  She's trying to prove it but she might not live long enough to do so.  Tate has more surprises for her.

This is a thriller with a batch of horror mixed in.  It keeps you reading.