Author: Luanne Rice
Genre: Mystery
Published on: February 1, 2020 by Thomas & Mercer
From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice comes a riveting story of a seaside community shaken by a violent crime and a tragic loss.
Years ago, Beth Lathrop and her sister Kate suffered what they thought would be the worst tragedy of their lives the night both the famous painting Moonlight and their mother were taken. The detective assigned to the case, Conor Reid, swore to protect the sisters from then on.
Beth moved on, throwing herself fully into the art world, running the family gallery, and raising a beautiful daughter with her husband Pete. Kate, instead, retreated into herself and took to the skies as a pilot, always on the run. When Beth is found strangled in her home, and Moonlight goes missing again, Detective Reid can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.
Reid immediately suspects Beth’s husband, whose affair is a poorly kept secret. He has an airtight alibi—but he also has a motive, and the evidence seems to point to him. Kate and Reid, along with the sisters’ closest childhood friends, struggle to make sense of Beth’s death, but they only find more questions: Who else would have wanted Beth dead? What’s the significance of Moonlight?
Twenty years ago, Reid vowed to protect Beth and Kate—and he’s failed. Now solving the case is turning into an obsession . . .
Going by the cover alone, I’d expected Last Day to be a psychological suspense. After reading it, the book turned out to be more mystery-suspense. It takes place in a seaside town called Black Hall. That’s memorable, as I’ve never heard of any city with “Hall” in its name. One of the main characters is Kate Woodward. She’s a young woman who finds her sister murdered. Conor Reid, the second protagonist, is a veteran—though not old—police detective.
Kate’s sister, Beth Lathrop, hadn’t been answering her calls for days. She was alone in the house because her husband, Pete, was on a boat trip with friends. Kate goes to the Lathrop house and breaks in with a police officer’s help. There, they discover Beth’s dead body in her ice-cold bedroom. They report it, and Detective Reid arrives shortly after. He has history with the Lathrop sisters. Twenty years ago, he rescued them from a robbery at their family’s art gallery. Their mother did not make it alive, unfortunately.
Now Beth is dead, and that’s not the only striking detail. Moonlight, one of the family’s most valuable paintings, is missing. That happens to be the same painting that was the target for the robbery those two decades ago. Beth’s murder scene was strange, though. It appeared as if the perpetrator didn’t know what to make it look like. Conor immediately suspects Pete. The guy’s not well-liked, and it’s common knowledge that he was cheating on Beth with a much younger woman.
Although Conor isn’t some rookie detective, I thought he was a little too determined to pin Beth’s murder on Pete. Conor himself admits it’s not wise to jump to conclusions before you have all the data. To his credit, Conor does check out every lead. The investigation takes a rather long time, though. The book’s story spans a few months. I think I’ve gotten used to mystery books that take place over a few weeks. Anyway, Kate also wants to know what happened to her sister. She embarks on her own investigation. It leads Kate to discover secrets between herself, Beth, and their two best friends. They are Lulu and Scotty. Together, the four called themselves the Compass Rose.
Last Day was a compelling mystery novel. The characters were well-developed, even Beth. She may be dead for the whole book, but you still get to know who she was through flashbacks and memories. There was one thing I didn’t like about Beth’s character. It felt supernatural. I won’t mention exactly what it is to avoid spoiling it. Regardless, I liked this book. It’s a great standalone mystery, good for those times you don’t want to wind up invested in a series.
My rating: ★★★★
4 stars - Definitely enjoyed it!
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