K. Z. Richards

The Last Thing He Told Me is a mystery thriller about a middle-aged woman, Hannah, whose new husband, Owen, disappears one day leaving only a note that says, “Protect her,” referring to his sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Hannah and Bailey then leave their home in Sausalito, California to look for clues in Austin, Texas and uncover secrets about Owen’s past.

This was another book club read, but even though I usually enjoy mystery thrillers, this one fell flat in every way. First of all, the story lacks suspense and believability. The author fails to make me care about the fate of Bailey, who is portrayed as a shallow, unfeeling child, and Hannah reacts to her husband disappearing in such a detached, logical manner that I didn’t care about her either. Hannah frequently remembers conversations with Owen when they were convenient to the plot, and the bulk of their detective work in Austin comes from Bailey conveniently recognizing the exact places she visited one time as a young child while attending a wedding she only vaguely remembers attending. I also didn’t like Dave’s writing style. She heavily leans on dramatic repetition, repetition that is unnecessary. Repetition that gets annoying, if you know I mean. Second, Dave makes a dramatic shift in the conflict that is probably meant as plot twist but instead leaves behind all the characters, conflicts, and intrigue from the first part of her book. At the end of the book, there are so many things left unresolved that I don’t understand how it has so many good reviews. Between the characters making unrealistic choices (like flying to Austin to “look around” in case Bailey remembers something and having that actually work out) and Hannah over-explaining everything in redundant narration, I spent my time reading this book torn between yawning and eye rolling. I would not recommend this book to anyone.