Book Review: Last Day
Author: Luanne Rice
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publish Date: February 1, 2020
Format: eBook
★★★☆☆
This book is perfect for those that like: unreliable narrators, family secrets, and Connecticut.
You might not like this book if you aren’t into: stories with infidelity, descriptions of violence, or plots that don't match their descriptions.
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound / Audible
From Amazon:
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.
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 . . .
Is it possible to enjoy but also kind of dislike a book at the same time? This is how I felt when reading Last Day by Luanne Rice. Based on the description, it seemed to be right up my alley-- family drama, secrets, an obsessed detective-- these are all my go-to's. Unfortunately, this was not that book. I still don't know the significance of Moonlight. And Conor Reid, the detective that was supposed to be working the case, was in maybe 30% of the book?
Despite all of those annoyances, I did like the story that was actually written, mainly for the setting. The bulk of the story takes place in Connecticut and as a current resident of that great state, it was fun to recognize the various places and descriptions throughout the book.
But I also enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters, Beth and Kate. Told in pieces, through memories, we find out that they weren't as close as Kate once thought they were, but these are my favorite types of mysteries. The ones where secrets come out and we the reader are left wondering who is telling the truth and who is guilty. In this case, it seemed pretty obvious where most of the secrets were heading, but I still had fun letting it all unfold. I didn't even mind the little supernatural vibe at the end-- in fact, I might have teared up reading Beth's POV at the end.
Most of the loose ends were taken care of, which is a plus, however, I found most of the revelations to be anti-climatic. I love when the little details that are used as red herrings end up circling back with "OHHHH, that's why that happened!", but they were mostly explained with very little fanfare, which was disappointing.
Overall, this was a nice weekend read that didn't quite match-up to the description but was fun nonetheless.