The Last Thing He Told Me

This book was a very bingeable read. I got caught up in the mystery of Hannah’s missing husband, and I also loved the layers of complicated family relationships shown with her stepdaughter.

I’m a sucker for the “he isn’t who he said he was” storyline, and this book masters that through Hannah’s husband, Owen. The entire story is weaved with surprises and plot twists, including the impossible choice Hannah faces at the end.

I related to the protagonist Hannah Hill, a woman whose life is upended by the disappearance of the man she loves.

Before his loss, she’s a talented but fairly ordinary wife and stepmother, trying to develop a relationship with her husband’s troubled daughter. When she turns into a heat-seeking missile, determined to make sense of the devastating changes in her life, I felt a sense of empowerment.

What makes this domestic thriller memorable to me is the way the author explores the mother-daughter relationship while creating a thrilling mystery with a haunting ending.

Hannah Hall’s husband Owen disappears suddenly with no explanation.

When investigators arrest Owen’s boss and swarm Hannah’s home, Hannah discovers that the man she’s been married to for a year has been lying about his identity. With Owen’s daughter at her side, Hannah begins investigating Owen’s past to figure why Owen disappeared and who he really is.

I find that even when I’m close to someone, it’s hard to know them completely. Most people have secrets about themselves or their past they might not want to share. That separation is probably healthy but can sometimes lead to moments of feeling… show more.

In The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave proves that your main characters don’t have to be super-sleuths or hard-boiled P.I.’s to solve a mystery.

They just have to be people you care about, who find themselves in situations that force them to be resourceful. In Laura Dave's book, the characters act and sound like good friends, and that makes the story even more gripping. 

If you love a good plot twist – read – The Last Thing He Told Me. I loved the bond building between the stepmother and her husband’s daughter. The story is full of suspense and drama. The protagonist is put into a situation where she must decide if she should follow her heart or turn the love of her life in to the police.

The night Hannah’s husband vanishes, a young girl hands Hannah a note that reads “protect her.” The “her” in question is Hannah’s teenage stepdaughter Bailey. But from whom or what she needs protection is a mystery. So Hannah and Bailey set off to solve that mystery and, they hope, reunite their family. The mystery proceeds at a cracking pace, and the amateur sleuths make rookie mistakes that any crime fiction could have told them were bad ideas. But along the way, Hannah and Bailey’s rocky, arm’s-length relationship deepens into something real. I don’t want to spoil the ending for you,… show more.

Full of suspense and can’t-put-down moments, at the heart of this book is a love story. And not just romantic love, although that’s in the pages too, but of a love developing between a mom and her stepdaughter. Willing to risk everything to keep her stepdaughter safe, Hannah gets to the bottom of the truth and does whatever it takes to be Bailey’s protector.