Synopsis from Goodreads:
From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls, a suspenseful new novel about an idyllic town in Maine dealing with the suspicious death of one of their own—and her best “summer” friend, who is trying to uncover the truth…before fingers point her way.
Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors.
Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her.
Another thrilling novel from the bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and The Perfect Stranger, Megan Miranda’s The Last House Guest is a smart, twisty read with a strong female protagonist determined to make her own way in the world.
I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.
The Last House Guest will be available June 18, 2019.
I’ve been reading a lot of Contemporary lately and have started getting a little bored with it. I wanted to change things up a bit and The Last House Guest was just the addictive mystery that I needed.
Megan Miranda’s writing is really addicting. Though there were times I thought it was a little repetitive and that she was trying maybe just a little too hard to create a creepy atmosphere, there is just something really compelling about her writing. Even when I figured things out much sooner than they were revealed, I had to keep reading.
The story is really character-driven, which I have come to expect from Miranda. This isn’t a fast-paced suspense, but there are plenty of small, impactful reveals along the way to keep you reading. One of the “big” reveals towards the end of the book was my very first guess early on in the story. I thought it was so obvious that I was kind of annoyed that it took so long to come out. However, there was another twist soon after that I had only recently begun to suspect, so I liked that it was still able to surprise me a bit, even though I guessed most things.
When you’re reading a story so character-driven, the characters can really make or break the book. Fortunately, I found Avery likable enough. She had some issues, but she was compelling and I wanted to see good things happen for her. Where it lost me a bit was with Sadie’s character. Right from the start she comes across as the “poor, little rich girl” cliche. She acted out to get attention from her family. She was also calculating and it was pretty obvious to everyone but Avery that Sadie had an agenda when it came to her. It was really hard to care about whether Sadie was murdered or not. It was also kind of frustrating to see how much Avery cared about Sadie when the friendship did not mean the same to Sadie.
Overall, I did enjoy The Last House Guest. Even though the mystery was not as surprising as I hoped and I had a hard time caring about Sadie, I liked Avery and I found the writing really addictive and compelling. I never wanted to put the book down and that is why I’m bumping my rating up to 4 stars. I think if you have liked Miranda’s previous books, you will enjoy this one, as well.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars
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