It all sounded so promising: in Courtney Evan Tate’s new novel The Last To See Her, a woman disappears, there’s a cheating spouse, etc. And while this book really did hold my interest, I REALLY hated the ending, plus none of the characters felt real or really made me care what happened to them. Buti, I digress…let’s start at the beginning.
There are two main characters in this story: Sisters Gen (short for Genevieve) and Meg (Dr. Megan) McCready — the title is something she is quick to point out to everyone within earshot. Gen is a successful author, Meg is a successful surgeon. Meg is married to a great guy whose blue collar job is apparently not good enough for these sisters. Genand her husband Thad, who is a wildly successful attorney, are finalizing their divorce. When Meg has a convention in New York, she invites Gen to go along for a sisters’ divorce celebration getaway, and they agree to meet in the City.
The two sisters go out on the town and when they get back to the hotel Gen impulsively throws her giant diamond ring off the hotel balcony, then goes out for a walk and vanishes. Meg is distraught, and shames Thad into flying to NewYork to help in the search for Gen. There’s a sexy police detective, an investigator, lots of secrets and betrayals and a ton of misdirection. As the last to see Gen, Meg is a person of interest, and of course so is Thad, thanks to the hefty life insurance policy on Gen.
The fundamental question is what actually happened to Gen? Also who, besides Meg, was the last to see her? And who is the “other woman” Gen has seen with Thad? And why doesn’t Meg appreciate her husband? Is it just due to her attraction to the sexy detective? By the time I was ¾ through the book, I just wanted it to be over. I didn’t care about any of those questions beyond curiosity as to how the author would pull it all together, and I pretty much hated everyone…but I am clearly in the minority, judging by other reviews, so I am willing to say it is probably just me (pandemic fatigue?) and move on with my life. I’m giving it three stars because it WAS entertaining and cleverly resolved (albeit requiring lots of suspension of disbelief). Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review. And I was annoyed by the errors in the sisters’ names…for one example, when Meg is continuing to send texts to Gen’s phone, she is “…trying to communicate with Meg…Meg was still gone and Gen was still here. Alone.” NO! It was Gen who was gone, and Meg who was still here. CONFUSING!! Hoping this will be corrected prior to publication.