Synopsis:

We all have stories we never tell.
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her.

Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.

Wow. I couldn’t put this one down. I was super impressed with The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave’s latest novel, a mystery thriller that’s very different from her previous two contemporary romances—that I also loved.

The story opens in Sausalito, California, the picturesque town on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, but much of the novel is spent on the streets of Austin, Texas. I’ve been to Sausalito and I’ve been to Austin several times, and I don’t know if that’s what made this mystery even more intriguing for me, but it was fun recognizing the places and experiences the author described.

“Owen isn’t who I thought he was, at least not in the details. There are parts I wish didn’t exist, parts I can’t look away from now. In one way or another, this is the deal we all sign when we love someone. For better or worse. It’s the deal we have to sign again and again to keep that love. We don’t turn away from the parts of someone we don’t want to see.”

Laura Dave, The Last Thing He Told Me

From the first page, I liked Hannah, our straight-forward and sharp protagonist. Life has just thrown her the ultimate curve ball, but she trusts her instincts, putting her stepdaughter Bailey first. The flashbacks were well-placed and brief, rounding out her character and adding to the present-day tension. While I didn’t know where the plot would take me, I knew I could count on Hannah, which only made the story better, allowing me to settle back and enjoy the ride.