Notes from the Shelf

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The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is a 307-page thriller mystery novel. This is the blurb from the publisher:

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles 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 federal 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. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.

I was not expecting the ending at all when I read the synopsis, which typically I can figure out the ending ahead of time, so it was a pleasant surprise that I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I thought it was thrilling enough to keep me engaged throughout the book; I flew through reading it. I also thought it was nice Hannah stepped up to take care of her step-daughter. She does really well protecting Bailey, and they mend their relationship throughout the story, so it was nice that it wasn’t a bad step-mom situation as is typically portrayed in stories.

I guess this turned into a TV show in 2023, so that’s cool! I’ll have to check it out.

I give The Last Thing He Told Me 5 stars.

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