It was an ok read, Passed the time on holiday but was far too unbelievable for me - young surgeon, taking in a successful business having time to just go investigating cold crimes - with little or no experience, too far fetched for me, it’s a more modern Quincy.

I enjoy a mystery. So, I jumped at the opportunity to read this one. This is the third book in this author’s series and the first one I read.

The main character Dr. Emily Hartford was likable but not very believable.
As a young surgeon, she insinuates herself into the role of medical examiner without any background (except that she watched her ME father do autopsies).

Torn between relationships with two different men, two different occupations and two different cities, complicates Emily’s life. She gets involved in a cold case when a woman that survived when her family was murdered, asks her to investigate.

I was interested in this book because it was set in Michigan and Chicago.
It went back and forth between the two locations.

This mystery did not feel tightly written. Some of the details were questionable.
It felt like some information was left out. Initially I wanted to go back and read this author’s first two books. After finishing this book, I decided that I would not be reading the first two books in this series.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

A really great read with thrilling twists and turns. I never knew what to expect and it kept me Interested until the very end.

This book was exceedingly difficult to get into. To begin with, while I understand and appreciate that this was an advanced copy, and has (hopefully) undergone more edits between the copy I read and the version that was published, but the amount of sentences that had words that were either not needed (But only when until you come back) or ones that were missing words (he genuinely shaken up by it) are just two of many examples that I found throughout. To be honest, it was distracting and pulled me from the story.

Then we have our two main characters. Solange was an interesting one for sure. I can completely understand wanting to know what happened to her family, but her tendency to rush head-long into situations (some potentially dangerous) without thinking was just off-putting. I was also confused why she continued to involve Emily in her "investigation" if it can be called that despite the information they uncover.

The same goes for Emily, she had her own issues revolving around the surgery center she recently purchased (which was another question for me, why was this secondary plot needed when it did nothing to move the main plot forward)? Then again Emily was the most wishy-washy irritating character I have come across in a long time. She is worried about her ex who is undercover in China. Except she's then dating/sleeping with her ex. Well until she gets word her boyfriend might actually be alive over there in which case she is once again dropping everything, only this time she's leaving the country to try and track down her ex.

Yeah, if that left you confused, imagine how I felt even after reading this story.

Those things considered, I don't think I would read more from this series, although I may give this author another chance down the road.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

This is bk 3 in a series. i did not read the previous two, but had no issue following the story. Dr Emily Hartford, following in the career of her father, is both a surgeon and a mystery solver. She also has some personal drama going on. There is little about her surgical career, as she has gone fully into crime solving mode. Emily begins helping Solange clear her fathers name in a triple homicide case. Surprise ending.

Dr Emily Hartford is at a crossroads in her life. About to finish her medical residency, she’s being wooed to take over her mentor’s private surgery practice in Chicago. Her business partner-to-be is her ex-fiance Brandon, who’s looking to rekindle their romance as well. Emily herself is beginning to recover from the grief of accepting that her latest flame is missing in action overseas and likely dead, so isn’t entirely averse to Brandon’s attentions.

So the last thing that Emily expects is for a woman named Solange McClelland to contact her out of the blue, asking about her father’s autopsy reports. Dr Robert Hartford was the coroner for Freeport County, Michigan up until his fairly recent death. As a child, Emily had assisted in his morgue, birthing a lifelong love for justice via medicine.

About twelve years ago, a shocking triple homicide rocked Freeport. The McClelland family was slain in their lakeside home, in what was deemed a murder suicide. Solange was the only member of the family to escape the carnage, having spent the night at a friend’s. She found the bodies upon returning home the next morning, and spent the next decade or so trying to get past the trauma of being the only survivor.

Recent information, however, has shown her that everything she thought she knew about that grisly night was wrong. Her father Sebastian was long blamed for killing his wife and son before turning his shotgun on himself. Solange never wanted to believe that, and with new evidence in hand wants to take a closer look at the autopsy reports.

Emily knows that her father was a professional through and through, and is happy to take a look at the case files in order to assure Solange that everything was done exactly as it should have been. So she’s pretty surprised to find that the McClelland case has been flagged in her father’s records. The more she reads, the more unnerved she becomes at finding herself agreeing with Solange’s suspicions. With Solange’s backing, Emily performs an autopsy on Sebastian’s exhumed remains:

QUOTE
Sebastian’s matted dreads were not only thick but heavy. If not intentionally held up and moved aside to expose the neck, an examiner would not have noticed this gunshot wound. Additionally, the entrance wound for a .22 was small. A would like this would not have bled much, and Sebastian’s hair would have soaked up any blood that did flow from the small hole. There was another gruesome consideration: this small entrance wound might have been overlooked amid the gory mess of Sebastian’s head being blown off by a shotgun. Flaps of skin, brain matter, skull might have distracted attention from a tiny, insignificant bullet wound. Of course this was no excuse for not examining the entirety of the body–something she knew her father would have done. Why hadn’t he?
END QUOTE

Determined to get to the bottom of her father’s uncharacteristic behavior, Emily begins to investigate, uncovering disturbing information about the McClelland case in the process. While she and Solange quickly strike up a friendship, their bond is tested when their separate inquiries lead Solange down an increasingly dark path. Will Emily be able to save her new friend before a killer who’s been lying in wait for over a decade strikes again?

Emily’s turmoil over the many directions in which she’s being pulled ground the plot twists in realism. She’s supposed to be a surgeon in Chicago, not a volunteer coroner in Freeport, as her colleagues and friends are only too happy to point out. She’s not even sure how to answer when family friend Delia asks if Emily is truly happy:

QUOTE
Happy? She was too tired to decide if she was happy or not.

“It’s a full life, that’s for sure,” said Emily.

“That’s not what I asked,” said Delia.

“I’m happy with my choice. How’s that?”

“I accept that. And I know your dad and mom would be proud of your accomplishments,” said Delia. “But they’d also want you to live life all the way up.”

<i>All the way up</i>. Emily loved that Delia used that phrase. It described how Delia had always lived her life. Glass half full. No regrets. Big adventures. Every challenge an opportunity.

“I’d like to think I’m doing that,” said Emily.
END QUOTE

With plenty of twists and turns, Last One Alive is a well fleshed out portrait of two daughters, Solange and Emily, who will risk everything to ensure that their fathers are known to the world as the good, upstanding people their daughters are so familiar with. It ends on a stunning cliffhanger that will hook series fans, who will surely clamor for the next installment of these small town but wide-ranging procedural thrillers.

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Chicago, trying to leave the past behind, until out of the blue, she is contacted by Solange McClelland who is the only survivor of a triple homicide. Emily can't help but dig deeper when she realizes that this is one of the few cases that her father never solved before he passed.

Solange is given a safe deposit box on her thirtieth birthday and is completely surprised by its contents. There are a ton of painful reminders from her youth before the tragedy and almost four million dollars. Solange decides that now is the time to reach out to someone who might know something about her family's deaths and help her figure out what happened. Once Emily and Solange start looking at the case closer, they realize something is seriously wrong with it and make it their mission to uncover the truth in their own way.

Somehow, I have never read a book by Jennifer but I am now going to have to put her on my backlist to catch up on all of her novels. This was seriously so good and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time that I was reading. You never knew exactly who the killer was and who was following Solange and her husband Joseph around. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery/thriller. Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Last One Alive is the latest in the Coroner's Daughter Mystery series by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.. Dr. Emily is back trying to solve a decade old case where three family members were shot to death. Will Dr. Emily help catch the killer before it is too late? Read Last One Alive to find out.
This story didn’t grab me like the other two in the series. It was a well written story, but I didn’t like several parts of the storyline. The main character didn’t act like I expected based on how she acted in the previous novels. For her to be so smart she sure wasn’t making the smartest decisions There were times where it truly didn’t seem like it was the same character at all. I was very disappointed with this novel, which is sad because I was really looking forward to reading it. At this point I don’t know if I will continue with the series, so unfortunately I would not recommend this book.

Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is an edge of your seat suspense novel. Twists and turns in the plot keep this a page-turner.

A copy was provided for my review, but all opinions are my own.

There was a lot to unpack in this book! I did figure out who it was at the beginning of the book. It was a bit on the nose. It did take me a second to figure out what was going on as it jumped from one characters story to another with no warning. Once I figured out what was happening, it was easier to follow. So much happened in this book. I wasn't a big fan of Sloange's husband. He was too needy and overbearing. Same with Brandon. I'm also glad the book cover stated it was unedited. In all it was a good book.

While there were some aspects that I liked about this story, there were many more that I didn’t like. I liked the murder mystery and suspense. The gripping action kept me turning pages. However, I did not like the characters. And there seemed to be some superfluous story threads that did not add to the overarching story line. (What was the purpose of including the clinic dealing with insurance fraud?)

Dr Emily Hartford seemed so flighty. She bought into a clinical partnership with her love interest, Brandon, yet was never there to work. Then she was insulted that Brandon hired locums to fill in. Brandon finally proposed to Emily but in that same scene, she finds out some information about Nick, a former lover slash government agent and then she was galivanting off to China to find out about the fate of her former lover.

Soulange was the character around whom the murder mystery revolved. While her family history was incredibly sad, her vengeful, guns-ablazing behaviour was OTT.

I also felt the entire novel needed a thorough edit. There were so many grammatical errors, mis-spelt words and extra words that it was incredibly distracting.

Unfortunately, the resolution of this story was unsatisfactory. While we find out who the villain was, there was no in depth explanation as to his motivation.

Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush has plenty of thrills and clue hunting for the biggest fans of suspense novels. As for the plot, the concept of being the last one alive when your whole family has been killed has been done before. Dornbush does a wonderful job at inviting the readers into Dr. Emily Hartford’s internal dialogue as she struggles with her career choices, relationships, and trying to solve the current mystery. Since this is the third novel with Dr. Hartford, readers will become more familiar with her personality, her work ethic, and her background. As a word of caution, there are a couple of cuss words in the story and Dornbush does have the characters have sex even though they are not married or even in a relationship. It is one sentence, so readers do not have to worry that they will see anything, but some readers might not want to follow a character that does that type of thing. As for the climactic moment, it felt like a little bit of a letdown. I wanted more. I wanted more explanation of some of the clues that were given. Overall, Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is suspenseful enough to keep me reader to figure out who the villain is with a familiar character.

I received a complimentary copy of Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush from Blackstone Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

This book intrigued me with the plot. I am a sucker for mystery and murder. I am not familiar with the author Jennifer Graeser Dornbush, but I am always looking for new authors to read. I discovered after reading this that it is the third installment of a series, but it was easily read as a standalone.

The book starts out with the mystery murder of a whole family except one survivor, Solange McClelland. Her 30th birthday she opens a safe deposit box with millions of dollars and a surprise gift that only a murderer would have access to. Solange newly married now has the means to find the real killer of her family. She contacts the only person she could think of that would have first hand knowledge of what REALLY happened that night with her family a decade ago. Dr. Emily Hartford, the coroners daughter that did the original autopsy. Solange travels to Michigan to meet with Emily and the hunt begins.

The story gripped me from the beginning. The writing was solid, and I wanted to keep reading to find out who did it. About halfway through, it does slow down a bit where your not quite sure where it is going, but wraps up nicely.
The cliffhanger was not expected, and if the author is continuing the series than kudos, but if not to me was kind of unnecessary. I would recommend this read for the story alone. There was some unanswered questions I felt the reader should have known like why was the whole family murdered and few others, but it does not ruin the story. Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone publishing for the Arc.
#NetGalley
#LASTONEALIVE
#BlackstonePublishing

This was my first book by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush and it was a fun read! I did not know this is book three of a series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. I did not feel lost picking it up at this point in the series. The pacing was fast and held my interest. I was eager to put all the pieces together and figure out the twists. I liked the characters of Emily and Solange. The story kept me captivated as it is told in both of their POVs.

It does end in a cliffhanger, but it’s a setup for the next book in the series. I do plan to go back and read the first two books. I loved the author’s storytelling and look forward to reading more of her works.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley, for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Emily Hartford has made plans for her future and is working to put her past behind her. She is the daughter of a coroner, now deceased, and has been contacted by the family member of one of her father's more sensational cases. Solange is the LAST ONE ALIVE after her entire family's death when she was 17. The coroner's ruling was murder-suicide but Solange has never believed this and at 30, she has the money to reopen an investigation. The original crime occured in Michigan. This is the back story. When Emily and Solange start their investigation, the clock starts ticking on the tension brought forward with each new clue. The story moves quickly, ther is no time to figure out what their next move should be, they just keep moving. With some unusual twists and a couple of wild jumps, the reveal is definitely a surprise.
This is the 3rd book in the Coroner's Daughter series. It can be read as a stand alone BUT, there is an over arcing story thread that has been unwinding through each book and you'd miss the first two parts. Plus, the first two books are definitely good reads too. Don't cheat yourself. Read all three.

Last One Alive is book 3 in the Coroner's Daughter series by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.
I was so excited about this book when I read the synopsis, and it didn't let me down! I loved the entire concept, the story was peppered with great characters, and the author's writing style was top notch.
Jennifer created characters that are interesting and well developed people who you wanted to know more about.
Dr. Emily Hartford our main protagonist was very entertaining and her story kept me glued to the pages.
The writing was superb, and the character and plot development were excellent. She did a great job of balancing the mystery of the story with the development of the relationships within the story. It kept me guessing right up until the very end.
Jennifer Graeser Dornbush immerses the reader in a very real and believable everyday world that anyone of us can relate to. The story and plots were equally riveting.
I thought it was a smart, original and well written mystery.
Now I have book one and two on my Amazon list.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

I wanted to love this - the begging engaged me but come the middle I felt it was dragging and not moving fast enough for me

This book was definitely a page turner! I read it in a little over 24 hours. I love the main character Emily.....but there were a few things that I find lacking now that I finished it.

The killer that Titus knew about - Bernard - that just wrapped up and we didn't find out any other details? About his killing the girls, or killing Titus and his parents?
Where did the parents get 3 million dollars in cash from?
How did Bernard know there was cash? I think they said he opened the safe deposit box, but is that possible without both keys?
How did Joseph go from the brink of pulling the plug to opening his eyes so quickly?
Why was Bernard after Solange? Simply for the mystery money? Or so she never caught him?
How did Titus know it was him?

I look forward to more books from this author because she tells a great story and I love medical examiner topics, but you have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit, and I was really unsatisfied with the wrap up of so many details......

law-enforcement, murder-investigation, family, family-dynamics, family-history, small-town, Lower Michigan, friendship, frustration, colleagues, stalker, grief, grieving, unputdownable, secrets, lies, medical-tourism, tense, suspense, multiple-murder*****

A tense and convoluted dramatic investigation complicated by personal problems and madness. Riveting.
I requested and received an EARC from Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the copy of Last One Alive by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush. I didn’t realize this was the third book in a series. It didn’t really matter, but I hated how this one ended on a cliffhanger, probably to entice the reader to anticipate the next book. I would be much more excited to read the next book if I had been captivated by the writing, but the writing was a little stilted for me. I liked the story, but there were so many coincidences it wasn’t very believable. If you’re already loving this series, you will probably love this book.