'The Last Thing He Told Me' was a truly riveting read! I read it in only one day, and I very rarely read books that quickly these days. I just couldn’t stop reading it, I was absolutely hooked!!

This book is a testament to the power of family — the things we do for the ones we love. The lengths we go for their happiness and safety, and the things we must sacrifice along the way. Some people will do anything for love, or in the name of love.

I really liked the book’s ending! It surprised me, and it wasn’t cliche at all. It was a quite a bittersweet ending…

Overall, this was a really good mystery novel! This is my first Laura Dave book, and it didn’t let me down so I might read more of her books in the future!

Couldn't put this down and the story will stick with me. Hannah has only known Owen for two years but its clear to anyone that they are perfect for each other. Until he suddenly disappears leaving her responsible for his 16 year old daughter. Convinced the Owen she knows must have a good reason to disappear, she begins to follow the trail, only to find that Owen isn't who she thought he was and she is not sure she can trust the police.

The book has a fast pace, and is completely original and unpredictable. The story remains believable and we live Hannah's journey. The book cleverly flashes back and forward as it reveals the next lead, making it hard to put down. And the ending doesn't disappoint either.

This is a real rollercoaster of a book which kept me guessing throughout. Although a little slow in places, the intrigue spurred me on and I was generally pretty satisfied as the pieces fell into place although I do think there is an element of having to suspend your disbelief in certain places. Hannah is a really likeable protagonist and I felt for her as she navigated the upheaval of her life and the decisions she was forced to make along with trying to form a relationship with Bailey. I really liked the added element of her wood working background and the peeks into her history.

This is my first book by the author and I really enjoyed her writing and look forward to what she comes out with next.

4.5 stars, rounded up

The Last Thing He Told Me is the best mystery book I've read in a very long time. From the moment I started reading, I could not put this book down, and I sacrificed some much needed sleep to finish this story. Totally worth it.

Laura Dave mastered the trickle of information needed to keep this story moving. There is a delicate balance between letting the reader know too much and withholding so much information that the story becomes insufferable. The Last Thing He Told Me is full of false starts, fake leads, and misleading characters. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, I was totally wrong, and I was never expecting the eventual outcome.

The only thing that bothered me was that the characters were a little too true to their role.; never wavering or doubtful, they stuck to the script. While this did not detract from the overall story, it may have robbed it of some complexity and nuance. I would recommend this book to any mystery fans, keeping in mind that it lies more heavily on the psychological fiction side of things than the typical murder/crime mystery. It's not surprising this is a Reese's Book Club pick; I loved every page.

Fast paced with a plot that weaves and thickens right until the end. Characters are strong with depth, and as items, became more likeable. Will make a great film. Recommend.

A very untruiging read, kept me hooked from beginning to end, really invested with the charecters, really enjoyed it

The book starts with Owen’s disappearance in a huge cloud of mystery, leaving just a note to be passed on to his wife, Hannah; “Protect her” – that was all the note said – referring to his daughter, Bailey. Hannah wasn’t sure who Bailey needed protection from, or why but, understood that she must make Bailey her priority and that above all Owen trusted her to do what was best.

I felt very tense and anxious reading about Owen’s disappearance I really wanted to know what had happened to him and why he had vanished, he seemed to lead such an ordinary life and was a loving, devoted husband and father. What could he have done that led him to disappear in such mysterious circumstances. None of the assumptions I made as to the reason for his disappearance were true, and I loved that it kept me guessing right to the end.

Hannah and Bailey set out trying to find a reason for his disappearance, in the hope it might lead them to him. I desperately hoped they would find him, I wanted their family unit back together. Bailey struggled to accept Hannah, and I particularly liked the relationship between them and really enjoyed watching this develop; at times it was uncomfortably awkward and gradually we felt Bailey learning to trust Hannah and rely on her, in the way her father must have intended for her to do by leaving the note.

I was hooked as the pace started to pick up and things were getting very fraught in the search for what Bailey could remember about places she had been which might bring them closer to finding Owen, or finding out what had happened to him. I enjoyed the fact that I didn’t know which way things were going to go, and I absolutely loved everything about the ending.

I really recommend this book and also wish to point out that the hardback copy of this book is a real thing of beauty and very striking – you need this on your shelves!

I really enjoyed this intriguing book, it has so many twists and turns. Hannah is married to Owen and stepmother to Bailey. They are a devoted, happy couple although Hannah's relationship with Bailey is tense. The head of the company that Owen works for gets arrested for over-valuing the company's shares. Owen disappears without a trace but not before sending cryptic messages to both Hannah and Bailey. Those one messages are the only ones from Owen. What follows is a mystery that Hannah and Bailey try to unravel. I'm not saying any more as it would spoil the story. This is a well written book with good characterisation and many different twists and turns. I really couldn't put it down and couldn't see where the story was heading. It is definitely a tense page turner. Thank you Netgalley for a copy to read and review.

The Last Thing he Told Me is fast-paced and intense and it is easy to see why it has been optioned for a TV series.

How far would you go for a stepdaughter who has never fully embraced you?

When Hannah husband leaves her with his beloved daughter and a note simply saying: Protect her Hannah knows there must be more going on.

After his boss is arrested for fraud it looks like he's simply guilty of the same crime but Hannah knows her husband and she knows he wouldn't defraud people.

Determined to find out why he left she and Bailey delve into his past and she is forced to question everything she knows.

Who can she trust? Can she trust him?

I loved the way the author built the relationship between the protagonist and Bailey and also between her and her grandfather,

Laura Dave has a fresh style of writing and The Last Thing He Me is incredibly suspensful, I couldn't stop reading until I knew how it ended. As for the ending I liked the way it was tied up in a way you wouldn't necesarily expect.

The Last Thing He Told Me was a whilrlwind read and one of many superb books I have read so far this year.

This is a family drama come mystery type of book, not a thriller as it’s not scary or makes you gasps when reading it.
It reminded me somewhat of the British T V series ‘Faith’ at the beginning but then story unfolds it starts getting more silly and unbelievable.

Husband - Owen, Wife- Hannah and his teenage Daughter – Bailey. Owen is a widower and has brought Bailey up by himself since she was very young. Hannah and Owen have only been married for a year. The Husband goes missing one day without saying where or why he’s gone. The company he has been working for is being investigated for fraud and it’s all over the news. He leaves a note asking his Wife who has a ‘prickly’ relationship with said Daughter to ‘Protect Her’. She has no idea what he means or how she is suppose to protect the Daughter, who from….. or even why.

After she contacts the Police and finds them unhelpful and suspicious that she must know where her Husband is a US Marshall from Texas, Grady, appears at her door, offering to find a way to protect them. Hannah doesn’t know if to trust him or not and isn’t sure if help from him is the right thing for them both.

Hannah has some very knowledgeable friends and one, Jules helps her to disentangle some of the mystery of Owen. They find out his past and what happened after his first wife died. There is a lot that Owen hasn’t told Hannah.

The book is about Hannah finding out a lot of things she didn’t know about her Husband and his passed as well as her changing relationship with Bailey.

The ending was a bit of a let down for me but lots will like it.

I love getting lost in the pages of an intricate, urgent, domestic thriller and that’s exactly what I got from this page-turner.

Before he disappears, Owen Michaels leaves his new wife Hannah a note reading ‘Protect her.’ The note refers to Owen’s 16-year-old daughter Bailey, who has maintained a hostility towards her stepmother for as long as Hannah has been in Owen’s life. Investigators are starting to swarm around Hannah’s home and Hannah begins to realise that Owen isn’t actually who he says he is. Could Bailey hold the answers as to what the truth is and why Owen has really disappeared?

Hannah was raised by her grandfather and her life has been shaped by him. She is a bespoke furniture maker just like he was and she regularly references the parts of her adult self that she took from him. I really felt for Hannah for most of the book. She tries her hardest to foster a positive relationship with Bailey because she doesn’t want Bailey to feel as alone as she undoubtedly did as a motherless teenage girl.

When news of Owen’s arrest breaks and his company’s secrets start to filter out leading to more arrests, the neighbourhood is in a state of both shock and disbelief. One thing that Laura Dave does so well is describe the idiosyncrasies of an affluent small community and that clique-like vibe running through it. Sausalito reminded me of Shaker Heights in Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. The residents are steadfastly loyal to those they know, despite evidence that those they know aren’t good people, and extremely distrustful of outsiders. Perhaps it’s just as well that Hannah decides to take off and follow the trail on her own rather than stay put in such an unwelcoming community.

As the narrative starts to unravel, it becomes clear that Owen has been living a lie for many many years. This leads Hannah to question how much of their relationship was real and she tries desperately to hold on to the man that she knew and loved. It’s a really tragic thing to watch but it’s almost certainly exactly what people do when they learn of a huge truth about their partner that had previously been hidden. If they can lie about almost everything, is there anything that they haven’t lied about? Hannah’s search to find the answer to this is what drives the second half of the book and it really does turn into a wild ride!

Hannah refers to Owen as her home. She has always considered him to be a calming force in her life and her end point. She finally felt that a life full of searching and longing for a place to rest and really find herself had come to an end, when she met him. Even when it becomes apparent that she never really knew Owen at all, her feelings for him never seem to waver. She never seems to get angry that he lied to her but is convinced that he had a good reason to. Her incredible strength of trust in her husband could be seen as a sign of foolishness but I really admired her for it.

A common theme in the book is the idea that we never really know anyone completely. Even those that we spend the most time with and those who appear to tell us everything will have secrets. However, the version that we see always seems to be enough to form feelings and opinions about each other. The notion that everyone in our lives sees a slightly different version of us has always fascinated me because it’s true for everyone. We present ourselves slightly differently to our family, to our friends, to our partners, to our children, to our colleagues and to the public. So, who can ever really say that they know anyone wholly and truthfully?

I loved watching how Hannah and Bailey’s relationship developed over the course of the book. I knew that when they set off for Texas together that they were going to have to learn to work as a team and I wanted them to work out the tension between them. On finishing the book, I was hopeful that Bailey finally saw Hannah as a force for good in her life and that she could build a healthy relationship with her stepmother. After all, Hannah helped Bailey figure out who she really is!

The Last Thing He Told Me is an absorbing, fascinating story about the consequences of trusting those we love with all our hearts. It’s also a story about finding where you belong and who you are in order to find your place in the world. Tinged with heartache and tension, it’s a domestic drama that will no doubt be an excellent companion for long summer days this year.

The plot of the novel intrigued me and the author did not dissapoint. Hannah is married to Owen and they are deeply in love however Owen's daughter hates her. Hannah tries really hard to form a bond with Bailey but gets rebuffed at every opportunity. Then one day Owen dissapears leaving behind a note asking Hannah to protect Bailey and so begins the suspense and race to find him - dead or alive.

I enjoyed the characters and were rooting for them from the start. Even though I would've like the ending to have tied up all the loose ends a little better it does leave you wanting more which is never a bad thing.

Certainly one of my new favourite authors

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a very good surprise. It was such an easy read, I can’t believe I finished it in one go! The story is entertaining and it makes you wonder what the hell is going on while also makes you doubt everyone!

I really really enjoyed the way the author decided to finish the book... it’s very unconventional.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Didn’t know what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s a quick read, you’re immediately thrown into the mystery - Owen Michaels has disappeared leaving his wife and teenage daughter worried and confused. As different law enforcement agencies get in touch, Hannah realises her husband isn’t who he said he was. What follows is the hunt for Owen, as Hannah and teenager Bailey try to piece together clues from what little Owen has given them. I couldn’t put it down.

“Protect Her”

How far would you go for the ones you love?

Hannah thought she knew her husband well but when he disappears as his boss is arrested by the FBI, Hannah soon finds out he is hiding things from her. All he has left is a note saying “protect her” obviously referring to Bailey his sixteen-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Hannah is unsure what or who she needs to protect Bailey from but she is not going to sit around waiting to find out.

What has Owen done to make him disappear not just from Hannah’s life but his own daughter? Hannah is determined to find out the truth but who can she really trust and will she get herself and Bailey in deeper than they can handle?

I really enjoyed the fast pace of this story and how the words flowed effortlessly and had me wanting to turn the pages quickly. I also liked how it was told in dual timelines from the past when Hannah and Owen got together providing us with the depth of their life together to this point and to the present day of Hannah, with the initially resisted assistance of Bailey working together to find out the truth. I was happy with how the book ended, albeit being bittersweet, but I feel like it fitted perfectly to the storyline.

I wish I had enjoyed this book more than I actually did. A disappearance and a hunt for the truth. All a bit predictable.

This is a mystery with so many turns and twists. It is about a woman whose partner suddenly disappears and leaves her with a bag of money and his daughter. As a say independent female, Hannah Hall wants to know why and investigates and then an amazing story unfolds.
There are lots of twists in the plot and you don't know who you can trust. It's a definite page turner. I look forward to reading another book by Laura.

I absolutely loved this novel, it had my full attention from the first page and I didn’t want to put it down. When Hannah married Owen and became step mum to Bailey, she thought winning her over would be her biggest issue. But her love for Bailey takes over when Owen mysteriously disappears and a barrage of secrets about him are revealed. A great story that kept me guessing and the ending was just beautiful.

The Hype Is Real!!!
The Last Thing He Told Me is currently at number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list and in my opinion rightfully so! This read was everything I hoped it would be, I loved it!
Admittedly, it took me a couple of chapters to get into the story, but from the minute US Marshal Grady introduced himself I was hooked!

Synopsis:
When Hannah receives a quickly scribbled and cryptic note from her husband Owen through a stranger, she has no idea what to think. All it says is "Protect her".
He must refer to his sixteen year old daughter Bailey but, it doesn't make any sense at all. When Owen doesn't answer his phone and fails to come home Hannah learns through the media that the company Owen works for has been raided by the FBI in relations to fraud. While trying to put the pieces together, it's through her being questioned by US Marshal Grady that she learns that her husband is not the person she thought he was. She does know she still loves him though, and she will do everything to protect her stepdaughter and find out the truth about Owen...

Make sure to pick this up when you are looking for a quick and thrilling read. It's incredibly fast-paced, has an exhilarating plot and is filled with some great characters. I particularly loved the bold female protagonist Hannah. I was in awe of her strength, determination capability and intuition.

Thank you so much @netgalley and @simonandschuster for allowing me to read the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Hannah's husband Owen goes suddenly missing, leaving only a note behind ''protect her'. At first it seems he is suspected of involvement in a financial scandal, but the mystery of his background and his whereabouts only deepens. Through flashbacks we, and Hannah, gradually realise that Owen was hiding much more. Together with Owen's daughter Bailey, Hannah tries to unravel the mystery and find Owen again.

This was a really thrilling page-turner until about two-thirds through. At that point I felt it ran out of steam a little, the mystery of Owen unravelled too quickly and the final chapters felt a little flat. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable read with two strong female leads. I look forward to more from this author.