This book was very good and a page turner. I didn’t want to put it down.
I enjoyed the story, the love story and the mystery. The culprit wasn’t obvious until it was almost revealed which is always a plus.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I enjoyed Laura Dave’s other popular novel, so was very excited for this. Unfortunately it was extremely slow paced and I found it difficult to want to keep reading. Nora is like able and the twists were good (not easy to guess). I just I think this was wasn’t for me personally.

Great story, kept me going. I went into it not comparing it to Laura Dave’s previous book, because that would do a disservice to The Night We Lost Him. Very different pace, just as good in my opinion.

Laura Dave is back with another page-turner! The Night We Lost Him delivers all the family drama and mystery vibes that made The Last Thing He Told Me such a hit.

This time, we follow estranged half-siblings, Nora and Sam, as they’re forced to team up after their dad’s sudden, mysterious death—ruled an accident by police. But as they dig deeper, it’s clear their dad’s life wasn’t what it seemed. Piece by piece, they unravel a web of secrets in search of the truth and a little bit of closure.

While this one leans more into slow-burn mystery than a heart-pounding thriller, I was totally hooked. The characters are relatable and easy to root for, and the sibling banter had me smiling. Plus, the dual timelines? Chef’s kiss. They tie everything together perfectly by the end.

Laura Dave absolutely nailed it again! Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I’ll definitely be recommending this one to all my friends, family, and anyone who’ll listen

Laura Dave's newest novel, The Night We Lost Him, was another well-written, family mystery/drama that was a great follow-up to The Last Thing He Told Me.

In The Night We Lost Him, estranged half-siblings Nora and Sam come together following the unexpected death of their father to find out what really happened to him after police rule the death an accident. As they search for clues their father may have left, the duo find out that nothing was as it seemed, and they slowly begin to put puzzle pieces together to get the closure they are searching for.

This was definitely a slow-burn mystery more than a thriller, but I still found it be enjoyable. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I found the main characters to be easy to root for, enjoyed their banter, and though the dual timelines was done very well to intertwine the stories to the final ending.

Laura Dave has another winner here, and I continue to love her books. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for the ARC!! I will absolutely be recommending this one to friends, family, and library patrons!

Wonderful novel once again by Laura Dave. The family drama was so well written and definitely a page turner for me. I fell in love with the characters especially Sam and Nora as well as Liam and Cory. Author captured both the present story line along with the past story line alongside each other. I highly recommend this novel and truly hope it also becomes a series like her first novel.

I loved The Night We Lost Him. I read it in one day because I needed to know what happened. Once I finished, I went in search of Laura Dave’s previous novels at the library. Laura Dave knows how to write a really engaging, thriller/drama. Don’t sleep on her previous books!

Thank you to Laura Dave, Simon Element, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Part mystery, family saga and love story, The Night We Lost Him is one of Dave's best novels.

Nora is still dealing with the loss of her mother when her father suddenly dies, leaving her his beloved seaside house. Her brother Sam thinks their father may have been pushed and asks Nora to help look into it. Nora must examine her relationship with her. father as well as her half siblings and her boyfriend. Afraid of facing more loss, she has begun to push everyone away but now is forced to examine just what it is she wants. The search for answers to her fathers death is well done and the characters are realistic. The pacing is just fast enough to keep the reader engaged right up to the satisfying end.

I’m DNFing this book - and I’m really sad to feel this way because I really enjoyed her other novel, ‘the last thing he told me.’ This is more a family drama book with a mystery woven throughout- certainly NOT a thriller.

The story centers around 2 half siblings, Sam and Nora. Sam convinces Nora that their father didn’t fall off the cliff at his retreat property, but was likely pushed. They dig into his past together. Everyone in the book has multiple exes and it felt like lots of random characters were all over the place, and I kept being like “wait this is who? oh, yeah.”

There are two timelines, and I found myself just not caring. The story was boring and the characters were meh. I ended up googling the ending and I’m glad I called it quits before getting all that way because I would have been annoyed and spent a couple more hours for a womp womp dumb ending imo.

Meh.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and Simon Element in exchange for an honest review.

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave is a slow burn novel where two siblings are searching for answers regarding their father's recent death. In searching for these answers, they also both come to learn more about each other and themselves. While I enjoyed this book, there were many times I wished the story would move along quicker. It was actually a very fast read, but I felt the plot at times was slow. This would most likely appeal to fans of slow burn, cozy mysteries.

Nora and her half-brother, Sam, embark on an independent investigation of their own, after their father, Liam, dies. The police ruled it an accident after he fell from a cliff on his property. Sam feels this was not an accident so he asks Nora to help. They have another brother who doesn’t really have much to do with their quest.

Along the way, they begin to unearth things they had no idea about. There are a few people coming out of the woodwork but not providing very helpful information. However, one thing leads to another and things start to make sense to Nora. All the while, she is dealing with her own relationship issues with Jack, but she never gives up on solving this mystery.

All in all, this was a good book. Not a lot of suspense but some good twists and turns here and there. When I read a book, I mainly focus on the characters and want to learn them. There was nothing special about the characters, but I didn’t dislike them either; I just didn’t get to know them as I would have liked.

In the end, we get good closure, and a little surprise as to how Nora and Sam handle the news of what really happened to their father. I think Laura Dave is a great author. I always look forward to her books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Marysue Rucci books for the ARC of this book.

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave is a compelling family saga about the truths people hide. This is literary suspense at its finest.

Right away, I can tell you this is one of my favorite books of the year. It’s the ideal book to read for the fall— it’s moody and atmospheric. It’s quite introspective and compelling.

I once saw the term literary suspense to describe novels that do include a mystery, but are more focused on interpersonal character dynamics and growth. So in essence you have the best elements of literary fiction combined with a suspenseful element that moves the plot forward. I’m such a big fan of this style.

The mystery of Liam’s death moves the story forward, and is what brings Nora and Sam together. But the heartbeat of the novel is about love—both romantic and family. But sometimes love is blind, and even without the intentions of doing so, actions taken in the name of love, can hurt others. That is something this novel explores in a well-crafted and delicate way.

I found The Night We Lost Him to be an engrossing and interesting story about a complicated family. Surprising choices are made, and there is a final twist that is quite unexpected. But I found it all worked quite well.

The Night We Lost Him was a mystery, but less of a whodunnit then the unraveling of an enigma of a man.

When 2 of Liam's children decide that something just isn't right about the night their father died, the decide to go looking for answers but their efforts just lead to more questions.

This is the story of successful man who kept his life, his relationships and his families all separate and apart. In order to come to the truth, two estranged half0siblings have to confront the fact that as much as they loved their father, they didn't really know him at all.

This was an interesting read, though not a thriller, as it was classified. I didn't love the flashback telling style in this book, although it does work for some, it made the story a bit disjointed. I figured out the twist sort of early on and the resolution felt a little unsatisfying.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and to the Publisher for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

The Night We Lost Him is a creative mix of murder mystery and family drama. I went in expecting it to be a mystery novel but was pleasantly surprised at the exploration of family dynamics. While trying to solve her father's death, Nora is also learning more about her father as a person as well as herself. In fact, it was those aspects that I found most compelling. It left me contemplating how well I knew my own parents and the lives they led before they became parents.

Review will be posted on 9/25/24

Nora is an architect working in Brooklyn and her life seems to be going well, that is until her half-sibling, Sam, shows up at her work. She doesn't have real relationships with any of her half-siblings, so this is alarming. Recently their father, a hotelier, has died at his California home. It was deemed an accident involving the steep cliffs on the property. Sam has come to tell Nora that the "accident" wasn't an accident at all. He has reasons to believe that Liam, their father, was pushed. So, Sam and Nora try to unravel the mystery independently as the police have already closed the case. Meanwhile, there is a parallel narrative that takes readers back to fifty years ago when Liam was in a relationship with a woman named Cory, who is not one of his three ex-wives. Laura Dave's The Night We Lost Him is part family drama with a mystery mixed in and while it had a lot of potential, ultimately, it fell flat.

Nora's life is turned upside down with Sam's arrival in The Night We Lost Him. At first, I thought there was no way these two could work together as they barely get along, but slowly, they started to figure out the mystery surrounding Liam's death. Readers try to piece together the clues as well and try to figure out who the mysterious Cory featured in the flashbacks to fifty years ago is and how she relates to the bigger story. As more time goes by and Nora and Sam do a little more digging and family secrets are revealed, which is to be expected as Liam had three ex-wives.

I had high hopes for The Night We Lost Him as I really enjoyed The Last Thing He Told Me, but this novel was missing that special something. While it kept me somewhat entertained, I found I didn't care about the characters or their issues. The character development was missing something extra and in turn, it felt like a "meh" read to me. I was also expecting this one to be a bit more thrilling than it was; instead, it read like a soapy family drama.

So, are you a fan of Laura Dave? Have you read The Night We Lost Him? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

I was so excited to get an ARC copy of this book. This one was a fast fun read for me. You are immediately swept up into the story of what happened to Liam Noone the night he fell from his seaside cliff. Was he pushed? Did he jump? Did he just slip? Just like her previous book, Dave draws you into family relationships, romance and a murder mystery all at the same time. She can do it without spicy romance scenes or gruesome crime scenes and still keep you hooked. Her family relationships tend to be about 2nd families - stepmother/ stepdaughter or half brother/half sister. This adds to the relationship story because sometimes those are not so clear on how they should get along. Did I fall for some false leads in the story, yes! Did I have an ah ha moment in the end, yes. I had trouble putting this one down. Thank you NetGalley and Simon Element & Marysue Rucci Books for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure about this one going into it, I don’t think it should be marketed as a thriller, it was definitely a family drama/mystery. I really enjoyed it and read it one day. It was not formulaic as I expected it to be and I felt satisfied overall.

Her writing gets stronger with every book, and this book is no exception. I really enjoyed the storyline and I did not see the twists coming.

The first thing I have to say about this book is that I don't understand it being classified as a thriller. I've read a lot of psychological thrillers (my favorite genre) and this just wasn't...well...thrilling. I would catergorize The Night We Lost Him as more of a family drama and there was somewhat of a mystery. The story is told from two voices: Nora, a daughter who along with her estranged brother Sam is trying to find out what happened the night of their father's death (did he fall off a cliff, did he jump or was he pushed) and Liam, the father, who tells the story of his long romance with a mystery woman. That's the entire premise. There is somewhat of a twist but nothing that was totally shocking.

I'm sorry to say that although this book was short in length (a plus for me!), it took me forever to read because I was just a little bit bored the entire time. And, although there weren't a ton of characters, it was a chore to figure out who was speaking at times. I felt like I really wasn't invested in the lives of any or the characters. While none of them were horrible, I just didn't find any of their stories that interesting and I was just happy when the book finally ended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. It is available now.

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave is a gripping blend of family drama and mystery that had me hooked from the start. When hotel mogul Liam Noone dies in an apparent accident, his estranged children, Nora and Sam, begin to suspect foul play. As they dig deeper into their father's past, they uncover long-hidden secrets that completely change their understanding of him and their family.
The book does a great job weaving together present-day investigations with flashbacks that reveal key moments from Liam’s life. I enjoyed how the tension between Nora and Sam slowly evolved into a stronger sibling bond as they unraveled the mystery. While I was able to predict some of the twists, the final revelation still surprised me.
The pacing was steady, and the mix of suspense and emotional depth kept me invested throughout. Overall, a compelling read for fans of family secrets and slow-burn mysteries!