The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Book 58/30.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Protect her.

That is the last thing Owen Michaels tells his beloved wife of one year when he smuggles a note to her before he disappears. 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 U.S. 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.

The Last Thing He Told Me may have won the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery & Thriller, but I found it to be all mystery, no thriller. It is also heavy on the progression of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship. As they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past they soon realize they are also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated. That aspect was quite the turn off for several reviewers on Goodreads, with the consensus being that it slowed down the story while changing it from a mystery/thriller to more of a domestic/family drama. But I had no problem with the mother-daughter focus as I found it added to the story by giving it more heart. The mum aspect was particularly appealing to me because I started reading this on December 20th which was six years to the day my mum’s funeral service was held in 2017 🥺💔 My previous best reading year was 2016 when I read 55 books, so the idea of 58 books (while planning a wedding!!!) was initially beyond my realm of comprehension. But as it swiftly (😎) became a possibility with my 2023 reading challenge, I decided to read a book with a mum as one of the MCs for book 58 as my mum died when she was 58 years young 😢 I finished this on December 23rd which was 6 years to the day we buried my mum and I still find myself thinking about the story every so often, more so it’s lowkey heartbreaking ending 🥺

View all my reviews

** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing