The Last to See Her by Courtney Evan Tate
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Mira, for providing me with an ARC of The Last to See Her in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
I have to confess I don’t know how to write this review. How do I start and what should I write? What little anecdote should I include before getting to the details?
I never had the pleasure of reading any of the author’s other works, so I didn’t know what to expect.
The synopsis sounded intriguing and I sure could have used another distraction from the fact that once again the city was in a lockdown.
I was neither preparing for a let down nor had ridiculously high hopes. I could envision myself snuggles up on the couch with a cup of tea, really sinking my teeth into this suspense/thriller/mystery.
The Last to See Her began to make me rather annoyed and a little angry. Let me explain why.
The Details
What jumped out at me right from the start was this undercurrent of arrogance that came across from the two main characters. They exuded a degree of high mightiness. It was clear that they thought themselves above the rest, because they were “successful”. Although, in today’s world what can be classified as success clearly needs to be redefined.
Anyway, I wasn’t too excited reading about two snooty female characters, who really did not know the meaning of true hardship. And I didn’t appreciate that the reader was supposed sympathize with them.
What really gave me that nervous eye twitch and had that big blue vein inside my head dangerously close to popping was the inconsistency of the characters.
Don’t try to sell a reader on a character, who describes herself as “scientific”, “fact-based” and “no-nonsense” and then have her screech at everyone and faint. Uh? Did I miss something?
As a part-police procedural, this story really fell short. Not to spoil too much, but why is the lead detective taking a person of interest out on a coffee date?
Furthermore, usually I enjoy mystery stories that flip back and forth between the present and past, but I felt the formatting for The Last to See Her was a little confusing.
The Verdict
Overall, I thought The Last to See Her was a little unpolished. It could have benefited from a few more editorial touches.
None of the characters were the least bit likeable. It had potential, but it never had a chance to materialize.
This wasn’t for me.
About the Author
Courtney Evan Tate is the nom de plume (and darker side) of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Courtney Cole. As Courtney Evan Tate, she is the author of Such Dark Things and I’ll Be Watching You. Courtney grew up in rural Kansas and now lives with her husband and kids in Florida, where spends her days dreaming of new characters and storylines and surprising plot twists and writing them beneath rustling palm trees. Visit her on Facebook or at courtneycolewriters.com
