Stevie‘s review of The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets
Contemporary Women’s Psychological Fiction published by Berkley 05 Mar 19
While I love mysteries, I have a bit of a gripe with most suspense (romantic or otherwise), in that a lot of the plots rely on at least one protagonist (generally female) doing things that are highly inadvisable, if not downright stupid. Ironically, in a lot of serial killer cases of the past, it was the victims who were often wrongly accused of showing the same sort of behavioural traits. In spite of my reservations, I took a chance on this book because of the slightly unusual hook, whereby the suspected killer is the deceased boyfriend of the main protagonist and she, for her part, is determined to prove or disprove his part in the killings, even when she’s the only one who doubts him.
We first meet Marian Engström as she’s scattering a portion of her boyfriend’s ashes in a river. She then returns to her car – which had formerly been his – and makes a call to the former forensic profiler, who worked on a series of unsolved murders, which occurred close to where she and her boyfriend were based when not out in the field working on wildlife studies. When she and Tate were together, Marian had occasionally wondered if everything he told her about his past was true. Since his death, other people who knew him have confirmed her suspicions. But does that make Tate a murderer of at least four young women?
Nick Shepard helped solve some high-profile cases over the course of his working life, but, since retirement, he’s been haunted by his memories of the victims whose killers were never brought to justice, particularly the four Stillwater cases. Now diagnosed with terminal cancer, Nick views Marian’s request as one last action he can perform in order to set the world a little more to rights. While Tate’s profile suggests that he could well be the killer, and some of the facts he claimed to know about the case were never released to the public, it also appears that someone is watching Marian and means to do harm to her or to one of her female colleagues.
I loved the backdrop to this story. Marian, Tate, and their companions work with rescue dogs to assess wildlife populations in some highly remote and potentially dangerous locations. While Marian is far from worldly-wise, and occasionally acts rashly, her personality ties in with Nick’s profile of what the Stillwater killer looked for in his victims. A coincidence, or was Marian destined to be the next woman killed?
The book had me guessing almost to the very end, and even when the main mystery was revealed, the finale had me on tenterhooks as to who was going to make it out alive. I wasn’t 100% convinced by the epilogue, but I’m going to look out for more books by this author.
Grade: B
Summary:
Marian Engström has found her true calling: working with rescue dogs to help protect endangered wildlife. Her first assignment takes her to northern Alberta, where she falls in love with her mentor, the daring and brilliant Tate. When they’re separated on another assignment, she’s shattered to learn of his tragic death. Before long, Marian discovers disturbing inconsistencies about Tate’s life, and begins to wonder if the man she loved could have been responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four women.
Hoping to clear Tate’s name, Marian reaches out to a retired forensic profiler who’s haunted by the open cases. But as Marian relives her relationship with Tate and circles ever closer to the truth, evil stalks her every move….
Read an excerpt.
