The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

She wrapped her shaking fingers in the hem of her sweater to avoid damaging any fingerprints as she slid open the rear patio door, following the trail of blood. Outside it was dark, daybreak still a few hours away, and the air was cold with the coast's salty mist. (pg 1)

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January 2020; Montlake; 978-1542006729
audio, ebook, print (321 pages); thriller

The Last Sister is the first book in a new series by suspense fiction author Kendra Elliot.  She is a new author for me but after reading this book and reviews of some of her earlier books,  I definitely need to read more books by her.

The book is a well-written page-turner.  Every time I thought that I knew who the 'bad guy' was, I would find out several pages later that I was totally wrong.  As an added bonus to the suspense story, there are the beginnings of a new romance that hopefully will become stronger in the future books in this series.

Emily, Madison, and Tara lived with their parents in Oregon.  Twenty years before, their father had been found hanging in the back yard and their house was set on fire.  Several weeks after that, their mother committed suicide.  Emily and Madison went to live with their three aunts and Tara disappeared the night of the murder.  The killer was caught and sent to prison and the case was closed.  Except that all three sisters had secrets about what happened that night. Emily and Madison work in the diner that was started by a relative years before and are living a good life with their aunts.  Until...there is a murder in town similar to their father's murder.  Did someone copycat their father's death and if so WHY?  A husband and wife are found dead nearby - the wife was stabbed multiple times and the husband was hanged.  The wife worked at the diner with Emily and Madison and the husband was a much-loved history teacher at the local high school  The two cases were similar enough that the FBI was called in.  Zander, the lead agent and his partner  Amy have to decide if there is a connection to the earlier crime and after questioning Emily, Zander feels that she is hiding something from him.  His interest in her starts to go beyond the crime and we have the very beginning of a new romance.  As Zander and Amy investigate the crime, they realize that the sisters and the town hold many secrets and until they find the answers other lives will be in danger.

This book has a little bit of everything -- family secrets, funny aunts, sisters (I love books about sisters), romance, racism, KKK.  More importantly, it had characters that were well written that readers could get to know and a roller-coaster plot that kept me guessing until almost the end.  I have my calendar marked for October when the next book in the series is published.

She wrapped her shaking fingers in the hem of her sweater to avoid damaging any fingerprints as she slid open the rear patio door, following the trail of blood. Outside it was dark, daybreak still a few hours away, and the air was cold with the coast's salty mist.  (loc 93)


Buy The Last Sister at Amazon

Note:  The Silence, book 2 in the Columbia River series will be published in October 2020.

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling. She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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