Book Review: The Last Time She Saw Him | Kate White

I preorder any new Kate White book the moment it’s available through booksellers. The first book I read by her was The Sixes (which I’m going to reread and review soon since it was pre-book-blog) and I fell in love with her suspenseful writing style, descriptive language, and compelling plots. Her main characters are always incredible women who mix strength with vulnerability.

Her newest book released this week! The Last Time I Saw Him is another suspenseful and compelling mystery that is a perfect summer read to sit on the patio and sip an ice cold beverage.

What should you expect?

If you haven’t read anything by Kate White before, you should remedy that immediately. Kate is the former editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine and has been writing mystery novels for two decades. Her Bailey Weggins series is one of my all-time favorite mystery series. I keep emphasizing “mystery” because her books are more mystery than thriller, something that can help orient a reader to what style of book to expect. There are twists and turns that kept me hooked, but her style isn’t an out-of-left-field blindside. I find her mysteries well-crafted and the reader can solve them right alongside the main character.

What is The Last Time I Saw Him about?

The book centers around Kiki Reed, a career coach who lives in New York City. Kiki begins the book heading out to Connecticut for a party to support her friend Ava’s husband’s new book. Six months earlier Kiki ended her engagement to Jamie Larsson. Initially Ava told her Jamie wasn’t coming, saving her from an awkward encounter. But Jamie is at the party and Kiki does her best to stay out of his way, not wanting to bring up old emotions. Especially since Jamie seems to be moving on.

The party is winding down when a shot is heard from outside, and Jamie is found dead in his car. The police think it’s a suicide, but Kiki is certain it’s murder. Jamie seemed fine and was actively making plans for the future. Kiki knows her wouldn’t take his own life.

Feeling a responsibility to find out the truth, Kiki rents a house in the area to look for clues that prove to the police it was murder. The more she learns, Kiki realizes that something much more sinister was going on with Jamie, and she may be in danger next…

What did I think?

I love the way Kate White writes. Her scenes are filled with rich details that add a vividness to her stories. Often, she drops in what seem like mundane details—what they order for dinner (usually a decadent pasta and a glass of wine), what they are wearing, where they like to sit and do work or relax. I enjoy that she includes these little tidbits because it makes the characters feel like real people. She also builds the settings out, without being overly descriptive, but enough that the reader can conjure an image in their mind.

Kiki is an interesting character. Normally in this type of book, Kiki would be the one who got broken up with. I this case, she broke it off with her fiancé Jamie because she realizes she had feelings for his best friend, Sam. This isn’t as salacious as it sounds—Kiki never told Sam (or Jamie) about her feelings, nor did she act on them even after ending her engagement. At the same time, it seems that she did find some clarity by seeing how she responded to someone she’s more attracted to. And in true Kate-White-fashion, we get some details about why she and Jamie clearly weren’t a good fit. Since Sam is also invested in finding out who murdered Jamie, the two spend time together so Kiki is forced to make some decisions about her feelings (and see if Sam has any for her). This isn’t as simple as it might sound, but I won’t spoil it!

The tension is woven through the story expertly. Kiki may be sure that Jamie was murdered, but the police aren’t. Add to that the tension with Jamie’s family who blame her for breaking Jamie’s heart, the sexual chemistry with Sam, a former girlfriend who is prickly at best, and a string of suspicious characters, and this is a recipe for a great mystery.

Though Kiki is the main narrator, there is also an unknown male narrator with short chapters throughout that cranked the tension into high gear. Whomever that narrator is seems to be linked to another murder in the area. Kiki wonders if it is possible the two are related, but initially it doesn’t seem like they are. I enjoyed the way the two storylines unfolded and how they tied to one another. I didn’t guess the ending, which always makes for a fun mystery, especially when I realized all of the clues had been there the whole time!

A perfect breezy and compelling summer mystery!

If you liked The Last Time She Saw Him, what should you read next?

About the Book

As Kiki Reed heads out to a party at a friend’s house in the Connecticut countryside, she’s more than a little nervous. Her ex-fiancé Jamie, a great guy who just wasn’t “the one,” will be attending, and she hasn’t seen him since she broke his heart a few months earlier. But when they come face to face, their exchange is brief and pleasant, which is a huge relief.

Then, as the party is winding down, a noise pierces the night. The last few guests run outside to find Jamie inside his car, dead from a gunshot wound.

Shocked and grieving, Kiki learns that the police believe Jamie took his own life, but she knows he was moving on from the breakup and just doesn’t believe it. Determined to find the truth, she searches for any evidence that will get the police to take her seriously. But as she peels away the layers, she uncovers something far more sinister than she’d imagined—and it may be her life on the line next… (Synopsis from Goodreads)