Book Review - The Last to Disappear by Jo Spain - #HolidayReading Summer 2022

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Title: The Last to Disappear

Author: Jo Spain

Format reviewed: Ebook 

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Quercus

Publication Date: 12th May 2022

Rating: 5 Stars

A luxury resort. Three missing women. One body.

When young London professional Alex Evans is informed that his sister's body has been pulled from an icy lake in Northern Lapland, he assumes his irresponsible sister accidentally drowned. He travels to the wealthy winter resort where Vicky worked as a tour-guide and meets Agatha Koskinen, the detective in charge. Agatha is a no-nonsense single mother of three who already thinks there's more to Vicky's case than meets the eye.

As the two form an unlikely alliance, Alex also begins to suspect the small town where his sister lived and died is harbouring secrets. It's not long before he learns that three other women have gone missing from the area in the past and that his sister may have left him a message.

On the surface, Koppe, Lapland is a winter wonderland. But in this remote, frozen place, death seems only ever a heartbeat away.

Felt like a bit of a change of pace from Jo Spain with this latest book, and wow she pulls it off spectacularly. 

I found it completely unpredictable and really wasn't sure who or what to believe at any point. What I did know was that I was keen to find out not only what happened to Vicky, but also Kaya whose story we get in snippets too. 

I loved the wildness of the Lapland setting, in the run up to Christmas for this book, it added such a sense of atmosphere to the proceedings, plus I love all things Lapland.  It really is a sparse, harsh landscape for which in amongst the touristy side, you can really believe that there could be unexplained deaths, with very little evidence. 

I enjoyed the reluctant teaming up of Agatha the detective in charge, and Alex and grieving brother, to try to get to the bottom of just what happened to Vicky.  I never had any real theories, and definitely could be believe the outcomes. 

And with what Agatha has going on in her personal life too, that plot was gripping and added another layer of tenseness to the story too, it's fabulous. 

I'm in awe of Jo Spain's writing talents as she once again draws me in, and has me on the edge of my seat trying to work out what may be about to happen. It's wonderful, and for me made a great addition to my early festive reading season - although not specifically a Christmas book, given the setting and time of year it's set, it's hard not to want to read it possibly on a dark winter's night to make it even more atmospheric. 

Thank you to Quercus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.