The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave

When I was choosing the book this month I went through my list of books to read and came up with a few options. Of course I put them all on my holds list at the library and two of them showed up at the same time. While I was deciding which one to go with, I asked my daughter what she thought, mystery or family drama. She chose mystery and here we are.

The Last Thing He Told Me follows Hannah Michaels as she tries to navigate step-motherhood with teenaged Bailey. Her husband and Bailey's dad, Owen, works in IT in a large prestigious company while she is a woodturner, making beautiful furniture. One day their peaceful, happy life is shattered when she receives a note from Owen. The note says only "Protect her." Hannah knows he means Bailey, but she has no idea why Owen would send this note, or why he isn't answering his phone. That evening while picking Bailey up from drama practice, she sees the news and realizes that his company was involved in fraud and the owner and many senior executives are being arrested. Owen has disappeared and no one can find him. Hannah can't believe that Owen would be involved in the fraud and that he would leave Bailey behind. But when Bailey finds a bag of money her locker at school, all signs are point to Owen's involvement in the fraud.

The morning after Owen disappears, Hannah gets visit from a US Marshall, Grady, who offers to help Hannah Hannah feels like she can trust him, but with everything going on, she tries to do some of her own research. Before she can get very far, she is visited by a couple of FBI agents. After their discussion, Hannah realizes that Owen might not be who she thought he was. Hannah tries to call Grady and learns he is based in Austin. Why would he travel from Austin to Sausalito?

Hannah begins to suspect that whatever connects Grady and Owen is in Austin. She confides in Bailey and asks if there is anything she remembers from when she was little. Bailey remembers going to a wedding that she thinks was in Austin. That hunch takes them to Austin where they try to retrace Bailey's time there. Slowly small memories come back to Bailey.

Bailey remembers going to a football stadium while at the wedding. The two start by going to the stadium, and then try to find a church in walking distance because Bailey is sure they went to the stadium after the ceremony. Unfortunately they keep coming up with dead ends and the one church Bailey is sure she was at was closed during the time period she was in Austin. Hannah leaves her number with the receptionist who promises to keep looking. A tip from Hannah's ex-fiance/lawyer from a background check on Owen, leads them to the University of Texas at Austin. They soon find out that Owen went to college there and find his favourite professor who told him he was the worst student he ever had, a story Owen fondly told both Hannah and Bailey many times. Unfortunately the professor doesn't remember the name of that student, but does help them figure out where to look. A search of the class yearbook reveals a shocking discovery when one of the girls looks exactly like Bailey, and nothing like the picture Owen used to show her of her deceased mother.

With Bailey becoming more confused and upset, Hannah tries to slow down, but Bailey sees a picture of a bar and is absolutely certain she has been there. The two head to The Never Dry, though Hannah pulls the step-mom card and sends Bailey to a coffee shop to wait. Hannah soon discovers that Bailey's mom used to work with her family at the bar, but still can't figure out why Owen lied about who she was. She shows Owen's picture to a the bartender and his reaction is anger. Bailey appears and his anger quickly changes to shock, which Hannah takes advantage of to run away. Hannah later receives a call from the church receptionist with another clue.

Hannah decides it's all too risky and is ready to fly back to Sausalito when she realizes Bailey is gone. The only thing she can think of is calling Grady, who helps her find Bailey. Grady also fills her in on some of the background and how Owen refused the witness protection program once already. This leads Hannah back to the bar where she confronts Owen's past and works out a deal to keep Bailey safe while sacrificing her happiness with Owen.

The story ends with a jump into the future where we see a happy Bailey and catch a glimpse of Hannah's future.

We both found this book slow at the beginning and neither of us were really invested in the characters until Part 2 when Hannah and Bailey got to Austin. As the mystery unfolded, we both suspected Owen of kidnapping and were trying to work out what happened. As it was coming together at the bar, we both thought maybe Owen wasn't really Bailey's dad, or that he had taken Bailey away from her mom. Neither of us were thinking a crime family would be involved, so that was a nice twist.

Being an accountant myself, I enjoyed the fraud plot. Owen's boss, Avett, seemed to be blackmailing Owen into staying and helping to cover up the fraud. Because Owen couldn't risk his photo being published, he stayed at the company. When the fraud was revealed, Owen had no choice but to run in order to protect Bailey. I wonder what he thought about Hannah's deal to allow Bailey to have a relationship with her grandfather after everything he did to keep them apart.

There were a lot of interesting characters in the book and lots of good interactions. Both of us enjoyed the relationship with Bailey's uncle and grandfather. At first it looked like there had been a falling out between the two of them, but it was soon revealed to be a good father/son relationship.

Both of us didn't know (and still don't) how the witness protection program works. We both thought you would be taken care of, not just dropped in the middle of nowhere with nothing. I guess we need to do a bit of research to know more, but we understood why Owen wouldn't want to be a part of that since it would limit so much of their lives. In the end, Hannah's decision was heartbreaking, but gave them the best future.

The last chapter gave us a nice ending where we saw that everyone was doing well. It even gave us a glimpse of Owen, so even though it wasn't necessarily a happy ending, it was satisfying.

Until next time, have a drink, read a book, and be happy!