The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

 

Enjoyable book. I wouldn't say I was super enthralled but the story moved along and I didn't figure out the killer until it told me, so that was good. This is the third book I've read by this author and I plan to read more. 

The Last House Guest is told through the narrator, Avery Greer. Avery is the property manager at a vacation rental agency in a small seaside town in Maine. The owners of the properties are the Lomans, a wealthy local family. The story opens in 2017, at a party, when Avery's best friend Sadie Loman (the daughter of the Lomans) failed to show up. Avery tries to text Sadie but gets no response.

Sadie's brother Parker Loman, his girlfriend Luce, and Avery's ex-boyfriend Connor are also at the party. The police arrives and tells everyone they found Sadie's body at the beach. It's ruled a suicide due to the suicide note the police found in her house. The suicide note said, "I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to be this way." The detective said it was matched to Sadie's handwriting because of a diary they also discovered at her house.

Avery is suspicious of the whole thing because she didn't think Sadie had a diary. She also remembers writing the note as an apology to Sadie earlier in the summer for something totally unrelated. She sneaks into Sadie's house and found her own (Avery's) old diary, realizing the detectives assumed it was Sadie's. 

Avery starts thinking about how they first met. She was working at a party when Sadie approached her. It seemed like a chance meeting, but later, she found out from someone at the party that Sadie had specifically asked for Avery. Fast forward one year, Avery is still working for the Lomans as a property manager. There are a string of break-ins at the properties and mysterious power outages. Avery is having to make refunds to her guests. All of this turns out to be a red herring - it has nothing to do with Sadie's death. It's all done by someone local named Faith, whose parents Bed and Breakfast is struggling for business. Faith broke into Lomans' properties so the guests would go to her parents B&B instead, since it's the only other place to stay in town.

While Avery assesses damage from the break-in, she discovers Sadie's cellphone. Now it's even more obvious the death was murder. In the phone, Avery finds pictures indicating a relationship between Sadie and Connor. But more importantly, there was a photo of Harbor Drive, the road where Avery's parents died in a car accident over a decade ago. Avery wonders if the Lomans have something to do with her parents death.

Avery talks to Connor, who claims he didn't have a relationship with Sadie, but he took her out on his boat once, and visited a cove named the Horseshoe. Avery asks Connor to take her to the Horseshoe. At the Horseshoe, Avery finds a flash drive. The flash drive contains only one file - some financial transactions. The dates of the transactions happened shortly after the accident, and Avery realizes one of the transaction was a deposit into her grandmother's bank account. She realizes her grandmother was paid off to cover up her parents deaths.

Avery remembers Sadie had a spare key to Avery's car. Avery decides to examine her own car and finds scratches in the trunk, and a broken sandal buckle that belongs to the sandals Sadie wore on the day of her death. She realizes whoever killed Sadie had used her car to transport her in the trunk while she was at the party. She could potentially get framed for Sadie's death.

At the one year memorial of Sadie's death, Avery sneaks into the Loman's office (at Lomans residence) and finds medical records indicating Parker was treated for a concussion two days after the accident. She knows now Parker was responsible for her parents car accident and the Lomans paid Avery's grandmother to cover it up. Avery starts texting all her findings to the detective on the case, Detective Collins. Surprisingly, Detective Collins shows up in a nanosecond at Loman's office and asks her what she's doing there.

Avery shows Detective Collins the medical records and all the evidence she's found. To her total shock, Detective Collins starts setting everything on fire. Avery realizes Detective Collins was the first person on the case at Parker's accident and was paid off by the Lomans as well, to cover up the accident. Avery realizes he's the one that killed Sadie when Sadie started discovering the truth, and now, her own life is in danger. 

The house is on fire at this point, thanks to Detective Collins burning the evidences. Avery jumps from the master bedroom balcony. It overlooks the bluffs where Sadie died. Detective Collins isn't far behind her. Parker comes from the memorial as he hears all the commotion. Avery confronts Collins of everything he did which Collins confirms. Collins reaches for his gun as Parker lunges at him, pushes him off the cliff. Poetic justice as Collins dies where he killed Sadie.

Parker is arrested for pushing Collins and for the accident that caused Avery's parents death. Avery sold her grandmother's house (she lost her grandmother right before meeting Sadie for the first time) and used the proceeds to invest in properties, continuing her property management job and working with Faith.

Overall, a very enjoyable book that had its fair share of twists, turns, and red herrings. Not a standout by any means - perhaps it's just a little too formulaic, but certainly lived up to expectations. 

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