The Last Sister was good. That is literally all that came to mind when I finished reading it. It was good. It wasn't great. It wasn't bad. It wasn't something I would tell people they had to go and read but if they asked I'd say, sure.

The best part are Zander and Ava. I want to know more about them. Ava especially since she barely appeared in this one but there seems like there is a lot there to unpack if you flesh it out. Maybe that was in another book. I may have to go back and read that. The underlying mystery and the connections between past and present are what kept me reading. However, it was the fact that you really do figure out what happened and have to wait a while to confirm it that ruined the ending for me.

The OK...the sisters themselves. The younger ones, that is. The aunts? Could have seen more interaction between them. I mean, three old women who are not triplets but coordinate their outfits so they are all wearing the same color? There has to be some great relationship there. And probably some great fights, too. I wished there was more of them. The younger sisters were more cliche. The flighty younger one. The older one responsible for everyone. Seen it. Done it.

The most unbelievable part for me was the relationship forming between Zander and someone who basically should have been a murder suspect. You just happen to walk ups on two hangings? Sure. Trust you right away. The interactions between them read as cheesy to me. Like the author was told to put a little romance into it and so they had to get close in a very short time.

So, like I said. Good. I would read more of Zander and Ava as a team. Just my little opinion. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and Kendra Elliot for giving me the chance to express it.

Emily Mills' father was murdered 20 years ago. She found him hanging from the tree in their backyard. This seems to have set off a chain of events ... her mother eventually committed suicide .... her older sister disappeared and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

This night, her friends and neighbors were brutally murdered. The wife was stabbed multiple times, her husband was found hanging from a tree.

It's like deja vu all over again. Emily and her sister have tried to forget their childhood plunged in murder, and this brings it all back.

FBI Special Agent Zander Wells arrives in this small logging town along with his partner. As avid as he is to solve the brutal double slaying, he is just as intrigued with the mystery of Emily’s and her sisters’ past.

What he finds is that the sisters have secrets from everyone ...even each other. Some secrets are never meant to see the light of day. And not everyone is exactly the person they purport to be.

This is a nicely paced, highly suspenseful murder mystery that kept me riveted from the very first page. Throw in a little romance and all the boxes got checked for me. The main characters are credible and some of the small town residents are quirky, friendly, fun. The accent is on the suspense, light on the romance.

Many thanks to the author / Montlake Romance / Netgalley for the digital copy of this Romantic Suspense. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Last Sister!

It’s so funny that right before writing this I happened to read the first review on this book. That reviewer said exactly what I was thinking... this book wasn’t a “wow did that really just happen” or “what the heck did I just read” or “I didn’t see that one coming” kind of book. The funny part is that that reviewer enjoys the less-suspenseful/shocking thrills. I, on the other hand, LIVE for them! The bigger the shock, the better, and this book really didn’t have any of that...

This is about the Mills family who was struck by tragedy more than once when their father, Lincoln, was brutally murdered, their house burnt down, their mother committed suicide, and the oldest sister, Tara, disappeared. Twenty years later FBI Agents Zander Wells and Ava McLane are called into a similar crime scene that closely mirrors that of Lincoln Mills’ murder, and his daughter Emily was the first on scene. This is a total police procedural that deals with violence, corruption and racism, but also has a little romance thrown in. Don’t get me wrong by the first part of my review, this was definitely a good book! It was just missing the wow-factor for me and I felt at times not overly excited to read it...

With thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC.

Emily Mills stumbles across her friends murdered and one of them hung from a tree.
It bears an uncanny resemblance to her own fathers murder 20 years ago.

Enter FBI agents Zander Wells and his partner Ava McLane.

Small town America is always full of tensions, secrets and nothing is ever quite what it appears to be on the surface.
So it proves here as the investigation gets going, more deaths follow and someone is trying very hard to hide their past.

A brilliant story, excellent characters and extremely well written.

Highly recommended.

This is my first time reading Kendra Elliot's novel's and it didn't disappoint.
A small town in Northern Oregon a body is found hanging from a tree in the back garden and a woman brutally murdered upstairs in the bedroom it is up to Zander and Ava to investigate and is immediately suspicious as the person Emily Mills who found the bodies also found her own father hanging from a tree some twenty years earlier.
Three sisters all with secrets which they all want to hide how can Zander and Ava discover the truth and who is the killer?

This who-dunnit is set in a sleepy rural town. After a brutal murder, FBI detectives Zander Wells and Ava McClane are dispatched from Portland to help the unprepared sherrif’s department solve the case. Of course, it isn’t as simple as it first appears and we soon realise that the murder is linked to an historical case from 20 years ago.

While the premise of the story was good, I felt it skirted over some important issues while going into massive detail where it wasn’t warranted. I found the ending rushed as well- I wanted fuller answers!

It was a satisfactory read, but I don’t care enough for the characters to actively seek out other books in the series. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

4.5 fantastic stars. This was a great who done it mystery. The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot succeeds on all levels. First off if gives us an updated look at Ava and Mason ,I loved that it is connected to Ava’s series.This is Zander Well’s story; and what a story it is. this is the beginning of a new series, it does not matter is you have read the Callahan and McLane series. I really am looking forward to the next one in the series. I really think the writing as always is super.

I have read Kendra Elliott’s Callahan & McLane and was looking forward to coming back to this world. It did not disappoint. It was nice to have a book from Zander’s perspective as well as he was a solid secondary character in the other series. I would recommend this to other fans of easy crime stories and look forward to more in this series.

Once I started reading this book I didn't want to put it down. I thought this was a great mystery spanning 20 years. Tara, Emily and Madison are at the center of this mystery. For a small town it's holding a lot of secrets. Zander is great and I'm happy for him and Emily. Emily is finally coming out of her shell by the end of this book. All 3 sisters have a lot to overcome and with each other I think they finally will. The Aunts are funny and very protective. If you love a great mystery with a small town feel then pick up this book. I hope the next book has more of Emily and Zander.


*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

Loved this author! Her stories of suspense always have me at the edge of my seat. There wasn’t much romance on this one but it’s fine. The suspense makes up for it.

This was the first Kendra Elliot book I've read and I really enjoyed it.
I found it was a good suspense novel with lots of twists and turns.
I thought the characters were well written and particularly enjoyed reading about the Mills sisters and the FBI agents. I'd enjoy reading more about them, should there be a follow up.
Thanks to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for my ARC in return for my honest review.

set in a rural town with police who have not dealt with any serious crimes in over a decade, a double homicide grips the community. With immediate undertones of a racially motivated crime and the immediate comparison with a similar death 20 years previous, Emily finds herself and her family entangled in the FBI investigation of her friends murder.
Her Fathers death of 20 years previous is brought back to the forefront of the story with the similarities undeniable between his and the more recent deaths.
I loved the characterisation in this book, particularly the gentle distinctions made between the "out-of-their-depth" local law enforcement and the the "sweep in and solve it" FBI characters.
The twists and turns about who saw whom and what was truly witnessed keep the pages turning right to the final revelations.
An excellent read and an author I will be adding to my firm favorites list.

Many bodies,one theme to be uncovered. The trigger for the events of this book is buried in racism. It is gripping from page one and does not let you go until the murders are solved and some personal relationships are confirmed. The rural setting is well conceived,balancing the local knowledge of law enforcement slightly out of its depth with the shrewder approach of the FBI. The characters are well drawn and there are many of them. I found I had to get to the end of this book because of the compelling story but it is also well written so no question of skimming to get to the end faster! I strongly recommend this book.

Secrets and lies and a complex untangling of which is which and why they're kept and told. An interesting read on lots of levels looking at hate crimes, the overwhelming strength of family love and uniquely that between sisters. Added to that the emerging relationship between the two main characters, both damaged and both tentatively letting themselves free in hope of something good in the future plus a dramatic ending to the novel with openings for possibilities to come for many of the characters.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

I love a good suspense book.  Add in a touch of romance and sold!  The Last Sister is a great combination of both.  Though really the focus of this book is really the women and the murders.  Not so much the romance.  Works for me though.  I read this book really quickly...didn't want to put it down.

I enjoyed getting to know these characters and seeing what they're made of.   Pretty sure you will enjoy them as well.  I mean, how much stuff can a family go through?  Murdered father, mother commits suicide (or did she?) and then a similar murder happens in this small town.  Did they put away the right guy initially?  Has he been paying for the wrong crime?  It's a good a question as any.  There's lots of questions and answers in the pages of this book.  

It's time for you to grab your copy.  Let me know what you think after you've given this book in the new Columbia River series a read!

Yes! A new series from Kendra Elliot! Sign me up!

We finally get more of Zander in this start of a new series. Emily Mills has tragedy in her past, that's why she knows that the FBI needs to be involved when she finds her good friend brutally murdered and her friend's husband hanged. When Zander comes to investigate, he finds links to past murders and disappearances. Is this new crime connected to Emily's past tragedy? Will the truth finally come to light?

I loved this story! I've loved Zander since we first met him in the Callahan & McLane series. He is such a good guy and I really was hoping that he would find his happy ending. I loved getting to know him better in this book. I also loved Emily. I feel like she is such a strong character. I loved the dynamic between Emily and her family as well. I was completely surprised by the ending of this story! No clue it was headed in that direction. I hope we get more of Zander and Emily in the next book in the Columbia River series! I can't wait!

*eARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

I'm really a huge fan of this author, I discovered her many years ago and was immediately hooked by the stories that she writes. So when I saw a chance to read this one I jumped at the opportunity. And just as I had expected, I loved this one!! It hooked me from the very first chapter and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. And just as I thought I may have it all figured out.....BOOM!.....the author throws in a new twist!

As a die hard Kendra Elliot fan, I can honestly say that this book rocks! Featuring Zander Wells from the Callahan and McLane series, I love that it brings a familiar character into a new setting.

After their father is brutally murdered twenty years ago, the Mills sister's bond was broken. Emily, Tara and Madison each handled the tragedy in their own way, and secrets still lie beneath the surface like fault lines. When another murder happens, and FBI Special Agent Zander Wells comes to town, those secrets start to shake everyone up. Does one murder tie in to the other? Or are the two cases unrelated.? The more Emily learns, the shakier her belief in what actually happened that night becomes. Will the truth pull the sisters together or tear them apart completely?

With rich dialogue and a complex plot, Elliot is at the top of her game. I cannot wait to continue this new Columbia River series and get to see more familiar characters brought back into the light. Truly a 5 star read!

Kendra Elliot just doesn't disappoint when it comes to well written engrossing thrillers filled with plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading and guessing. Pick up this winner of a book because it's unputdownable. Happy reading!

I loved this book ! Exquisitely crafted by a gifted storyteller ! One of three sisters find a black man hanging and his white wife stabbed to death , just as
she had found her father hanging twenty years earlier ! A captivating story with many twists ! I highly recommend ! Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for the opportunity to read and review this book ! The opinions are entirely my own ! #Netgalley #MontlakeRomance #TheLastSister