A new Helen Fields book is always a ‘must read asap’. I love her Perfect Series and One For Sorrow was one of the very best thrillers in years.

The Last Girl To Die sees Canadian private investigator Sadie Levesque called to the Isle Of Mull to investigate the disappearance of teenager Adriana Clark. Adriana's family are American, recent arrivals, 'off-islanders', exotic outsiders to the close-knit community whose traditions span centuries.

Sadie discovers a body the Police couldn't find, sparking an investigative murder mystery. The writing is atmospheric, detailed and descriptive. The level of detail and the depth of the investigation inevitably slows things down a little, a marathon rather than a sprint.

As more bodies are discovered the threat and tension increases building to a powerful finale and resolution.

My preference will always be for faster thrillers than murder mysteries, but I really can't fault it. The atmosphere, characters, investigation and character development are all excellent.

For an investigative murder mystery this is as good as it gets. The wistful, bleak atmosphere and the superbly constructed cast of characters will stay with me.

Definitely recommended, especially for fans of detailed, atmospheric investigations.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK

I sincerely thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the Arc of Helen Fields' upcoming book. This vividly atmospheric thriller is due to be published on September 01, 2022. This haunting, complex psychological mystery contains breathtaking shocks, horror, unforeseen twists, and an emotionally shattering conclusion.

I was slow getting into the story, but soon I couldn't put it down and became utterly absorbed in the plot. There was intense danger and suspense, with events moving rapidly. The Clark family consisting of the parents and two teenage children, have fled city life in America for reasons they are reluctant to disclose. They now live on the ancient, windswept Isle of Mull off the Scotland coast. The community does not welcome newcomers. The teenagers have difficulty fitting in with the locals of the same age. When their 17-year-old daughter, Adriana, disappears, the police are disinterested in pursuing the case, not taking the matter as seriously as if it were one of their own local teenagers.

Frustrated and desperate, the parents know that it is not in the girl's nature to go off on her own, as suggested by the police. While searching the internet, they find a specialist in discovering lost, taken, or runaway teenagers. She is private investigator Sadie Levesque from Banff, Canada.

Sadie arrives on Mull and finds the police rude, hostile and unwilling to cooperate. She is feisty, tough, and athletic, and she reassures the parents that she will be relentless in her search to find out why Adriana disappeared and what happened to her by any means necessary. We learn that Sadie can be impulsive and reckless, disregarding the consequences of her actions. After four days of searching, she finds Adriana's body partially hidden in a cliffside cave. There is evidence of brutal torture, and she has been suffocated by sand stuffed down her throat. There is a crown made from seaweed on her head.

Sadie learns there has been a long history of pagan rituals, rumours of witchcraft, and a similar murder that occurred decades ago. While hidden in the woods, she observes one of these rituals led by an older woman and attended by teenage girls. They bury dead animals and set them afire. Leaving this eerie scene, Sadie wonders if supernatural beliefs are involved. She has already found a seaweed wreath in her bed at the hotel and takes it as a warning sign. After viewing the unsettling ritual, she is almost murdered on her return.

Two more women are murdered, and Sadie is first on the scene. There are many suspects, but the police accuse her. She is arrested as the prime suspect because she found all three bodies before the police did, and to them, her actions are suspicious. As Sadie draws nearer to the truth, her life is in peril. Will she be able to solve the mysteries and reveal motives and perpetrator(s), or will there be a Last Girl Killed?

A powerful, emotional story of dark deeds and ancient superstition and folklore. There is a distressing, unanticipated ending after twists and turns in the investigation. Recommended!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Super creepy (boggy? kelpy?) PI procedural set on an island in Scotland where girls keep disappearing. Add a plucky young outsider putting her nose into everything and you have a perfect Summer thriller. Hopefully she makes this one a series.

I just finished reading this. The ending was *chef kiss*. This was so cleverly done. Reading this was definitely time well spent. 5/5

This is a very hard book for me to review. I had to sit with it for a while to collect my thoughts. I wish some of the events around the 85% mark had been handled differently, but I decided to round up my rating to 5 stars because I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in one sitting. I was hooked right from the beginning to that heartbreaking shocker of an ending. I definitely won’t be forgetting this book, or the scenery descriptions of Mull, for quite some time! I’ve already started Helen Fields’ DI Callanach series and, after reading this standalone, I’ll be bumping up the rest of the books in that series ASAP.
*Thanks to the author, Avon Books & NetGalley for this advance reader’s copy.

The Last Girl to Die by Helen Fields is a tense, twisty, phenomenal read!
Fields always does an amazing job at creating such vivid descriptions and holding my attention till the very end.
Fantastic, excellent… Incredible… I could not put this one down for the life of me… Loved, loved, loved this book.
What rollercoaster ride this was. I love it when a book shocks me the way this did.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Avon,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

The Clark family have recently relocated to Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull. Coming from the USA to a small town, they are very much the outsiders. When Adriana, the eldest daughter of the Clarks goes missing, the family feel that they are not getting the full attention of the local police, and that the attitude of “she’s young, probably gone to the mainland, she’ll be back” is so totally out of character of the daughter they know, that the only alternative is to employ a PI to find their girl. Enter Sadie Levesque, all the way from Banff in Canada, a specialist in teenage cases.

This story is totally absorbing from the start, the setting is beautiful and the characters are very well written, a real joy to read. The pace is fast and at times breathtaking. Twists and turns galore. I couldn’t put it down, loved it. Had to read the ending twice - WHAT!! Excellent.

Thank you NetGalley.

#TheLastGirlToDie #NetGalley
Awesome.
Adriana Clark’s family moves to the ancient, ocean-battered Isle of Mull, far off the coast of Scotland. Then she goes missing. Faced with hostile locals and indifferent police, her desperate parents turn to private investigator Sadie Levesque. Sadie is the best at what she does. But when she finds Adriana’s body in a cliffside cave, a seaweed crown carefully arranged on her head, she knows she’s dealing with something she’s never encountered before.
The deeper she digs into the island’s secrets, the closer danger creeps – and the more urgent her quest to find the killer grows. Because what if Adriana is not the last girl to die?
Helen fields is the queen of suspense. Loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for giving me an advance copy.

This book was sent to me from Netgalley electronically for review. I have no clue how I will review this book. I really don't have the words. I do know that I will read another one by this author because it was a can't put down book despite the horror of the murders. The characters, except for the protagonist and maybe a couple others, just are not likable...they are despicable sometimes. The setting, Scotland, is not serene and cozy...it is a place of secrets and the dislike of outsiders. Glad I have read other books set in this country, so I don't get an idea that Scotland is a place to avoid. That being said, this author has written an ingenious novel from the first page to the end...and do NOT stop reading if you want a huge surprise. The gory, horrible details are part of the murders...red herrings abound...don't be misled. This is like watching Criminal Minds or a movie that is almost unbelievable. Some of the language is offensive to me...maybe not to others. I could go on and on, so I hope others will read this book and review it.