AUDIBLE BOOK - listening length 12 hours & 25 minutes
Narrators: Jaimi Barbakoff & Robin Laing

I am struggling to write this review., where to start? This is my first audible book by this author.

For me, the narrator/s are important. Jaimi Barbakoff (English actor) is a first time listen. Robin Laing (Scottish actor) is a favourite! I struggled with Jaimi's character's Canadian accent and found it difficult to concentrate on the storyline.

This audible book has tension, twists & turns, good & bad characters. I could not decide whether or not I liked the protagonist, Sadie Levesque, private investigator, she grated a little on me but that could be the reason I couldn't settle into the accent. I did enjoy the storyline.

I give 4-star rating for the plot alone

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF LISTENING TO THIS AUDIBLE BOOK IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

Set in Scotland this missing teenager investigation uncovers a tale of local covering up and closing ranks. The investigator is Canadian so adds a different approach to the normal police dramas. Sadi the investiagtor finds herself being drawn to other murders and some complete red herrings. The local police play down the situation and assume the girl has gone off in search of bright lights, instead of a sleeping Scottish town. Then a body is found,, lots of twists and kept you hanging on until the end. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

This isn't my first Helen Fields book. It is however my first audiobook of hers and I really enjoyed it. It was a very slow moving story which isn''t unusual for Fields' work but the twists and turns kept me listening to the shocking end.

I really liked the narrator of the story, The emotion throughout the story was impressive and kept me immersed throughout.
There's not much else I can say without spoiling the story but although I liked the male narrator, I feel his chapters in the book where not needed and provided slightly unecessary background information (with the exception of his last chapter). However, they were still enjoyable.

Overall, really liked this book and even though the slow-pace isn't really for me, I still give it 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley, Helen Fields, HarperCollins UK Audio, and Avon for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book. I was hooked from the very start. I loved the setting and the use of all the tails of the Scottish people. The story was beautifully written but also thrilling to read and had never on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t wait to find out who was behind it all. Very cleverly written and one I would highly recommend.

WOW!!!!! Hooked from the first page and read this book in one sitting… Full of tension and suspense. A real page turner, a domestic noir but OMG so much more!!!!!

A fast paced and exciting thriller based on the small island of Mull, peppered with mystery and witchcraft.

The first chapter was an interesting way to introduce us to the characters and story. A Canadian investigator Sadie is hired to find a missing teenage girl, she pulls at every thread she can, but there is always an underlying niggle that not only are the islanders and local police hiding something, but so are the girls parents.

This book is full of twists and dead ends which leave you wondering where it will go to next. There were some naive decisions made by the protagonist, which was a bit frustrating. Otherwise excellent if you enjoy a murder mystery or a thriller.

The main narrator was really great with a clear voice. The Male narrator was also good, excellent picks for this book.

I absolutely loved this book, I listened to it as an audiobook and I thought the narrators brought this book to life wonderfully. The story was about a Canadian private investigator who was helping the family of a girl who was murdered on an island in Scotland. The two different accents were great and made it very clear who was speaking. I could really imagine where some of these events to place while I was listening, and it made me want to visit the Isle of Mull.

The characters in this book were great! The Scottish characters were very much unsettled by what happened but were even more unsettled when Sadie, the private investigator, turnt up. These characters were very hostile towards Sadie so it was difficult to discover who committed the crimes. This book had such a good pace and through the narrators voice, I could pick up when the tension was building. Many things happened during this book which were shocking and this continued right until the very end.

This was the first book I read/listened to by this author but I definitely want to pick up more. The writing style was captivating and I liked when the chapters ended on a cliffhanger because I could remember between listening what I had just heard. It was easy to jump back into this book between listening.

Really enjoyed this audio book , Set on the island of Mull It started off with a missing girl and and a Canadian PI called in to investigate add a little witchcraft and there was plenty of mystery to keep the book going.
I'm not going to give you any spoilers but definitely worth a read/listen

Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Collins for allowing me to listen to this audio book

I loved this audio as it kept throwing me off the scent and the truth was even more complicated than I thought. I thought the ending was very brave as well as this is a really strong story about a potential serial killer in the small island of Mull

A gripping and absorbing thriller. Sadie tries to find missing American girl is met with stiff resistance from local police and locals. Good characters and plotting.
Great narration from fron Jiaimi Barbacoff and Robin Laing

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Last Girl to Die’ by Helen Fields. The audiobook is narrated by Jaimi Barbakoff and Robin Laing.

As I am a fan of Helen Field’s series of Edinburgh based police procedurals featuring DI Luc Callanach, I was excited to read this standalone thriller set on the Isle of Mull.

Its lead and narrator is Canadian private investigator Sadie Levesque. The parents of missing 17-year-old Adriana Clark hired Sadie five days after she went missing. They are Americans who have only recently moved to the island, and felt that the local police were not overly motivated to find her. Sadie flew to Scotland and began to methodically search Mull for the missing girl.

On the sixth day she discovers Adriana’s body in a cliffside cave. Bizarrely her body has been posed with a seaweed crown placed on her head… as Sadie continues to investigate the island’s secrets are slowly revealed. Then another girl goes missing …. No further details to avoid spoilers.

This was a cracking thriller with plenty of twists. I was delighted that there was an undercurrent of folk horror. There is also a priest stirring up the locals with fears of witchcraft and the like. The ending left me stunned.

With respect to the audiobook, this was my first experience of Jaimi Barbakoff as an a narrator and I felt that she did well, especially with the range of accents of the various characters. Robin Laing, who has been the narrator on Field’s other books, provided the voice of the Island in the occasional chapter.

Overall, I was totally captivated by this atmospheric thriller.

Highly recommended.

Narrated by Jaimi Barbakoff & Robin Laing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ fantastic narrators

The Last Girl to Die by Helen Fields ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What a story!!! (for you guys only) I absolutely was not expecting that ending!!! But it somehow made it so much better and more beautiful.

This was a fantastic story that had me guessing until the end.

I can hardly describe the epic journey this phenomenal audio will take you on. It has so many ups and downs and plenty of red herrings that you just have no idea who the killer is. I had about 4 characters in mind and it was non of them! The explosive ending totally blind-sided me and left me in utter disbelief. Just a brilliant brilliant book that sets your nerves jangling right from the off.
The narrator, Jamie Barbakoff totally brought this book alive. Her embodiment of the characters was spot on and I totally believed them all. She brings the suspense to the fore so well that I was left thinking, WOW what have I just experienced?
The secondary narrator, Robin Laing added another layer to the brilliance. that runs through the whole book. He added background and descriptions of the Isle Of Mull perfectly. He set the scene really well.
All in all I LOVED this audio book. Another great read by the epically wonderful Helen Fields

I have listened avidly to every DCI Callanach book from Helen Fields so had high hope for this audiobook.
I found the choice of narrator a little questionable - the main character, who voices 98% of the book, (hoorah for the return of Robin Laing who takes the small part voicing ‘the island’) is Canadian, yet someone from the UK narrates it with a Canadian accent, which sometimes slips. I don’t think having a main character from Canada was essential to the plot, she could have been from anywhere, so I cannot understand the author’s decision, nor the decision to cast someone not from North America in the hope their accent will suffice. Personally, I steer clear of audiobooks narrated with American accents, so I was immediately disappointed to hear such an accent as the main character, as the blurb does not indicate where the character comes from (I mistakenly had assumed somewhere in the UK). However, I continued with the audiobook and eventually, give or take a few slips, it didn’t bother me too much or detract too much from the tale telling.
I love books set in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, with all the mystery and mythology associated with the regions. However, I have never come across a book that portrays a real community in such a poor light. In the author’s notes at the end of the book Helen Fields apologies to the villagers of Mull & Tobermory, but I have to say, I found her portraying them as a racist, judgemental, hostile & unwelcoming community with incompetent & sexually predatory police, as a bit of a shock.
The book holds echoes of the style of LJ Ross’s Holy Island book with its focus on myths, legends and practises of the old ways and the influence on the inhabitants of an island.
I was pleased to welcome an old friend from the Callanach books across into this story. Lance Proudfoot plays a small, but important roll in this book & mention of his name and his mentions of friends in the police & an IT hacker brought memories of familiar characters to mind.
I did enjoy the gripping storyline, right up until the ending. I felt this was a strange way to conclude the story. I suppose it ties in with the whole myths and legends, but I found it wanting. It didn’t tie things up in the way I had hoped, kind of mopping the ending up in one strange but not all to unexpected swoop. Perhaps that is just my hopes for the story & expectations given my previous experiences of the author’s works.
I do hope this is not what to expect in future books by Helen Fields as it is obviously different to the Callanach series, but in my opinion not as good. I would be hesitant about listening to any further audiobooks by Helen Fields if they were in a similar vain, which is disappointing as I am a loyal audiobook listener and once I find an author I like I stick with them.
I would have given this book 4 stars, despite the strange faux-Canadian narration, but the ending just spoilt the whole thing for me. Sorry.

I enjoyed The Last Girl to Die, a pacy thriller, set on the Scottish island of Mull and gobbled up the audio-ARC in a weekend!

It’s centred on a Canadian private investigator, Sadie Levesque, who travels there to investigate the disappearance an American teenager Adriana Clark. Very quickly it all began to feel a bit like the Wicker Man - nothing at all is as it seems, Adriana’s family appear a little off, the police and the locals do not appreciate what they perceive as Sadie’s interference in an island matter. I felt quite sorry for Sadie with everything and everyone making her job so much harder.

The story moves apace, the body count rises. I genuinely didn’t see the twists and turns and I let out a ‘What!’ when the murderer is revealed. Again, I didn’t see the ending coming.

Narrated by the very able Jaimi Barbakoff and Robin Laing.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for making this audio-ARC available to me for a fair and honest review and for introducing me to Helen Fields books - this won’t be last!

This is my third Helen Fields book and as per usual it’s great. Fast paced, more twists and turns , red herrings, mythology and witches. I mean it sounds crazy but it’s so enjoyable! It is very gory though and the ending is 😱

This audiobook is fantastic! The first of Helen Field's I've read / listened to but I was immediately drawn in to the Isle of Mull and it's sometimes hostile inhabitants. The folklore surrounding the island was interesting as was the main character Sadie, a Canadian private investigator flown in to help search for a missing teenager.

The local police and most of the islanders are little help to the family of Adriana Clark, the first missing girl. When Sadie discovers her body, which seems to been left in a ritualistic manner, the battle to find out what happened to her ensues.

I really enjoyed this, the narrator was fantastic and the story had me compelled to listen. Looking forward to reading more by Helen Fields. Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Last Girl to Die.

THE LAST GIRL TO DIE is a book about brutal murders, long histories of witchcraft, small communities that protect their own, and the men who want to control women. The rugged Isle of Mull forms the perfect backdrop to the book, the land harsh but beautiful, lulling you into a false sense of security.

This was a very twisty story about very brutal, defiling murders, and an investigation hindered by people unwilling to help or desiring to turn it to their advantage. Not to mention past history, traditions, and beliefs tangling it all up. It made it all so hard to predict what would happen, which kept me turning the pages because I wanted to know who had done it - and what would end up catching them out.

Suffice to say, I did not work it out. There were so many layers of deception and red herrings and complications that I wasn't able to piece it together faster than Sadie. And then, once she had, the ending was adrenaline fuelled.

The book did not end as I expected it. There is an ending you expect with mysteries, and this book does not give it to you - at least, not in the usual way. It was very interesting, satisfying and fitting with the tone, but certainly a shock to end that way.

I flipped between audiobook and ARC for this book, depending on what I was doing. The narrator was great, bringing a great sense of sympathy for the victims, and the investigator's horror at unfolding events.

BRILLIANT!!
It's because of storytelling like this that Helen Fields is one of my top female authors! I will pick up a book of hers without even reading the synopsis because I know it will be brilliant! She never disappoints. I was pulled in from the go and spat out exhausted at the end!

This is another humdinger set in one of my favourite places, Scotland. It is set on the Isle of Mull where there are a lot of undercurrents and where people are still practice old beliefs. A young American girl who's moved to the island with her parents and brother disappears but it doesn't seem like the police are very keen on investigating. Private investigator Sadie Levesque
is hired by the family to come and find their daughter but soon she is in the middle of some very strange going ons. Is it just her bad luck that she is always the one to find the body and why are all these sinister things happening on this island? Who can she trust and what is up with the family who hired her?

I definitely did not see this ending coming!

The narrators also did a brilliant job of portraying the different characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

4.5⭐️

I thought this was a great read. It was a bit of a slower pace than some of Fields’ other books but it didn’t take away from the overall enjoyment.
The atmosphere was absolutely fantastic, especially with the small island setting too. It gave me major Wicker Man vibes with the outsider coming in and finding out about unusual goings on in an otherwise normal looking community.
It was a really dark and creepy read and I enjoyed it a lot. This book is out 1st September and I recommend it to any thriller readers and anyone that loves a creepy thriller!
The ending, while it p*ssed me off, was hard hitting and made absolute sense. You’ll understand once you read it!