The Last Time She Died: A totally unputdownable crime thriller with a mind-blowing twist

Zoë Sharp

Oct 2021 · Bookouture

4.6

8 reviews

Ebook

406

Pages

About this ebook

‘Oh My GOD. What is this book?? I could not put it down!… Kept me up until the wee hours! Read this!’ LauraReviews88, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

She came back on the day of her father’s funeral, ten years after she vanished. But she can’t be who she says she is…

When Blake disappeared as a teenager, on a cold dark night, her father never reported her missing. She is presumed dead.

Now, ten years later, a young woman with white-blonde hair sits comfortably in the family living room and smiles at the shocked faces around her.

“Don’t you recognise me?” she says. “I’m Blake.”

Detective John Byron isn’t sure whether she’s telling the truth. But as he investigates, he soon realises no one is happy to see her.

And the people who should be welcoming her back with open arms know she can’t be Blake. Because they killed her the night she vanished…

Didn’t they?

From the bestselling author of the Charlie Fox books, The Last Time She Died will have you gripped until the last mind-blowing page. Fans of Cara Hunter, Kendra Elliot and Rachel Abbott will love this action-packed crime thriller.

Readers are hooked by The Last Time She Died:

‘Wow!! Just wow!!… This book is brilliant! More than brilliant, amazing!!!… Absolutely gripping, addictive and captivating… I was absolutely hooked from the first page to the last. I had a complete shock at the twists… Love, love, loved all the characters!!!’ NetGalley reviewer

‘Phenomenal… Killer book – literally!… I can’t wait for the next instalment in this five-star series!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WOW, did not see that ending coming. Kept me hooked all the way through.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Engrossing and entertaining… Twists and turns keeping me on the edge of my seat… I rushed through this book, eager to turn the pages… I can’t wait for the next book in the series!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I was totally blown away… Brilliant… You definitely have to read it, can’t recommend it enough.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A mind-blowing, tale-twisting, suspenseful, thrill ride.’ Goodreads reviewer

‘Just amazing, gripping… The twists and turns kept throwing me off track and the ending, oh my goodness… A must-read… Such a page turner.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘It works brilliantly… Fast paced and amazing… It gripped me with lots of twists and turns which threw me to the edge of my seat till the very end… A must-read and a true page-turner. Absolutely it deserves 5 stars.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I was sitting, relaxed, on the sofa when I started to read this book but after reading the first chapter I was sitting on the edge of it and I stayed there the whole time.’ B for Book Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Incredible…It blew my socks off… Full of tension and suspense, I couldn’t think about putting it down, I had to know what happened.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A must-read new series by Zoe Sharp!… Talk about family secrets and drama! Lots of suspense and nail-biting moments… An intriguing police procedural you can’t put down.’ @Shortbookthyme, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I was practically dizzy from those twists and turns. What an incredible build up and ending. Highly recommend… Perfectly timed gasp-out-loud twists.’ ChaosHappinessBookMama, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Fantastic… I loved the concept, I loved the characters… I’d give this one a 6 out of 5 if it was allowable.’ Nigeladamsbookworm, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ratings and reviews

4.6

8 reviews

Maureen Carden

October 20, 2021

It’s always time to celebrate when Zoë Sharp publishes a new book; it’s really time to pop the corks when she publishes the first book of a new series. So here is The Last Time She Died first book in the Blake and Byron Thrillers. Remember not to shake the bottles. Right off the bat we know someone is presumably dead and buried; most likely one of two young teenaged girls. One of those possibilities, Blake Fitzroy shows up the day of her father’s funeral after being missing for ten years. Is it actually Blake, or is it the other young teen? It has been ten years since Blake disappeared and there could be a large fortune involved. We all know how money brings out the best in people. Gideon Fitzroy was a sitting MP until he suddenly resigned, citing his second wife and her children as the reason. A few years later he dies in a single car accident with his two stepchildren in the car. Met Detective Superintendent John Byron has been on medical leave for the last year. His boss has asked him to go Derbyshire and unofficially give Fitzroy’s car accident a quiet look to make sure there was nothing but a wrong place, wrong time accident. Byron is very well known in the Met, his mid-thirties age young to be a DS. He was also involved in a terrorist incident that that few people, including co-workers, know much about. There is really no one who can say for sure that Blake is who she says she is, ten years is a long time gone, going from 15 to 25 a tremendous change. A neighbor says she is sure Blake is Blake and not some woman running a con on a grieving family. No one else is convinced including Byron. Byron finds himself drawn to Blake, an odd situation for a senior Met officer, even odder that his boss senses his ambivalence and encourages him to pursue Blake. He settles instead for mostly believing Blake and joining forces with her, because it seems as soon as Blake has returned, events have started heating up. Sharp is a brilliant writer. She was masterful in her ability to invoke the terror, and then hope of two young girls making a last desperate bid for survival, knowing that no one in their small hamlet can be trusted. No escape, no reprieve for either of them, then the lovely magic moment when they realize that perhaps there might be a chance for both of them. The twists and turns provide an exciting ride, some of the twists are predictable, others are jaw dropping; all make sense. Sharp gained fame as an action writer with her Charlie Fox series, plenty of action here, but the concentration is on the vivid characters, whether it was the lonely Lily, deeply missing her step father, or the purported Blake who wasn’t even reported missing when she disappeared. Two young girls, separated in age by by thirteen years, same father figure, with differing experiences and perceptions of Gordon Fitzroy. It is easy to see how this will be a continuing series, so many bits of information dropped leading to many threads to follow up in the next books. Thank you to NetGalley and Zoë Sharp for an ARC for review purposes.

Marianne Vincent

October 20, 2021

The Last Time She Died is the first book in the Blake & Byron Thrillers series by British author, Zoë Sharp. The slim young woman who makes an appearance at the funeral of former British MP, Gideon Fitzroy, and is later discovered having entered his boxy Georgian pile, is a shock to the system for his heirs and this Derbyshire village: she claims to be his daughter, Blake Claremont. Then a chubby, troubled fifteen-year-old, Blake ran away ten years earlier; no-one has seen her since; quite a few people were sure she was dead; so, is it really her? The local constable, a recent import from the London Met, PC Jane Hudson isn’t convinced. Her one-time mentor, Detective Superintendent John Byron, who is currently taking an unofficial look at Gideon’s death in relation to a sensitive but stalled enquiry into MPs, is unsure. It’s the talk of the village, and many are puzzled when Gideon’s widow, Virginia Fitzroy seems to accept her claim, rescues her from Jane’s interrogation, and welcomes her to Claremont manor. But even before Gideon’s will is read, even before the young woman’s identity is proven or otherwise, there are some apparent attempts on her life. The widow’s brother, Roger Flint is assaulted, and cottage of the village’s former sergeant is burned down. It seems that her arrival is a catalyst for drama. Sharp’s protagonists are appealing: smart, talented, but also flawed, and it will be interesting to watch them develop over the series. Their dialogue is snappy and often entertaining. The villagers and other support cast are believably portrayed, including the young constable who is a little too deferential to those with community standing. Sharp gives the reader such a clever plot that even those astute readers who see past the red herrings, predict some of the twists and deduce the ‘who’ from the list of potential perpetrators, even those clever clogs, will still be sufficiently captivated to read on to the nail-biting climax for the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of it. The second instalment will be eagerly anticipated. Brilliant British crime fiction. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bookouture.

Peter Smeaton

October 24, 2021

Once again Zoe Sharp has come up trumps with the first of her new crime series featuring Det Supt John Byron and the mysterious Blake Claremont. A young woman turns up at the funeral of a former MP and claims to be Blake Claremont who vanished ten years ago aged fifteen, and that the deceased MP is her father. What follows is a twisting, tortuous story as her claim is met with disbelief and suspicion. In the midst of all this, the enigmatic Byron, who has a secret or two of his own, tries to entangle truth from lies in a case which would surely have even Sherlock Holmes scratching his head and chasing his own tail. Some not too pleasant characters and a very dangerous villain lead up to a tense, edge-of-the-seat climax. Then, frustratingly, it ends on a very intriguing cliff-hanger which means you have just got to get the next in the series when it is published. I have read just about everything Ms Sharp has written, and she never fails to deliver the goods. Don't miss this.

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