by Riley Sager (Sager)
When the libraries’ Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group used Riley Sager’s The Only One Left as our book for discussion at the February 2024 meeting, it was my first time reading anything by thriller writer Riley Sager (a pseudonym for Todd Ritter), despite the fact that he’s had a string of hit novels in the past several years.
The Only One Left is definitely a psychological
suspense thriller, with numerous twists and turns to its plot. After being
penalized for a lapse of judgement which led to the death of her last client,
home healthcare worker Kit McDeere is offered a “take it or kiss your job
goodbye” position providing round-the-clock aid to reclusive and paralyzed
senior Lenora Hope in her decaying old mansion on the Maine coast. The catch?
Lenora Hope was the young woman who was the only survivor when her family was
all killed when she was 17 — the police (and most of the populace) believe she
killed the rest of her clan but could never prove it. But the case remained so
notorious that a sing-song schoolyard chant permeates the local culture:
At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
Kit’s introduction to the household
has her meeting a colorful cast of supporting players, but it is initial
interactions with the enfeebled Lenora, mute and paralyzed except for limited
use of one of her arms/hands, that sets a series of mysterious events in
motion. After building up some mutual trust, Kit helps Lenora use a typewriter,
and one of her first messages is “I want to tell you everything”. But
can Kit believe what Lenora types out? And is there anyone else who’d rather
not have Lenora sharing secrets, even after 50 years have passed?
I fond The Only One Left to be a suspenseful, engaging
story, filled with intriguing characters. Unfortunately, both I and most of the
other Just Desserts attendees at our discussion agreed that we found the ending
disappointing. But the journey of getting to that ending was still worth the
trip!
( official Riley Sager
web site )
See
the handout The Works of Riley Sager prepared for the
libraries Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group
Recommended
by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service
Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page
of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch
them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the
entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this
reviewer’s recommendations!
If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting this Thursday, March 28th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, we'll be discussing the the first six entries in the Flavia de Luce series by British author Alan Bradley.
Even if you haven't read any of the Flavia de Luce entries for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about other great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment