Although you can read Luanne Rice’s Last Night without reading the previous two novels featuring Conor Reid, it doesn’t hurt to have read Last Day and The Shadow Box. All three books involve artists, murder, and the resulting fallout in families.
It’s actually a vacation for Detective Conor Reid from the Major Crime Squad for the Connecticut State Police. He and his girlfriend, Kate Woodward, are going to stay at the posh Rhode Island hotel, Ocean House, and Conor plans to propose. Their plans are disrupted by a blizzard and a murder.
Renowned artist Maddie Morrison and her six-year-old daughter, CeCe, are living at the hotel, where they fled during a contentious divorce. Just before the blizzard hit, they left the hotel. When Maddie’s sister, Hadley Cooke, arrives at the hotel, she’s disturbed that her sister and niece left the hotel. She’s upset, and when she goes looking for her sister, Conor and Kate follow. Hadley’s the one who finds her sister’s murdered body in the snow, but Conor is right behind her. None of them know what might have happened to the missing CeCe.
Although Conor is sidelined from the official investigation, the investigating officer from Rhode Island does keep him in the loop. And, Conor’s brother, Tom Reid, is a Coast Guard commander who has a few clues of his own. It’s an investigation that circles around Maddie’s history as an artist, her past loves, and the local community in Rhode Island.
Once again, Rice involves family secrets and art. Some readers might not care for the child in danger aspect, but CeCe proves to be a determined little girl in Last Night. Readers of the first two Conor Reid books will be interested.
Luanne Rice’s website is https://luannerice.com/
Last Night by Luanne Rice. Thomas & Mercer, 2024. ISBN 9781542030199 (hardcover), 334p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley through NetGalley to review for a journal.
