Yikes! What a ride! I won’t spoil it & tell one of the first twists you’ll find, which is the basis for this mystery. Suffice to say that the twists & questions continue throughout the book & even to the ending. This was a fantastic read, a tiny bit confusing at times but I believe that was the author’s intent. I haven’t read a book with this depth of secrets & mysterious in quite a while but I’m anxious to do it again. Five. Stars. For. Sure.

What a thriller! Very confusing at times. Would have been helpful if each chapter had the name of the narrator. Loved the twists in the plot. Kept reading to find out how it all would play it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC of J.M. Winchester’s Last One to Lie. This book follows about a week in the life of Kelsey Jennings, who finds her daughter is not at daycare when she returns from yoga one morning. Her husband, Malcolm, is not responding to her calls and it quickly becomes unclear what either parent’s involvement is in the missing person case.

From the start, it is easy to tell that this book would follow a typical “unreliable narrator” arc, but I’m notably terrible at predicting these twists so the truth behind Kelsey’s daughter’s disappearance came as a surprise to me. I enjoyed Detective Ryan’s storyline as we don’t often get the law enforcement perspective in this genre, though not all aspects of his story seemed plausible.

Last One to Lie is a compelling read that I didn’t want to put down. While it was apparent from the start that you shouldn’t trust Kelsey’s perspective, my worry that this book would fall into some of the overplayed psychological thriller tropes were unfounded. I would recommend this book to fans of the genre and look forward to more books from J.M. Winchester.

Overall, it was a decent thriller, a gripping story but unfortunately the trope used as the main plot twist was one we've seen too many times in thrillers already.
I enjoyed the writing style, though, and the engaging narration.
Still, I had issues with some of the characters - one felt too cliché and the other was too messed up to be able to identify with.
The plot development was not consistent: The first part is strong and highly captivating, but, as the story progresses, and from the moment the plot twist is revealed, the pace slows down.
The twist is deceiving and got me annoyed. I feel like it was the easy way out of this story and it drags down the potential of this thriller.
If, like me, you are used to thrillers and know a bit about them, this one does not bring anything new to the genre and will be soon wiped out of my memory.

Last One to Lie was a page turner. J.M. Winchester took a traumatic event, a nightmare every parent fears, and took the reader on a ride of woven lies and deceit. Lies of Kelsey’s traumatic childhood to Kelsey as an adult. A toddler goes missing, no one at the daycare Kelsey dropped her daughter off at has ever seen her or her daughter before. Kelsey is not lying, she’s not crazy, what is happening! Is it possible her husband and daughter were kidnapped? Did they just disappear? The detective is determined to find Kelsey’s daughter and the truth. However, the detective can’t quite figure out what’s wrong with Kelsey, memories of his past and similar trauma fuel an ill fitted connection to Kelsey. Desperate to find her daughter, Detective Ryan struggles with Kelsey, his past trauma and a quest for the truth. But which truth is the real truth? Last One to Lie was full of twists and shocking revelations... who is telling the truth? Can you ever be sure?

𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐌 𝗪𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. Thanks to @netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC for an honest review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Kelsey just moved to a new neighborhood with her husband and daughter. She’s not excited about it, but she thinks she will make do. Until she goes to pick up her daughter at daycare, and the girl isn’t there. Her husband is also missing from his new job. It’s up to her to figure out what is going on, as the authorities don’t have a strong belief that she’s telling the truth...⁣
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Whew, this book has so many twists and turns that is becomes a bit unbelievable and cheesy. Parts were certainly campy and predictable, although it was still a fun read. I have a major issue with part of the ending being believable, but I can’t discuss without spoilers. I did love the location of this book: Ellicott City, which is near me. It was fun hearing local places mentioned. ⁣

I mean honestly doesn’t the title just want you to dive in?! So amazing... seriously I could not stop reading it and didn’t want too! Go ahead and read this one ASAP!

This was my first book by this author, and I will certainly read another.

The book centres around Kelsey Jennings, who goes to pick her daughter up at daycare and is told her daughter was never there. (That alone would be terrifying) The matter is reported to the police, and a detective is assigned. Detective Paul Ryan starts looking into the missing child case and starts to believe that nothing about the story or Kelsey is as it seems.

I thought the premise of the book was really interesting, especially because the author went back and forth between back stories and the current story for each character. I liked Detective Ryan and was rooting for him. At times I felt even anxious for him and the decisions he was making. I truly wanted things to turn out for him.

The only downside to the story for me was that I felt it got a little confusing towards the end. I won’t get into why (for fear of ruining the story), but I felt a little confused about how things wrapped up. This is likely a result of the breakneck speed I was reading at because I wanted to know what happened.

I think that fans of Gone Girl or similar stories will like this because there are a lot of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, and the writing really made you want to keep going until the end so you knew what happened.

I will definitely read another book by this author, and enjoyed what I would describe as a twisty psychological thriller that kept me turning pages well past my bedtime.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for my advanced copy!

This book was not what i expected in a good way. It seemed like it was one thing, then became another and then another and then even another. It was confusing at moments but i love unreliable narrators and complicated stories that are not about what they seem. Not sure if the lack of chapter headings with names on them was on purpose to add to the confusion, in the beginning it was confusing to not know if it was the detective or the main character and then got even more confusing as it went on, thought at first it was because of the ARC but now it seems like it was deliberate and there were moment that were very clever in this psychological thriller. I would give it a 4.5, at moments it almost seemed like a five

Talk about your unreliable narrators! This is one of the books where you can rely on anything the narrators tell you. And there are many, many plot twists. This is one of those books that after you read it, you want to start all over to find out what you missed. There are some aspects of the story that are not at all believable, but overall, I enjoyed it.

This book will leave you wondering who is who? Who can you trust?
Starting off as a missing child and husband quickly leads to cold cases and an even bigger mystery. While it’s a little hard to keep track of who is who in this thriller by J.M Winchester I thoroughly enjoyed the jaw dropping intensity of the conclusion.



Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

I LOVED this book. Only a couple minor plot holes which I can easily overlook for the entertainment value of the story. I wish each chapter had a title of the character who was "talking". Each chapter changes from the mother to the police officer, and at the beginning the first few sentences I'm always trying to figure out who's point-of-view I'm reading from. Hopefully that will be fixed in the final version. Anyway, by the end of the book, my head was spinning, and that's always the sign of a fantastic read!

“No one could have predicted this going as it has.”

Except me apparently.
I think I’ve been reading way too many thrillers lately because I figured this one out about 30% in.


The premise of this story sucks you in immediately. Sadly it just wasn’t executed well in my opinion. There was so many twists that it was not believable.

It was an okay read but a bit predictable. And i did not like the ending at all, I was left with more questions than answers.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC of this book.

After finishing the book, I still do not know who the real Holly is!!!!! Loved this story, had to stop reading it the first evening because it scared the daylights out of me. The next day I finished it! What a story and what incredible actress the twins are. I felt like this story could of kept going, fingers crossed, I am hoping the author writes more about these characters. Great read, you have to keep reading the next chapter to find out what happened to the girls when they were growing up. I am recommending this to tons of people when it comes out. Also I would love to read it for book club as well. Great story!!!

I simultaneously enjoyed yet was thoroughly confused by this novel for the bulk of the book. It was a quick read with a twist that I saw coming, but the ending was twistily enjoyable nonetheless.

The title of this one was really fitting. One of the first times I actively thought that for a thriller. I loved the fast pace of this story, but the twist being a twin story was a bit of a letdown. I feel twins are so overdone in thrillers. That being said, the story did intrigue me so it was still a solid read, despite being a little stale.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kelsey Jennings has moved to a new town with her husband and their infant daughter. The move is supposed to be a new start for their family, But then Kelsey arrives at daycare to pick up her daughter, only to be told they have no record of ever having Mikayala in their care. When Kelsey phones her husband at the school where he teaches and is told he has never worked there, her world spins on its axis - has someone taken their baby, or has her husband absconded with their daughter?

As the local police, led by detective Paul Ryan, investigate, it seems the mystery is only deepening. Paul has his own demons, and when he finds himself being drawn in by Kelsey, he struggles to maintain a professional relationship. Meanwhile Kelsey is raising more questions than she answers. Who is the estranged sister she is ignoring? What drew Kelsey and her family to the small town of Ellicott from sunny Florida? And what made her give up her career as a promising dancer? 

Paul needs to find answers - and fast. Because the truth could be more dangerous than he ever imagined...

liked the sound of this novel's premise, and was enjoying it fine - then bam! A twist I never saw coming, and the book careened off into what felt like a whole different novel. I can't say much in the review without spoiling the plot but I will say, keep powering through those first few slow chapters - this story is SO worth your time. Parts of it get a little confusing, particularly towards the end, but the threads do eventually all pull together. This is not a quick easy read and you do need to pay attention with this one, but the pay-off is worth it. 

A cleverly plotted, twisty thriller with a dark edge - I can't wait to read more from this author. 

NB: I was provided with a free ARC copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kelsey arrives at daycare to pick up her daughter but her daughter isn't there, she was never dropped off that morning, and they have never heard of her. When Kelsey tries to call her husband, he doesn't answer and she finds out that he never accepted the job he was offered a couple of months ago when they moved back to his hometown. An investigation ensues and it is led by Paul, a detective whose sister went missing 15 years ago, a crime for which he has never gotten any closure. The story alternates between Kelsey and Paul's points of view.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I am very torn on this one. In some ways I enjoyed it, in others I did not. It started off intriguing enough and I definitely wanted to know what the hell was going on and why no one had any idea why this kid wasn't at the daycare and why the husband wasn't answering the phone. But then it sort of fell apart in a way with what I thought was some very questionable police work by the Paul. Lots of things didn't make sense at all, and luckily that was cleared up in the end, but I felt very confused along the way and honestly, I think I may still be a bit confused at the ending because I found it to be pretty convoluted. I think I know what happened but I can't really be sure without rereading the whole book, which I am not going to do. I give the author points for the twisty turny nature of the book, but the police work was too ridiculous for me to believe at times. I preferred this author's last book, but I will likely read the next one.

WOW! This book is one of the best this year! Suspense! Suspense! Suspense!

Hooked from the start! A woman, Kelsey, drives to pick up her 2 year old daughter, Mikayla, from day care. Just having moved a month ago from Florida to Maryland, unfamiliarity doesn't help Kelsey at all. Having only dropped Mikayla off so she (Kelsey) can attend a yoga class - for a couple of hours - it should be smooth...

Kelsey is told that there never WAS a Mikayla there. She swears she dropped her daughter off to a "Fran" this morning. Kicking up a major fuss, the police arrive and as Kelsey tries to get in touch with her husband - she only gets voice mail...

Any more would be a spoiler...

All I can say is that this is an amazing read - I recommend to all!! Time to search for more from this author!

Many Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a truly wonderful story.

Excellent twisted psychological thriller. After reading and loving All the Lovely Pieces, I was THRILLED to get a copy of this book. Believe me when I say I was not disappointed. The further I got into this book the more dark and twisted it becomes. When Kelsey arrives at daycare to pick up her daughter she is told not only is her daughter not there, she isn’t even enrolled at the school. Has Kelseys husband Malcolm abducted the little girl or is something more sinister going on. Crazy thriller that ensures you have no idea to trust. Highly recommended.