The Last House Guest

January 1, 2019

Avery Greer, a resident of coastal Littleport, ME, is good friends with Sadie Loman--sort of unusual, because Sadie is a wealthy summer visitor. So when Sadie is found dead, suspicion falls on Avery, and she's out to prove her innocence. From the author of All the Missing Girls; with a 250,000-copy first printing.

Starred review from April 8, 2019
This searing small-town thriller from bestseller Miranda (The Perfect Stranger) explores the complexities of female friendship and the picturesque fictions that money can buy. Avery Greer, a native of Littleport, Maine, is at a house party with the town’s other 20-somethings awaiting her best friend, wealthy summer resident Sadie Loman, when the police arrive: Sadie’s body washed up on the rocks near her parents’ estate, and they want alibis from those in attendance. The discovery of a suicide note ends all talk of foul play, but Avery can’t fathom Sadie taking her own life. A year later, Avery uncovers new evidence that underscores her suspicions and inspires her to investigate. The deeper Avery digs, the more secrets she unearths that are worth killing to keep. Flashbacks to the night of Sadie’s death reveal fissures in the girls’ relationship, casting doubt on Avery’s honesty as a narrator. Sharply drawn characters both ground and elevate the bombshell-laden plot, while evocative prose heightens tension and conjures place. Miranda delivers a clever, stylish mystery that will seize readers like a riptide. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary.

April 15, 2019
A year after her best friend's supposed suicide, a young woman must clear her name when new evidence is uncovered. The Lomans own much of Littleport, Maine, a fact that hasn't changed much since their only daughter's death a year ago. In the summer of 2017, on the night of the annual Plus-One party, aimed at summer people who've stayed a week longer than the traditional Labor Day end-of-season, golden girl Sadie Loman apparently threw herself off a cliff into the churning sea, but to those who knew her, especially her closest friend, Avery Greer, she seemed to have everything to live for. Year-round Littleport resident Avery was adrift after her parents' deaths when she was a teen, but when she met the mesmerizing Sadie, a summer person, her life took on new meaning. Sadie and Avery became so close, it was sometimes hard to tell where one ended and the other began. After Avery's grandmother died, Avery was alone, and the ridiculously wealthy Lomans seemed to welcome her into the family, even giving her a job as property manager for their coastal rentals and a place to live in their guesthouse. But everything fell apart after Sadie died. When Avery finds Sadie's phone hidden in the rental cottage where last year's Plus-One party was held, she turns it in to the police--after doing a bit of snooping. Additionally, someone's been breaking into the rentals, and Sadie's brooding older brother, Parker, is acting strangely. Sadie's death is looking less and less like a suicide, and Avery is at the top of the suspect list. The Loman family's lies are rising to the surface, but can Avery keep her head above water? The narrative, which flips between 2017 and 2018, grows increasingly tense as Avery, who is a surprisingly reliable narrator, gets closer to the truth, but while Miranda (The Perfect Stranger, 2017, etc.) builds some creepy atmosphere in the lead-up, the final revelations are more sad than shocking. Most compelling are the class tensions between Littleport's year-round residents and the seasonal, moneyed tourists as well as the elusive nature of memory and the intricacies of friendship. An evocative and perfectly readable thriller, but genre fans will find few surprises within.

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