BOOK REVIEW: The Last Night Out by Catherine O’Connell

Title: The Last Night Out
Author: Catherine O’Connell
Publication: September 1, 2018
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 304

SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

Six friends. A bride to be. One murder. Too many secrets. 

After drinking too much at her bachelorette party, Maggie Trueheart wakes to find a stranger in her bed. To make matters worse, a phone call brings the devastating news that her friend Angie was murdered some time after they parted ways the night before.

Kelly Delaney, who left the party early, is the first of Maggie’s friends to face questions from Chicago homicide detective Ron O’Reilly. After taking a closer look at the other women who attended the party, O’Reilly concludes that at least some of them are lying.

As the clock ticks down to the wedding day and more shocking secrets are revealed, the murderer zeros in on another one of the girls. Can the killer be stopped before there is another victim?

REVIEW:

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

The phrase “you can’t trust anyone” rings true in this mystery novel by Catherine O’Connell.

Six friends go out for a night of fun to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of their dear friend, but only five make it home. When the police start digging to find the suspect behind the murder of their friend Angie, it would appear that more than one of the ladies have a secret to hide. These hidden secrets make it a a bit harder for the two detectives on the case to recreate Angie’s last movements and we watch as all their perfect facades crumble. 

I don’t usually love stories that have so many different viewpoints happening throughout, but O’Connell managed to make each story flow into the next and help unlock unknown knowledge along the way. The Last Night Out was like a carefully constructed puzzle you bit your nails waiting to see how it all pieced together. The characters held enough mystery to keep them interesting, but we were filled in to backstory as the story progressive, giving us more understanding of the scenarios playing out. 

The one thing I did not completely love was the very ending of the book. After the conclusion was found and the story wrapped up, O’Connell added a “What happened to them” section at the end. It basically told you how the 5 remaining girls lives played out. Then, there was a final twist at the end that kind of made me feel like everything I had read was not really how it happened and there was more to the story. I’d rather have had that little snippet of information be part of the actual ending and not a footnote like add on at the very end after you’ve read how all the girls lived their lives. Almost like a “just kidding” thrown in. It didn’t make sense and kind of left me with a taste of disappointment at the very end. 

I have never read a Catherine O’Connell book before, but after reading The Last Night Out I would be very interested in checking out more. Any lover of mystery, thriller, or suspense novels would love her work. 

STAR RATING: 4/5

The Last Night Out by Catherine O’Connell is available for purchase on September 1 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and check your local book stores. Make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished. You can check out more work from author Catherine O’Connell on her website here!

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