Book review: Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister is a twisty tale that allows readers (and indeed its characters) to believe one thing, when the truth is really quite another. But it makes this an intriguing novel, with readers unsure what to believe and asking the question… can someone be a good person but do something bad? An Occam’s razor-type conundrum. Or perhaps its opposite?

It is June 21, the longest day of the year, and the life of new mother Camilla is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop off her infant daughter at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: A hostage situation is developing in London. The police tell her Luke is involved—but he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

This unfolds from the points of view of Camilla (Cam) and Niall (police officer who’s called in as hostage negotiator). It opens as Cam’s getting ready to take her baby to daycare and return to work after maternity leave. She cannot believe Luke isn’t home for the occasion but is sure he must have told her he had another commitment. He’s left a note though… one that’s quite cryptic.

It makes more sense when Cam sees the news and is taken in by the police for questioning. But before Niall can negotiate with Luke or bring Cam in to speak to him, the hostages are shot and Luke escapes.

We then move forward seven years which feels kind-of abrupt but I suspect it’s meant to reflect how little new information is gleaned during that time. And in the future Cam uses her maiden name to avoid any negative publicity or animosity from others who remember the deaths.

The police have given up the case though Niall finds himself still puzzled by the incident, given the lack of motivation and the fact they were never able to identify the dead hostages.

And just as Cam’s about to move on – in a new relationship and arranging to have Luke declared dead so she can sell her house and move on with her life – she gets a note which reignites police interest (particularly Niall’s) in her case.

I love books involving the publishing industry and this also appealed as Cam is a literary agent and met Luke (who’s a ghost-writer) through her job.  And here we’re introduced to a successful debut writer in the early stages at the novel (before Cam’s life explodes) who reappears with a new manuscript later – an intriguing one which resonates with Cam.

It’s hard to talk much about the plot here without giving too much away but McAllister very cleverly tips this on its head two-thirds of the way through, reminding me of the ‘WTF?’ moment I experienced years ago when reading Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go.

It means nothing’s as we thought and we no longer know what to believe. Or perhaps we were right all along. I did wonder if the premise on which this plays out was a bit complicated, but once I worked out the ‘who’s who’ I felt more engaged in the way it unfolded. A good thing, because of course the past has ramifications in the present.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister will be published in early March by Penguin Books (Michael Joseph) in Australia.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.