Book review: The Last One to See Him by Kathryn Croft

The Last One to See Him by Kathryn Croft is an enjoyable and twisty read, that seems predictable until it isn’t. I’ve read a number of Croft’s books now and always enjoy them as they tend to involve secrets, complicated relationships and a good level of intrigue. On top of the aforementioned twists of course.

There’s a lot happening here, many players with hidden (and not-so-hidden) agendas, but Croft still manages to blindside readers, making us realise we’ve made a number of now-wrong assumptions.

After meeting Jamie’s smiling blue eyes across a crowded bar, I tell myself, that after my recent divorce, this is the bit of fun that I need. It is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.

Because when I return to his flat the next day, excited to see him again, I am horrified to discover he has been murdered.

I know I should tell the police, but I can’t be the person to call them. With my past they will just assume the worst… I need to act normal and just focus on my little boy. A playdate at his new friend’s house is the perfect distraction.

But as our sons run riot upstairs, and I admire his mother Harper’s elegant living room, I see it. The wedding photo on the wall. The man in the photo is Jamie.
A shiver slides down my spine. I had no idea that Jamie was married. And now I’m drinking tea with his wife.

This can’t be a coincidence. How much does she know about me? And with her watching my every move, if I discover the truth, will she destroy me?

The book opens as Kate’s heading out with a friend for a post-separation drink, which ends with the charismatic Jamie. Finding his body the next day throws her into a spin and Croft alludes to a past incident that Kate’s kept hidden. We soon learn what that was and discover Kate was kidnapped as a teenager but managed to escape before anything happened, inadvertently killing her kidnapper at the same time. The police believed it was self-defence and she was blameless but she’s lived with the guilt ever since, particularly because it seems the man (assumed to be a predator) had no similar history.

We learn about Kate’s background through sessions with her therapist, Rowan – on whom she relies heavily. We also dip a little into the past (to 2003), the time of her abduction.

Croft also places us in Harper’s head and we soon learn she has evidence of the night Kate spent with Jamie and believes they were having an affair. We learn Harper was keen to leave her relationship with Jamie but at the same time (quite irrationally) wants revenge on Kate for the affair and (she believes) killing her son’s father.

There’s obviously a lot of game-playing here as Kate and Harper circle each other – blaming the other for Jamie’s murder. I was worried that was going to get tedious (given we readers are privy to their thoughts and assumed we know ‘everything’ there is to know), but thankfully Croft mixes things up by having the women confront each other… rather than laboriously drawing out their enmity. And that’s where things get interesting.

Kate’s hidden past arrives in the present, and we learn people aren’t who we’ve assumed them to be – including Jamie. I raced through the latter part of this novel, keen to uncover the truth and I certainly did not see it coming, making this an excellent thriller.

The Last One to See Him by Kathryn Croft will be published by Bookouture in late March 2025.

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