American journalist Rose Kynaston has just relocated to the childhood home of her husband, Dylan, in the English village of his youth. There’s a lot for Rose to get used to in Hurtwood. Like the family’s crumbling mansion, inhabited by Dylan’s reclusive mother, and the treacherous hill it sits upon, a place of both sinister folklore and present dangers.
Then there are the unwelcoming villagers, who only whisper the name Kynaston—like some dreadful secret, a curse. Everyone knows what happened at Hurtwood House twenty years ago. Everyone except Rose. And now that Dylan is back, so are rumors about his past.
When an archaeological dig unearths human remains on the hill, local police sergeant Ellie Trevelyan vows to solve a cold case that has cast a chill over Hurtwood for decades.
As Ellie works to separate rumour from fact, Rose must fight to clear the name of the man she loves. But how can Rose keep her family safe if she is the last to know the truth?
My thoughts on The Last to Know…
I last read Jo Furniss back in 2017, when I picked up a copy of All the Little Children without really knowing what I was getting myself into. It turned out it was a post-apocalyptic novel about a virus that wiped out a huge part of the population of the UK. And, while it wasn’t the type of book I normally read, I really enjoyed it.
Fast forward three years and a copy of Furniss’ latest book popped up on Netgalley. Excited, I jumped at the chance to read it without looking at what it was actually about. I assumed it would be another novel in the same vein. But, you know what they say about assuming – I was completely wrong.
Instead, I got what could probably be described as a more standard psychological thriller. A young woman, Rose, moves to England with her husband and their toddler. For her, it’s another adventure in a life that has been more than a little exciting. For him, it’s a return to his childhood home, a stately pile in a small country town.
It sounds idyll. Unfortunately, for Rose, it’s far from that. Instead, she finds a mother-in-law who may have Dementia and a town that doesn’t seem to keen to have their ‘prodigal son’ back. In fact, they seem to positively hate her husband. The question is why? What did he do that was so bad? And what secrets has he been keeping from her?
For fans of the genre, the description will probably explain why I described it as standard. However, despite this, it doesn’t mean that the book itself is. It’s well written with characters that – as a reader – I was drawn to. And there were plenty of twists and turns to that meant the ending, when it came, wasn’t what I expected. There’s also a slight supernatural element that keeps it interesting (and did make me think a few times if the story would go in a different direction).
All in all, then, while not what I first expected, this was a book I definitely enjoyed and would definitely recommend to others.
Enjoy!
Emma x
Please note: I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review. All thoughts, feelings, and opinions are my own.
One Readers Thoughts 