The police label Sadie Loman’s death a suicide.

Avery Greer, Sadie’s unlikely best friend, finds that hard to believe. Avery had been texting Sadie and waiting for her to arrive at the last party of the summer, when the texts suddenly stopped.

Avery is no stranger to tragedy. Her parents died in a fiery car accident on a winding mountain road outside of town. Then her grandmother died of a stroke, leaving Avery alone, bereft and raging at life.

Sadie’s friendship pulled Avery back from the edge of self-destruction. Sadie convinced her father to give Avery a job, let her live in the guest house behind the Loman mansion and even pay for college classes.

As the first anniversary of Sadie’s death approaches, Avery reopens old questions: How could she have not noticed that Sadie was suicidal? What had gone wrong between them that last summer? If Sadie’s death was a suicide, why were the police so interested in the whereabouts of Sadie’s brother Parker; Connor Harlow, a one-time boyfriend of Avery’s; and Avery herself?

As Avery searches for answers, she discovers many people in Littleport viewed her friendship with Sadie as a morbid obsession.

THE LAST HOUSE GUEST has overtones of THE GREAT GATSBY without the depth. The building suspense is also reminiscent of Elly Griffiths’ THE STRANGER DIARIES or Ruth Ware’s THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY. It’s a perfect summer read: it takes place in summer, and it’s entertaining and you’ll be guessing what really happened to Sadie Loman until nearly the last page.

About the Author: Megan Miranda