The Last Girl

This is book three in a reliably rewarding police procedural series, set in London, and featuring Maeve Kerrigan, an Irish female trying her best to make her way in a British male world.

Maeve, 28, is a Detective Constable in the London Met, serving on the Murder Squad. One of the few women, she is partnered with Josh Derwent, who flaunts sexism as a matter of pride. Still, Josh is smart, dedicated, and getting fonder of Maeve in spite of his best intentions not to do so. Maeve too, although she calls Josh “a liability at the best of times and a pain in the arse at all times,” works well with Josh and begrudgingly cares about his welfare.

Maeve’s true love though, is Rob Langton, a former member of her unit who switched to The show more Flying Squad (a high-pressure robbery team) so that he could maintain his relationship with Maeve. They live together, but still have a lot to overcome, such as their demanding jobs with work at all hours; Maeve’s fear of caring more about a man than he cares about her; and Rob’s fear of losing Maeve.

And this being a police procedural, there is a crime that sets all the relationship issues in stark relief. The wife and daughter of a high-profile criminal defense attorney have been murdered. As with Casey’s other books, the crime here is many-layered and interesting, and sheds an intriguing light on human behavior under all sorts of circumstances.

In this book, too, we learn more about Superintendent Charles Godley, for whom Maeve has felt something bordering on hero-worship.

Evaluation: The Maeve Kerrigan series has become one of my favorites. Maeve is young enough to be a mix of all sorts of competing but complementary aspects: idealistic and deferential as much as she can be, but defiant and brave when she needs to be, and just so good-natured in spite of the challenges from the outside and her insecurities on the inside that you can't help but care for her. The characters are incredibly likeable as well, warts and all, and the crime aspect of the books are much more intellectually stimulating than most other series. show less

If it isn't enough that Maeve has to deal with her boorish colleague, Derwent, on a too-regular basis, she and he are sent off to deal with a murder. At first glance it's messy, at second glance it's even messier. The father, barrister Philip Kennford is a man who has managed to get a lot of unsavoury types to walk free, he's not fond of his surviving daughter from his current marriage, Lydia, he much preferred her twin, Laura. This leaves both of them with motives.to kill the others. As the police dig they find more skeletons in the closet; romances that left a lot of footprints, one of which might have wanted to get revenge. Maeve's stalker is still active and she's worried.

It's interesting and several of the red herrings left me show more wondering who did it. I like Maeve. show less

High summer. Wimbledon. 14-year-old Lydia Kennford returns home to discover the bodies of her mother and twin sister in the family living room, while her father, Philip, lies unconscious and bleeding in an upstairs bedroom

DC Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent begin to investigate, discounting a burglary quickly and focusing instead on Philip Kennford QC himself. There is no easy explanation for why he survived when the others were shown no mercy, and they suspect he might have staged the attack on himself after killing his wife and daughter. But Kennford is a self-possessed, intelligent man who knows criminal law inside out; proving that he's guilty will be difficult.

My Thoughts:

What I hate is reading books that are part of a series out show more of order. I did read ‘The Reckoning’ which is number two in the Maeve kerrigan series and felt like I was missing out somwhere. I do prefer to read books in order so I can get to know the characters. However after reading this book which is number three I feel like I am now getting to know the characters and was realling getting into the book quite well.

I quite enjoyed the book and it was very much unlike the romantic thrillers which I enjoy. There is an ongoing romance but unlike the other authors I like, this book and the previous one is more crime focused. I have enjoyed it that much I have ordered the first one ‘The Burning’ to see how it all begins.

I didn’t guess who the killer was which I find quite enjoyable as some thrillers can give it away quite early on. There were plenty of twists to keep me guessing and wanting to pick up the book to see how it goes. It’s also left some unanswered questions which have overflowed from the previous book too.

Maeve Kerrigan is a character that I will look forward to reading about in future works if possible and would recommend these books to anybody who like perhaps the Alex Kava books. show less

This latest instalment in the Maeve Kerrigan series centres around the brutal murders of two members of the same family. Why were they targeted and is the man of the house involved? The team are also investigating a spate of gangland murders.

This book could be read as a standalone novel, but it works better if you know a bit of the background. The real shining light in this book is the banter between Maeve and her new boss, DI Josh Derwent, a sexist and crude man who, nevertheless, sticks up for her when required to do so and is a great character.

I really enjoyed this book and was kept guessing as to who the killer was, which is the mark of a good crime thriller.

I'm really enjoying Jane Casey's work. This mystery was great but I'm getting a little tired of Maeve's partner. You can only pull off the "guy is a sexist pig" for so long until your readers are tired of it and him.

The Last Girl by Jane Casey is a 2013 Minotaur/ St Martin's Press publication. I was provided a copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have read an earlier installment in this series while it was still in the character development stage and found it to be a bit slow moving and weighted down with long rambling chapters that kept the pace from ever developing a rhythm, making it hard to maintain focus. I did like the book well enough to give the series another chance. I missed the second book, but did manage to snag this third book in the series.

This book is a much smoother read than the first book I read, and the pace is much improved, but the author still has some trouble reigning in her show more tendency to spend too much time on matters that ultimately have nothing to do with the outcome of the case.

Interviews with potential suspects early on in the investigation went on way too long, giving the reader far too much information about the suspect's entire back story which is not necessary. We can get the gist of why the person is being interviewed without the information dump.

The plot is somewhat interesting but, again the author goes off script by having Maeve called in to help investigate a series of gang flare ups on top of working the murder of a young woman and her mother.

This, on top of Maeve's personal dramas, kept us away from the main plot, and it took a long time to wind the story back around to the original murder investigation. In fact, I almost forgot the thread for awhile as gangs and Maeve's interactions with her superior and her boyfriend completely took over. If that weren't enough of a distraction, it would seem an old nemesis has returned adding yet another thread to a story that was already too busy.

I like Maeve's character and I like her boyfriend, Rob. If you like her immediate supervisor, you need professional help because he is a real jerk, but he does slip up a time or two and allow us to see him as a human being for a change. In fact, before the book ends, the detectives have managed to bond somewhat and their banter becomes lighter in tone, which is good because otherwise I would have lost a little respect for Maeve if she had continued to put up with that kind of verbal harassment, no matter what kind of a ball breaker people thought she was.

Maeve's personal relationship with Rob is always fragile as she tends to fight her commitment issues and struggles with being a bit of a control freak. Now that Rob is transferred out, he is having some issues with his new boss, which could cause trouble for the couple. It's good to give us insight into a character's personal life so that we bond with them emotionally, but the personal drama overpowered the investigation and for a while I thought I was reading a high angst contemporary romance.

So, many of the issues I had with the previous book in the series, are still troublesome in this newer release, although I did see some improvements. The main thing is the book desperately needs to lose some weight and could use a good cleanse. The book and this series does have potential and I am hoping the latest book release will show more improvement. Over all 2.5 stars rounded to 3 show less

I enjoyed this book, but think that I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous three books in the series. I have just ordered the first three books so that I can get some of my questions answered. I enjoyed the main character of Maeve Kerrigan and thought that she was very well written. She had flaws and was very believable as a woman in what was traditionally a man's role. The central mystery to the novel was very interesting and I didn't know 'whodunit' until very near the end -- didn't have a suspicion! I would definitely recommend this book. You could read it as a stand alone but my opinion is that it should be read as part of the series.