This is my first book by Luanne Rice, but I was still feeling rather spooky so I thought I'd try another thriller. This time a murder mystery. Be aware, this book deals with murder, child kidnapping, and trafficking and slight references to child abuse, infidelity, and drug abuse.
The story investigates the murder of a renowned artist, Maddie. While in the middle of a contentious divorce, Maddie has taken up residence in a luxury Rhode Island hotel with her daughter, Cece. In the middle of a huge snowstorm, her body is found outside and her daughter is discovered to be missing. We follow Maddie's sister and a detective staying in the hotel as they try to find Cece and uncover who killed Maddie. With the snowstorm, many hotel reservations had been canceled and nobody was going anywhere, so the killer could be very close indeed! It does appear that it is not the detective's first appearance in one of Luanne Rice's novels, but you don't need to read any of the others to understand what happens here.
This story doesn't waste any time. Immediately someone is dying and a little girl is being kidnapped. I got sucked in right away. The characters were generally likable, although they didn't show a ton of dimension. There wasn't a ton of technical jargon, so the story was easy to follow and moved quickly. There were times I was on the edge of my seat. Or holding my breath, since I tend to read in bed. I did enjoy the way they discussed the art, it really helped you visualize the paintings and gave plenty of references if you wanted to look them up quickly. I'm no art aficionado, so I did just that.
I'm giving Last Night by Luanne Rice 3.5 stars out of 5. It moved quickly and I mostly enjoyed it. The author used a crisis of conscience at one point to wrap up a storyline, which I felt was a bit of a cop out, and I wasn't a huge fan of the ending but I could follow the logic so overall it was fine. I won't read it again but I wouldn't be opposed to reading another novel by Luanne Rice.
Check out all of her books at https://luannerice.com/
Pairs well with a warm fire and New England lobster rolls.
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