The Last Time I Saw Her Alive by Kate Riordan

 

Rain thought she'd escaped the bohemian lifestyle of Tanglewood, the estate she grew up on. When her job forces her to return, she is swept up in a murder that forces her to confront her past.

The Last Time I Saw Her Alive by Kate Riordan is a slow burner. Much of this is down to the setting. Imagine a counter-culture music festival set in the grounds of a manor house during the height of summer. Added to this, the time period means that the ubiquitous smartphone plays no part in the story. You immediately begin to feel languid. 

Rain grew up on the grounds of Tanglewood, raised by her single mother, Angie. Allowed to run wild, it wasn't the idyllic childhood you would expect. Rain craved normality, conformity, and the knowledge of who her father is. As soon as she had the chance to escape, she left for university, hoping never to return. 

The production company Rain now works for is making a documentary about the alternative music scene of the late 60s. When a murder happens during the build-up to the 30th anniversary of The Gathering, a famous music festival that took place at Tanglewood, Rain is tasked with gathering some footage. Rain has always kept her upbringing a secret, so her boss doesn't know how close she is to the people involved.

Rain's reluctance to return to her childhood home explains much of her behaviour in the first half of the novel. She doesn't want to interact with anyone; she simply wants to get the information she needs and leave. This is understandable when we are introduced to her mother. Angie isn't a likeable character; for her, Rain always took second place to her lover, Karl, another thoroughly unpleasant character. Rain has always suspected Karl to be her father, but is too meek to demand answers.

As Rain gathers information about the murder, she uncovers a long-buried secret; there was the possibility a similar murder took place thirty-years ago. Those who were at Tanglewood thirty-years ago deny anything happened, but this spurs Rain on, and memories begin to resurface. 

After the somnolent start, the action in the second half of the book picks up, with Rain wondering who she can trust as virtually everyone who was around thirty-years ago becomes a suspect. I couldn't figure out who the villain was until the big reveal, which then brought about other surprising revelations.

The Last Time I Saw Her Alive by Kate Riordan will be published on 30th July 2026 in hardback, ebook, and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph publisher for a review copy.

Author Details

Kate Riordan is a writer and author coach for The Novelry. Kate is the bestselling author of seven novels, including The Heatwave, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, and Sunday Times bestseller The Girl in the Photograph. She has also written Summer Fever, The Shadow Hour, The Red Letter, The Stranger, and most recently The Liars under the pseudonym Katherine Fleet. As a journalist, she wrote for the Guardian, The Sunday Times, Red, Stella and Grazia.

Kate lives in a very old cottage in a Cotswolds valley where she writes her novels between waiting on two rescue dogs.