The Last Stage by Louise Voss

I love it when I get to take part in a tour which is all about the girls! The Last Stage is by lovely Louise Voss, and features reclusive former singer Meredith, and young police officer Gemma. The book is published by the gorgeous Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books, and this tour was organised by the always fabulous Anne Cater. So huge thanks to Anne, Louise and Karen for inviting me to take part and providing my review copy. More about Meredith and Gemma below!

The Blurb:

At the peak of her career as lead singer of a legendary 1980s indie band, Meredith Vincent was driven off the international stage by a horrific incident. Now she lives incognito in a cottage on  the grounds of Minstead  House, an old stately home, whilst working in the gift shop. Her past is behind her and she enjoys her new life. But a series of inexplicable and unsettling incidents have started to happen  around her – broken china, vandalised  gardens… And when a body is found in the gardens of Minstead  House, Meredith realises that someone  is  watching, someone who knows who she is and who wants to destroy her…  A dark, riveting and chilling psychological thriller, The Final Stage is a study of secrets and obsessions, where innocent acts can have the most terrifying consequences.

The Last Stage was published by Orenda Books as an eBook on 7th June 2019 and in paperback on 11th July 2019. You can buy it from the publisher, Waterstones, Amazon UK, Amazon US and other good bookshops.


My Review:

This is the first of Louise's books I have read, although The Old You is waiting patiently in my TBR pile. The prologue for The Last Stage, although short, completely creeped me out! It certainly sets the tone for what's to come.

Meredith lives a quiet life in a small cottage in the grounds of Minstead House, where she works as manager in the gift shop. She is friends with all the other members of staff, but really keeps herself to herself. But she has a secret that none of her co-workers know, only her twin brother Pete, who lives nearby on his boat. Thirty odd years ago, she was the lead singer of successful indie band Cohen, before suddenly quitting the band and disappearing from public view. Meredith has worked hard since to distance herself from her old life and maintain her relative anonymity.  But it all starts to crumble when seemingly random acts of vandalism begin happening around her before things get much, much worse...

The story is told mainly from Meredith's point of view, but there are several chapters looking at things through other characters' eyes. There is also a dual timeline as we follow the present day action, but also look back at key time in Meredith's life during the 80s and 90s, learning why a weekend at the Greenham Common women's camp proved to be a pivotal moment. And eventually we find out about the awful incident that pushes Meredith out of the public eye.

I really warmed to Meredith. Although, initially, I knew little about her, she struck me as a kind soul, who just wanted to get on with her life. But she is so scared, and jumpy, betrays her emotions easily and I really felt for her. I rooted for her throughout, really wanted her to be OK. She is beautifully written, real and vulnerable, and her pain is raw. And I loved her close relationship with Pete, the connection they have with each other.

Gemma is one of the police officer looking at the dead body found at Minstead House and wonders if there is a connection to Meredith. She is young and keen and wants to prove herself. So, when she finds out more about Meredith 's past and becomes more convinced of a link to her present troubles, she negotiates herself a key role in the investigation. Go girl! Mention must also go to fellow police officer Emad, whose help is very useful. But I suspect that he was trying to impress Gemma just as much as his superiors!

The pace of the present day story moves relatively slowly for a large portion of the book. This isn't a bad thing, as it just added to the slightly claustrophobic atmosphere. And the flashbacks to earlier times kept my attention throughout. The pace ramps up significantly towards the end and I was shocked by the revelation - I did not see it coming at all!

This is a tale of young, crazy love, of obsession, jealousy, insane hatred and murder, and it kept me gripped throughout.

One last thing (well, three actually) I want to mention. When I had finished the book, there were three post it notes sticking out from the pages marking little things I loved:

• Louise mentions lardy cakes! Heaven! But it reminds me I haven't had one in what seems like forever! Will need to remedy that.
• Gemma's hatred of the phrase 'off of' as in ' ... Get some significant intel off of her...' Oh girl, I am SO with you on that! 
• Chiaroscuro. A beautiful new word for me, with an equally lovely meaning. Need to find some way to use it now. 

These were just a few wee things that contributed to my reading pleasure.


The Author:

Over her eighteen-year writing career, Louise Voss has had  eleven novels published – five solo and six co-written with Mark Edwards: a combination  of psychological thrillers, police procedurals and  contemporary fiction  – and sold over 350,000 books. Hert book, The Old You, was a number one bestseller in  eBook. Louise has an MA (Dist) in  Creative Writing and also works as a literary consultant and mentor for writers at www.thewritingcoach.co.uk. She lives in South-West London and is a proud member of two female crime writing collectives, The Slice Girls and  Killer Women.


Please remember to check out the other blogs featuring on the tour!