The Last Good Girl by Allison Leotta

This is the fifth book in the series featuring prosecutor Anna Curtis. Allison is a former sex-crimes prosecutor herself, so the complex legal arguments in the book all have the ring of authenticity about them. The story revolves around the disappearance of a girl and the investigation into a series of date rapes on the same college campus in Michigan and much of the book is apparently based on several true-life cases.

There is a very strong and satisfyingly feminist slant to this book, as you would expect, but it is never preachy, just common sense, and the theme of college sex crimes is an interesting angle that not everyone will be familiar with.

The story is told from Anna’s perspective – her investigation into the students on the campus and her tangled love- and personal-life – and from the missing girl’s perspective in the form of a first-person vlog posted on the college’s website. These sections are very effective and you really end up rooting for the missing girl, which keeps the suspense ticking over nicely. Another thing that drives the plot is the awfulness of the perpetrator – a truly evil sexual predator – which makes you root for Anna and the missing girl even more.

The complex American legal system is laid out in a way that even a layman like me could follow it and does not slow down the story in any way, quite a feat in itself, and even though this was the fifth book in the series it can be read as a standalone, as the writer gives you snippets of Anna’s past as the story progresses.

This was a very enjoyable thriller, with a likeable, strong but sensitive heroine, a truly evil baddie, and a great twist and ending that makes the last few chapters hurtle by as you turn the pages to find how it will end!

4/5 STARS