REVIEW: The Last Woman in the Forest

The Last Woman in the Forest
Author: Diane Les Becquets

Marian loves her job. She works as an orienteer and dog handler on a wildlife conservation project in Canada. She even falls in love with a man she she works with. Tate quickly becomes everything to her. After a few weeks, they are placed on separate assignments and Tate is killed. Only then does she discover that he lied to her about his background, his family and childhood, nearly everything about himself. Even his story about finding a woman's dead body in the wilderness seems off. That particular lie makes Marian think that perhaps Tate may have been involved in the murders of at least four women in the area. Did she really know the man she loved? She reaches out to a forensic profiler who worked on the original investigations. The truth will either clear Tate's name or prove that he was a dangerous killer.

This story mixes the beauty of the Canadian wilderness with the horrific violence of a serial killer. I can only imagine what it would feel like to wonder if a loved one had killed multiple people. It would be devastating to discover after a death that maybe you never really knew the person at all. Marian is a strong and intelligent main character. She doesn't just slough off her suspicions and fears after Tate's death but calls Nick Shepard to ask for help unraveling the truth underneath all the lies.

This story builds slowly but definitely kept my attention from beginning to end. The plot is dark and twisty. Each time I thought I knew where the story was going, it zigged off in a new direction. The ending was definitely twisted, but perfect. Loved it!

I will definitely be reading more from this author!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Berkley via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**