“ONE DAY AGO.
On the night Tom Brenner and his nine-year-old son Leo visit the Seven Peaks theme park, they head straight for the ghost house. They go in. But they don’t come out.

FORTY YEARS AGO.
When Rebekah Murphy was three, her mother walked out and never returned. Nearly four decades on, Fiona Murphy is still missing. Until a letter arrives in the post, claiming to be from Fiona.

NOW.
Missing persons investigator David Raker is hired by Rebekah to find out if the letter is actually from her mother – and soon makes a connection to the Brenners.

But these are mysteries whose secrets were never meant to be found.

And with his closest ally under arrest and about to reveal some truths of his own, the danger to Raker is coming from all sides . . .”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver. The Last Goodbye was published by Penguin Michael Joseph on 8th June 2023 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow next year. I chose to read a free ARC of The Last Goodbye but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Jen at Penguin Michael Joseph for sending me a proof copy.

Like most readers, I do prefer to start a series at the beginning. But this book was just too intriguing to pass up on. The Last Goodbye is the twelfth book in the David Raker series and the first I’ve read. Yup, I’ve started this series with book number TWELVE! 🙈 Tim Weaver’s books are always very popular with my fellow crime readers, so with that in mind, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion I was going to read The Last Goodbye (because crime readers know what they’re talking about, right?!). And I’m so glad I did.

Rebekah Murphy asks for the help of David Raker, a missing persons investigator, following the arrival of a letter pertaining to be from her mother, who left the family home in 1985 and never returned. Elsewhere at a theme park, a father and his young son enter a ghost train but never come out. They’ve vanished into thin air. After scratching the surface Raker discovers a connection between the two disappearances. But some secrets are meant to be buried forever, and uncovering them could have deadly consequences…

The Last Goodbye is a gripping, page-turner of a thriller which proves what an exceptional writer Weaver is. The plotting is sharp and compelling, the characters are multi-layered and believable and the storytelling is engrossing and assured. So let’s talk about David Raker. I’ve already mentioned that this is the twelfth book in the series but my first foray into Raker’s world. You can sometimes, with a long standing character, feel a little bit lost. Things have happened in the past that affect and mould them, things the author doesn’t mention in future books because otherwise, for the regular readers, that would be boring and monotonous. With David Raker, I didn’t feel left behind. I got the character, I understood his motivations and I believed in him. Basically what I’m trying to say is that Weaver has achieved a great thing by making this twelfth book perfectly readable as a standalone. You don’t need to have read any of the other books to read The Last Goodbye. The only aspect that I didn’t fully grasp was the relationship between Raker and Colm Healy and the goings on there (not going to go into detail in case that’s a spoiler). In a roundabout way, I got the gist of the storyline but it was the only part of the book where I felt I was missing something.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I thought The Last Goodbye was a deftly plotted thriller from a master storyteller. I will, of course, be returning to the start of this series and reading Chasing the Dead, book one (I may even re-read book twelve again when it comes to it!). There is a lot going on in this novel. There are several timelines and different points of view throughout and yes, as a result, you tend to get a lot of different characters. But the story was easy to follow and I was able to keep track of what was happening and to whom. It’s complex but handled so well that you don’t realise until after you’ve finished just what a cleverly plotted tale it is. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with David Raker and I hope to be reacquainted with him soon. Fascinating characters who draw the reader into a dark and gritty world full of drama and perfectly pitched tension. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of The Last Goodbye. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver was published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph on 8th June 2023 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Tim Weaver is the bestselling author of the David Raker missing persons series and the standalone thriller, Missing Pieces. His novels have twice been selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, and his work has been nominated for a National Book Award. A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter. Find out more about Tim and his writing at www.timweaverbooks.com.