The Last Good Day: a Joanne Kilbourn Mystery (Joanne Kilbourn Mysteries) by Gail Bowen

Slow beginning but a powerful finish, December 25, 2004***


This latest in the Joanne Kilbourn series gets off to a very slow beginning. At about 50 pages in, I almost set the novel aside. I had seen movies based on Bowen's previous mysteries and enjoyed them very much. So I was puzzled. But then the pace picked up. The apparent suicide of a lawyer who had confided in Kilbourn the night before is a signal that not all is right in Lawyer's Bay and,in particular,with the members of Falconer Schreve who all have lavish summer homes there. Joanne discovers that a young associate has gone missing from the law firm, supposedly to better job in Vancouver but that is a ruse.

As the plot advances Joanne learns that her former lover,police inspector Alex, is involved with the wife of one of the lawyers and appears to be implicated in a coverup. After a slow start the story races to a shocking finish.