Murder, Dogs and Survival - The Last Woman in the Forest Review

TITLE: The Last Woman in the Forest
AUTHOR: Diane Les Becquets
PUBLISHER: Berkley
PUBLISHING DATE: March 5, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: Marian Engström has found her true calling: working with rescue dogs to help protect endangered wildlife. Her first assignment takes her to northern Alberta, where she falls in love with her mentor, the daring and brilliant Tate. After they’re separated from each other on another assignment, Marian is shattered to learn of Tate’s tragic death. Worse still is the aftermath in which Marian discovers disturbing inconsistencies about Tate’s life, and begins to wonder if the man she loved could have been responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four women. Hoping to clear Tate’s name, Marian reaches out to a retired forensic profiler who’s haunted by the open cases. But as Marian relives her relationship with Tate and circles ever closer to the truth, evil stalks her every move.…

MY THOUGHTS: I really loved "The Last Woman in the Forest" and being the last book I read in 2018, I consider it a real win.  Marian works with rescue dogs doing research to protect endangered wildlife. During her travels, she meets and falls in love with a fellow researcher, but when he ends up getting killed, she starts to wonder if she really knew him at all.

Besquets has a gift at being able to weave the past and present together in a cohesive manner to tell a wonderful tale.  While this wasn't necessarily a dual-timeline book, there is a lot of backtracking and never once was I bored or confused.  She also creates some great characters.  Marian is strong yet has a subtle vulnerability about her.  Her relationship with Tate took her by surprise and was somewhat unconventional.  And the murders that unravel throughout the novel are rather grim and grisly.  I also fell in love with the elderly profiler who Marian reaches out to for help.  He and his wife are awesome side characters and the book left me wanting to know more about them.

And finally, there are the dogs.  This book is filled with several hard-working rescues who have been saved in order to help other animals.  And the relationships between the handlers and the dogs themselves are quite pertinent to the plot. 

"The Last Woman in the Forest" almost garnered a 5/5 rating for me.  However, there is one particularly disturbing scene where one of the dogs is injured.  It's very detailed and sad (SPOILER ALERT - the dog lives).  Another issue is I had pretty much figured out the twist at the end by the middle of the book.  However, it was still a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it to any thriller lover.

RATING: 4 PAWS