The Last Cabin Girl (Detective Josie Thompson Series) by Tom Swyers – Review by Angela Hayes

The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Stars

The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers is a twisty thriller with plenty of mystery, intrigue, dramatic development, murder, secrets, and more. This is the first book that I have read by Mr. Swyers, so I really didn’t know what to expect from one of his books. I discovered a tense thriller, that for the most part, had me guessing the whole way through. It twists and turns, things are not as they seen, and you don’t know who to trust.
Josie has escaped an abusive marriage, relocating to her parent’s cabin in the woods with her two children. Ever watchful for her psycho ex-husband, Josie is hypervigilant, noticing everything around her. Strange things begin to happen, not the least of which, floating bodies in the nearby river. When the FBI become involved and Josie is suspected to be a serial killer, things get tense- queue the intrigue. Josie will need to face her past, as well as the dark secrets that surround her, in order to get to the bottom of things in an endeavour to clear her name.
The story is woven around the pandemic and set in a small town- which adds to the overall feel of the story. The characters are well-crafted into fully developed individuals with their own quirks and flaws. We definitely see Josie develop and grow over the course of the story.
I felt that the story was a little slow to get going, and Josie’s journal entries didn’t help matters. Whist they did add to the backstory and storyline development, as well as building some tension- they were quite long-winded and, in some cases, ran off on tangents. I felt that they really slowed down the whole flow of the story. I do understand what the author was trying to achieve, but to be honest, I just felt frustrated with most of the journal entries, especially in the beginning.
Overall, I did enjoy the story. It has certainly left an impression- so I will be going back to explore more of Mr. Swyers soon.
Happy Reading!

Thank you, Tom Swyers!

Reviewed by @angelahayes

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