The Last Stage by Louise Voss

Book blurb

At the peak of her career as lead singer of a legendary 1980s indie band, Meredith Vincent was driven off the international stage by a horrific incident. Now she lives incognito in a cottage on the grounds of Minstead House, an old stately home, whilst working in the gift shop. Her past is behind her and she enjoys her new life.

But a series of inexplicable and unsettling incidents have started to happen around her – broken china, vandalised gardens… And when a body is found in the gardens of Minstead House, Meredith realises that someone is watching, someone who knows who she is and who wants to destroy her…

My thoughts

Louise Voss opens with a prologue that ramps up tension then there’s the intrigue, the curiosity around Meredith.

Transported back to the 1980s we learn how Meredith became the lead singer in Cohen, via Greenham Common, and the bands rise to fame. Then she gives it all up. Something bad happened.

Meredith is now a shop manager for the stately home in whose grounds she now lives. No one knows about her old life, she is settled but lives quietly and under the radar keeping the horror away – although the underlying fear is never far from her mind – she is just about coping. Then she gets a call the bands manager. How did he find her? He wants to get the band together again but Meredith refuses. Life goes on and she hears no more about it.

Time passes and some strange things start to happen….

Now the book really starts to grip you. Meredith doesn’t always make the right choices but she is a sympathetic character. What did happen to make her give everything up?

I moved to London in ’78 in my late teens, it was a great time. It’s funny when something triggers memories. They may not be the exact same experiences but you connect. It makes for an even better reading experience because you relate, you think yes! And there you are, hooked.

Still, whilst the past is fascinating and may hold answers, you want to know what’s happening now. Will she be safe?

You will connect with Meredith, Pete, Andrea, Gemma and others along the way.

Then more terrible things happen….

It’s scary at times and sad, so very sad – the things that happen show just how evil the perpetrator(s) are – it’s shocking.

Perhaps it is futile or misplaced, perhaps the past has really come calling. Or is something else altogether going on? Moving from 1983 to the present day, back and forth the story unfolds. Can we dare to hope?

Louise Voss opens with a prologue that will have you checking your doors and windows and then quietly sets you along the path to find the answers building tension and drawing you into this finely written story. A story that will keep you hooked until the very end.

I really enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it.

Thanks

With many thanks to Orenda Books for an eCopy of The Last Stage and to Anne at #RandomThingsTours for the invitation to take part in the The Last Stage Blog Tour. Whilst I was delighted to receive an eCopy of The Last Stage by Louise Voss from Orenda Books for the #RandomThingsTour I have also purchased my own eCopy.

BlogTour

Do take a look at the rest of The Last Resort #BlogTour …

Information

PUBLICATION DATE: 11 JULY 2019 | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £8.99 | ORENDA BOOKS

Buy: AmazonSmileUK

Author

Over her eighteen-year writing career, Louise Voss has had eleven novels published – five solo and six co-written with Mark Edwards: a combination of psychological thrillers, police procedurals and contemporary fiction – and sold over 350,000 books. Her most recent book, The Old You, was a number one bestseller in eBook. Louise has an MA (Dist) in Creative Writing and also works as a literary consultant and mentor for writers at http://www.thewritingcoach.co.uk. She lives in South-West London and is a proud member of two female crime- writing collectives, The Slice Girls and Killer Women.