The Last Breath by Kimberly Belle

The Last Breath by Kimberly Belle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From a remarkable new voice in suspenseful women's fiction comes an emotionally searing drama about a woman who risks her life to discover the devastating truth about her family…

Humanitarian aid worker Gia Andrews chases disasters around the globe for a living. It's the perfect lifestyle to keep her far away from her own personal ground zero. Sixteen years ago, Gia's father was imprisoned for brutally killing her stepmother. Now he's come home to die of cancer, and she's responsible for his care—and coming to terms with his guilt.

Gia reluctantly resumes the role of daughter to the town's most infamous murderer, a part complete with protesters on the lawn and death threats that are turning tragedy into front-page news. Returning to life in small-town Tennessee involves rebuilding relationships that distance and turmoil have strained, though finding an emotional anchor in the attractive hometown bartender is certainly helping Gia cope.

As the past unravels before her, Gia will find herself torn between the stories that her family, their friends and neighbors, and even her long-departed stepmother have believed to be real all these years. But in the end, the truth—and all the lies that came before—may have deadlier consequences than she could have ever anticipated.

My thoughts: Who killed Ella Mae? The book opens with Ella Mae's last hours and her murder. Told in third person, Ella Mae's point of view comes through loud and clear. She'd been unfaithful to her husband. She didn't love him, anymore. She was leaving him. He sobbed and begged her to reconsider. Just one night. Think on it. Ella Mae agrees but she won't really reconsider. Later into the night, her husband hears a sound and gets up to investigate. She hears a thunk then footsteps. She tries to escape but to no avail. She dies with the murderer's eyes as the last thing she sees and knows it is a crime of passion.

The book is then told through first person, Gia Andrews, youngest daughter of Ray and Rosalie, stepdaughter of Ella Mae. Sixteen years have passed and Ray is out on house arrest from prison. He is coming home to die. Gia been off saving the world for the past sixteen years. She came home to care for her dying father under the implicit understanding that her sister, Lexie, and brother, Bo, would be with her.

Nope. Bo's too busy inventing a cosmetics and Lexie is about the funniest character in the book. She is a diva in her own little southern way and when she doesn't want to be caught, she can run away and stay gone. And her one-liners are absolutely hilarious.

The story is intriguing because you think you know who killed Ella Mae and then you decide it was someone else and what is Cal hiding so maybe it was him? I honestly didn't really know until the last when Gia knows. What was really going on between Ella Mae and her lover surprised me but not as much as the humdinger at the end.

Meanwhile, the book is about home and family, trust and roots. This book will appeal to readers of Women's Fiction, mystery, and a little bit of romance. There is a little too much sex for my taste, although it is rarely explicit so I can't complain that much.