Last Christmas
I hoped this family Christmas would be different. But after a wine-fueled argument, my husband Neil storms out of my childhood home. When he's found murdered on the beach, I realize the killer must be one of my own family. I knew we had differences, but murder? Now I must find the truth, because whoever killed Neil knows my secret... and I know I'm next.
- Neil - Sacha’s husband
- Sacha - Neil’s wife
- Christy - Sacha’s sister, Adam’s wife
- Adam - Christy’s husband
- Wendy and Stuart - Christy, Sacha and Rebecca’s parents
- Rebecca - Sacha’s sister, Greg’s wife
- Greg - Rebecca’s husband
- Matilda, Freya and Zachary - Greg and Rebecca’s children
- Joe - Neil’s father
- Part I: Neil
- Neil is having trouble holding down a job and is suffering from depression.
- Sacha and Neil are trying for a baby but are having difficulty.
- Stuart is dying from cancer and only has a few months to live.
- Adam and Neil get into a verbal fight during Christmas dinner.
- Wendy orders them both to leave the house until they can be civil.
- While outside, Adam tells Neil that he is sleeping with Sacha.
- Part II: Sacha
- Several hours after Neil and Adam do not return, Greg goes out looking for them.
- Greg and Adam return later, without Neil and Sacha reports him missing.
- The next morning Neil’s body is found at the bottom of Bempton cliffs.
- The coroner is not able to determine a cause of death, so an inquest is opened.
- A week after Neil's death Sacha finds out she’s pregnant.
- A month after his death, Sacha buries Neil.
- At the wake after the funeral, Rebecca points out that Sacha looks pregnant and Sacha admits it is true.
- Joe and several other people immediately question if it is Neil’s baby.
- Sacha storms off into the night and someone runs her over with a car before fleeing.
- Part III: Christy
- Sacha has been in coma for a month after the hit and run but the baby is fine.
- The inquest returns a verdict of suicide.
- It comes out at the inquest that Adam told Neil he was sleeping with Sacha.
- The next day Sacha wakes up.
- Christy talks to Adam who says that he never slept with Sacha, he just wanted to get a rise out of Neil.
- After six weeks in hospital Sacha is discharged and she goes to stay at her mother’s house with Christy and Rebecca.
- Sacha tells Christy the truth about Adam: Adam had been pursuing Sacha but she repeatedly shut him down and nothing ever happened between them.
- Christy goes to visit Stuart in hospice and as she’s leaving she hears Greg go in to see him.
- Greg tells Stuart that Sacha is having his (Greg’s) baby.
- Sacha ended up calling sleeping with Greg a mistake and that made him angry.
- Christmas night it was Greg who pushed Neil off the cliff (while Adam watched) hoping that Sacha would want to continue seeing him once Neil was gone.
- The day after Christmas Rebecca told Greg she knew he’d been sleeping with Sacha.
- Rebecca is the one who ran over Sacha and left her for dead.
- While they are both staying at Wendy’s house, Rebecca attacks Sacha and tries to drown her in the bathtub but Adam intervenes.
- Epilogue: Sacha gives birth to a baby she names Oliver.
- Greg and Rebecca are in prison and Adam is out on bail.
- Christy is trying to work things out with Adam.
- Christy and Sacha are closer than ever.
This was a solid Christmas-themed domestic thriller packed with family tension. The story starts strong, building a compelling atmosphere of secrets and strained relationships.
While the main characters, Neil and Sacha, are certainly going through a lot, I found it really difficult to sympathize with either of them. They both handled their situations terribly, which made it hard to root for them. The one character I did feel for was Christy, who seemed to be genuinely motivated by a desire to protect her family, even if her methods were caught up in the surrounding drama.
The final twist was good though not a complete shock. My main critique is that the second half of the book started to drag a bit for me; the pacing just couldn't quite keep up with the tension of the first half.
Overall, I'm giving it 4 stars. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a domestic thriller and is looking for one with a festive, high-stakes Christmas setting.
- Neil - Dead - Pushed over Bempton cliff by Greg
- Greg - Alive - In prison for killing Neil
- Rebecca - Alive - In prison on four counts of attempted murder
- Adam - Alive - Out on bail
- Stuart - Dead - Bowel cancer
- Christy - Alive - Working to forgive Adam and growing closer to Sacha
- Sacha - Alive - In love with Oliver, who looks more like Neil every day
- Wendy - Alive - Coping with Stuart’s death, supported by Sacha and Christy
- Death of a parent
- Pregnancy
- Infertility
- Suicidal ideations
- Infidelity
- Depression
- Suicidal ideations
Publisher: Bookouture
ISBN: 9781835250389
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
