Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The Last Caretaker by Jessica Strawser

 

Kate’s life needs a reboot as she moves from web pages to caretaking in The Last Caretaker by Jessica Strawser that was published December 1. Recently divorced, Katie is lucky enough that her best friend Bess has recommended Kate for caretaking at the 927-acre Grove Farm Nature Preserve in Ohio. While not a big outdoor fan, Katie guesses the job would be a nice change of pace.



The job comes with a farmhouse in which to live, but it looks like the last caretaker left in such a hurry that many personal items abandoned. Katie and house cleaners pack up Grace’s things in hopes she returns for them.

When a scared and battered woman arrives at the caretaker’s farmhouse in the middle of the night, Katie is surprised the woman is expecting a safe place to hide. As Katie follows the clues, she becomes aware that Grace had been part of an underground network to move abused women to safe places.

Shall Katie fill Grace’s shoes in this endeavor? What has happened to Grace as calls to Grace’s sister go unanswered or returned? Why is the groundskeeper Jude, a police academy dropout, always finding reasons to be at the caretaker’s place? Who can be trusted: the hikers, the dog walkers, the nature photographers? Katie will have to dig deep to solve these mysteries. There is more to the job than meets the eye as Katie searches to find out about the last caretaker.

Jessica Strawser  is Editor-at-Large for Writer’s Digest and a popular speaker at writing conferences, book clubs, and book festivals. Not That I Could Tell was a Book of the Month selection, and The Next Thing You Know was a People magazine pick for 2023. She lives with her family in Ohio.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 27, 2023.

I would like to thank Lake Union Publishing  and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

 

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