Last One to Die ~ Cynthia Murphy

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy is a YA thriller. Niamh has moved to London for the summer. On her first evening, Niamh agrees to swap rooms with another drama student who’s scared of heights. Later that evening, she finds her murdered in her room. A string of murders begins, all girls who look a lot like Niamh. The stress doesn’t end there as Niamh is determined to make it through her drama course. She gets a placement at a Victorian Museum where she is to play the part of the daughter of a mill owner. There, she meets Tommy; he’s cute, fun, attentive and hot. But something isn’t quite right.

This book annoyed me. I absolutely raced through the first two hundred pages, completely caught up in the mystery and all the bizarre happenings. Niamh also developed from a naive Irish girl who had never been to London, to someone a lot more comfortable in herself and confident in traversing a new city. However, the last fifty pages ruined it. The reveal wasn’t too surprising as it had been hinted but I think perhaps took the idea too literally. It was so annoying because I really wanted it to be good.

I was really interested in the idea of the living museum and kind of wanted to know more about the museum and whether it was a real place because I would love to go. The idea of the museum and its story mashing with the modern-day plot was interesting and I wish they had tied together in some other way. 

Overall, there was so much potential to make this a great story but it kind of took the lazy way out and then tried to over-complicate it. I think I gave it three and three-quarter stars just because I loved the first two hundred pages. 

C🌙