The Last Affair by Margot Hunt Blog Tour
Hello everyone and thank you so much for stopping by! Today is our stop on the Harlequin Trade Publishing Mystery/Thriller Blog Tour for The Last Affair by Margot Hunt. We are so excited and it is our absolute pleasure to share our individual reviews with you. Thank you so much to Justine for the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.
Today we are sharing Brenda, Norma’s and Lindsay’s reviews with you!
The Traveling Sisters ~ Brenda, Norma & Lindsay! xxoo
Margot Hunt – About the author
Margot Hunt is a critically acclaimed author of psychological suspense. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews.
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About the book
Gwen Landon—poster woman for perfect wife, mother, and suburban bliss—is found brutally bludgeoned to death behind her Floridian McMansion. Beautiful and beloved by her community, Gwen makes an unlikely victim. But just a scratch below the surface of her perfectly curated world reveals one far more sinister. When looking back over the six months leading up to her death, the question of, “who would do this?” quickly shifts to, “who wouldn’t?”
Commercially successful food blogger and mother of three, Nora Holliday never imagined she would have the nerve, let alone time, to get involved an affair. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, she does whatever it takes to keep it all together. But when Nora runs into Gwen Landon’s husband at a hotel in Orlando, his easy kindness and warmth proves too tempting to resist. As their affair spirals dangerously out of control, it seems things can’t get more complicated—until Gwen turns up dead.
Brenda’s review
The Last Affair starts off with quite the bang with that opening line and scene. I knew I was going to be entertained by Margot Hunt’s writing and I was from beginning to end.
Margot Hunt takes your typical affair and turns into a fun story here by adding some sass and spunk to the writing and the unlikeable characters you love to hate.
The pace is easy and quick, with just the right amount of drama to the story to move it forward for me. The dynamics between the characters are engaging, and I found myself drawn into the drama by silently yelling at the characters. The ending came together well for me as I started to piece together who left “the woman’s blood-covered body splayed facedown in the grass”, in this “typical upscale Floridian backyard.”
Norma’s review
Mindless fun, juicy unlikeable characters, & wickedly entertaining!
THE LAST AFFAIR by MARGOT HUNT is an interesting, easy to read, easy-going, thrilling and fast-paced story that immediately piqued my interest and thoroughly entertained me.
THE LAST AFFAIR has an awesome opening scene! I have quite the fondness and love for when an author opens up her story to a revealing, horrific and ghastly murder scene, allowing us to be pretty much privy to who the victim is right at the very beginning. This technique definitely keeps me intrigued, my curiosity piqued, and turning those pages as fast as I possibly can right to the very end. I love being right dab in the centre of all the action as I’m trying to piece all those clues together of who those shocking and juicy suspects might be.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that there was anything new on the table here though but the character dynamics and antics had quite the unique spin to it that definitely gripped and thrilled me. I might have done some gasping and shaking my head numerous times at these characters.
Lindsay’s review
A fast-paced, easy and thrilling read!
This is one of those books that you can fly through without having put much effort in. The pages and chapters quickly coast by as the storyline keeps you guessing. It was exactly what I was in the mood for. It kept me intrigued and entertained from start to finish. There were a few dramatic scenes, but nothing that overshadowed my enjoyment. The characters and their relationship dynamics were unique and interesting and the suspense kept me curious until the very end. This was my first book by this author and I look forward to reading more from her.
Thank you so much Harlequin for our copies!
Norma’s Stats:
Cover: An effective and fitting representation to storyline that depicts the storyline extremely well and really allows us to experience this story as if we were sneakily peeking in just like the cover suggests.
Title: I wasn’t all that drawn to the title of this book as it just appeared to be another one of those “affair” stories. Boy was I wrong!
Writing/Prose: Easy to follow, well-written, entertaining, immersive, and gripping.
Plot: Engrossing, interesting, suspenseful, soapy, gripping, scandalous, fast-paced, and entertaining.
Ending: I wasn’t completely in the dark but let me tell you that ending was totally awesome and I loved how it all played out. I might have found it a little off-putting though – the extreme end but regardless the author did a great job wrapping this one up.
Overall: Would absolutely recommend if you are looking for an easy-going, relaxed, and mild domestic thriller to spend some time with. This was the perfect read and escape for me while I was resting at home. Thank you so much to Margot Hunt for making the time pass by so much easier!
Harlequin Books were kind enough to allow us to share an excerpt of this fabulous book with all of you…..
Prologue
Other than the woman’s blood-covered body splayed facedown in the grass, it could have been any typical upscale Floridian backyard.
There was the ubiquitous pool with a water fountain feature, a patio furnished with both a dining set and outdoor sectional couch, and an enormous gas grill capable of cooking hamburgers by the dozen. A large pergola with a tropical vine trained over it covered part of the patio. The dining area was shaded by a black-and-white-striped awning. It was the very picture of suburban domestic bliss. It could have been the set for a commercial advertising anything from laundry detergent to allergy medicine.
Again, except for the dead body.
The area had already been taped off. The first officers on the scene appeared with an ambulance in response to a frantic 911 call placed by the woman’s daughter. The paramedics had assessed the situation, and quickly determined that the woman was dead. The fact that the back of her head had been bashed in with what looked like a paving stone, conveniently dropped next to her prone body, made it immediately clear that it had not been a natural death. The responding officers called the sheriff, who responded by sending in a full investigative team. The medical examiner was now doing a preliminary examination of the body, while police officers combed the area for additional evidence. Two detectives, Mike Monroe and Gavin Reddick—separated by twenty years and sixty pounds—were overseeing the operation, standing at the edge of the patio under the shade of the pergola. It was the third week in April, but this was South Florida and the temperature had already climbed into the low nineties.
“The paving stone came from the stack out in the front yard. They were delivered last week by the company who’s installing the driveway,” Detective Reddick said. He was the younger of the two men and had a wiry frame and angular face.
“Weapon of convenience. Suggests it wasn’t premeditated,” Detective Monroe said. He had a ruddy complexion and a full head of thick dark hair, swept back off his face. A strand never moved out of place, even in a strong wind.
“Plus he dropped the weapon, rather than taking it with him. Probably panicked.”
“Could be a she,” Monroe said mildly.
Reddick shrugged. “Blunt force trauma to the back of the head? You know the stats. Overwhelming likelihood that it’s a man, and probably someone the victim was intimately involved with. Husband, maybe a boyfriend.”
“The husband was with the daughter when she called it in.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, and then had her place the call.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
The family had been sequestered indoors, both to keep them out of the way, and so that the officers waiting in the house with them could observe anything they did or said. Other than the husband, there was a daughter in her early twenties and a teenage son. The daughter was reportedly distraught, while the husband and son had both been eerily quiet. It was possible they were in shock.
“Do we have an ID on the victim?” Reddick asked.
“It’s her house,” Monroe grunted.
“Yeah, but I like doing things the official way, you know? I’s dotted, t’s crossed, all of that. Building a case, basic detective work.”
Despite the chilling scene in front of them—the woman’s body still sprawled on the grass, the back of her head a pulpy, bloody mess—the corner of Monroe’s mouth quirked up in a half smile. “Sure, kid, tell me all about basic detective work. I’ve only been doing this for, what…thirty-two years now? The husband ID’d her. Victim is Gwen Landon, age forty-nine. Married, mother of two. Husband said she hasn’t had any recent conflict with anyone.”
“Other than the person who caved in the back of her head with a paving stone,” Reddick pointed out.
“Wouldn’t be the first time a husband didn’t know his wife as well as he thought he did.”
“Possible. But there’s another possibility, too.”
“What’s that?”
Reddick turned to look at his partner. His eyes were small and dark, and he had a habit of squinting when he concentrated intently on something.
“The husband is a liar,” Reddick said.
THE LAST AFFAIR
Author: Margot Hunt
ISBN: 9780778309222
Publication Date: November 26, 2019
Publisher: MIRA BOOKS
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If you would like to read a copy of this book for yourself, it is available to order from the following retailers:
Penny For Our Thoughts 
Great reviews ladies. I enjoyed this one as well.
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Thanks so much, Carla & I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed this one too!
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Lovely reviews ❤️I liked the book too
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Yay! So glad that you liked it too, Shalini and thanks so much!
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