Book Review: The Last Thing Claire Wanted by Karin Fitz Sanford (Wine Country Cold Case #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good if darker mystery

Cons: Drama does overtake mystery at times

The Bottom Line:

Reopen cold case

In book with a darker tone

Set in my home town

What Happened to Little Danny?

There is exactly one reason that The Last Thing Claire Wanted caught my attention – it is set in Santa Rosa, California, the town where I grew up.  I always enjoy reading a book set in an area I’m familiar with, so I added it to my to be read pile, and I’m glad I did.

Anne McCormack is trying to put her life back together after a divorce from her horrible ex and leaving her job at the FBI.  She’s trying to start an estate sale business in her hometown of Santa Rosa, but she is struggling to find clients.

One of her first clients is Claire Murray, an older woman who has just been given a few months to live.  Anne remembers the Murray family well from the story twenty-nine years ago about them.  Claire’s five-year-old son, Danny, was killed, and the case was never solved.  Before she dies, Claire wants to find out what happened to Danny.

Anne’s uncle was one of the police officers who worked on the case all those years ago, and he comes out of retirement to head a taskforce to reopen the case, with Anne helping him.  She uses her relationships with the family to gather more information.  But can they solve the case all these years later?

I haven’t lived in Santa Rosa for almost twenty-nine years (which is hard to believe), but my family still lives there so I visit frequently.  Having said that, I quickly realized this was a fictionalized version of the city, as the author admits in a note at the end.  Many of the places the characters go are fictional.  Honestly, as soon as I realized how prevalent it was going to be, it didn’t bother me in the slightest.  But there are some references to real places and streets that made me smile.

This is not one of my cozies, and I knew that going in.  The story is definitely darker than I often read, and there is more foul content as a result.  As long as you know this before you pick up the book, you’ll be fine.

So how is the book itself?  The writing is strong, especially for a debut novel, and the book has a melancholy tone that comes through from page one.  The mystery is good.  Since this is more a police procedural, we are as interested in seeing if Anne can prove the case as well as figuring out who done it.  I was intrigued the entire way through.

Having said that, this book is also about Claire and what her upcoming death is going to do to her family.  I might not normally go for that kind of drama, but here it mostly worked for me.  A few times, I felt that took over the story to the detriment of the mystery, but that was minor overall.

It took a while for all the characters to come fully to life, but by the end, I’d come to care for all of them.  This is an interesting study of what a tragedy will do to a family.

If you are looking for a lighter mystery, don’t pick up The Last Thing Claire Wanted.  But if you want something more serious, you’ll be glad you did.