The Only One Left by Riley Sager

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
 

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
 

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
 

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
 

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
 

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

Two good signs that you’ve read a great mystery novel; the full reveal is a “wow” instead of a “well that just happened” and you feel the need to instantly re-read it with a notepad to jot down clues missed on a first read. I found Riley Sager’s The Only One Left to be a solid murder mystery novel that’s well-rounded and smartly constructed. As per my read of Home Before Dark, The Only One Left was a slow burn with an explosive yet still comprehensible whodunnit reveal. This is a book that rewards slow and attentive readers that enjoy piecing clues and evidence together. If you speed through mindlessly the reveal and ending may feel random with its endless plot twists (they’re not random if you pay attention).

What I particularly liked about The Only One Left is the use of common mystery plot devices implemented in creative ways. Although the story is primarily told from home caregiver Kit McDeere’s perspective in the present real-time (that is, in 1983 when this story takes place), Sager also somewhat incorporates a 2nd split (abeit limited) perspective of Lenora Hope. Literally written in the past tense (via a typewriter as Lenora is mute and is paralyzed apart from her left arm), this 2nd perspective takes place covering the events leading up to and including the murders that occurred back in 1929. Written meticulously by Lenora pecking typing style, this dual narrative incorporates both a time jump as well as the unreliable narrator element. While eerie and unusual things occur at Hope’s End Manor during Kit’s employment, it’s Lenora’s words that contribute the bulk of the foreboding dread since you know her parents and sister Viriginia will soon end up dead. You really don’t know where the narrative will go, which I attribute to Sager’s elaborate plot and writing. In hindsight, every snapshot and word choice Lenora shares to Kit is purposeful down the specific way certain events or statements are phrased.

One element I often find difficult to believe is the reason or purpose for many mystery novels’ isolation and plot devices leading to the protagonist’s investigation. I found Sager to be quite clever by putting the focus on a paralyzed and mute elderly woman who can’t leave the house making her both non-threatening (no dumb girl stuck in a clearly haunted house trope) but still creepy. With all spooky house stories, there’s always the thought “this is character stupid, just get out and don’t go back!” Kit’s financially strapped background and ostracization by society following the suspicion that she may have murdered her own mother also provides important context as to why Kit can’t just leave her job and Hope’s End. The Only One Left has a logical answer for every common pothole many similar narratives suffer from. With Lenora also being incapable of movement and speaking unless she’s coaxed to, it allows Kit to investigate both the sudden disappearance of Mary (her caregiving predecessor) and the murders of the three Hope family members organically without having to bumble around making silly mistakes or going on wild goose-chases to draw out the mystery.

That also leads into another high point for me which is Kit McDeere. The one thing I absolutely cannot stand in mystery thriller novels is an overly emotional and non-sensible investigating protagonist who can somehow do a better job than actual police detectives. Despite being dealt a bad hand and having to carryon through the death of her mother under Kit’s care and being accused of murder, she’s still written as a resilient and intelligent character. So many times I find myself wanting to bash my head against the wall at how idiotic the lead character’s actions and thoughts are but I found Kit’s psyche and thought-process to always be understandable and logical. Something eerie appears to happen, Kit instantly considers the supernatural but then proceeds to debunk it with more plausible causes. A new character pops up? Kit proceeds with caution, giving just enough to get by while still protecting herself. As necessary for this type of plot, Kit also slowly falls into a growing sense of paranoia but her thoughts still show clarity. This can be seen during a scene where she tests Lenora’s paralysis with rather forceful methods or how she goes about suspecting her fellow housemates of murder. Nobody is off the table of potential suspects and her character judgements make sense. The book also is very effective in portraying the themes of projecting one’s feelings such as guilt or betrayal on to others and how it can cloud color one’s judgement. This is where Sager flexes his writing chops by making Kit’s story more than just a typical whodunnit in a gothic setting and a story of validating not only herself but potentially also Lenora’s.

The supporting cast I also found to be quite diverse and colorful. There were two young men in 1929 that I got slightly mixed up due to similarities in their name, but otherwise I thought the cast was distinctive and varied. The Only One Left also does an ambitious job of weaving each character constantly in and out and connecting them to the mystery and each other; every character has a definitive purpose for existing. I’ve seen some negative reviews find the connections and coincidences too convenient or far-fetched to be plausible in real-life. To that I’d counter by saying the constant connections are a sign of an elaborate and well-planned plot that doesn’t waste any time or pages on throwaway characters.

Pages aren’t wasted on the plot either which are full of clues hinting at the crazy ending and reveal. The story is tidy and dense without unnecessary details or plot elements. My predicted ending was also pleasantly far-off from the book’s ending which is always refreshing in mystery reads. There were several instances where I questioned if I had misinterpreted pieces of information or character descriptions/behaviors that seemed to conflict with previous clues presented. I would later discover, no I did not misread the information, those conflicts are clues in and themselves. The unreliable narrator strategy is utilized well and different theories/information provided by different characters tend to expand the possibilities of what could’ve happened rather than throw out red herrings or misdirections. The reveal and ending ties up all the loose ends in a way that left me impressed, though it’s clear some other reviewers found it to be too far-fetched and too heavy with last minute plot twists.

If I have to fault The Only One Left, it’s that the story is a true slow burn that takes a while to get going. Again in hindsight there are a lot of things I missed during the slower parts that provide valuable clues to the solution, but the “thriller” moniker sometimes feels like a stretch. The pacing is also steady which I liked, but can feel too deliberate and detached at times. The killer’s ultimate motive also felt a bit shallow and lacking in comparison to how well choreographed the rest of the plot and events were, I had the impression that Sager thought up the complex murder events and investigation first and then reverse-engineered the motive last (motive knocked this down to a 4.5 rounded up to 5 for me). A final reveal relating to Lenora in what could be considered the epilogue (chapters 44, not the actual 2-page newspaper article epilogue) after the killer is discovered also had me eyebrow-raising thinking “come on really?”, but after sitting on it a day later while writing this review I think I understand its inclusion. Minor spoiler, the reveal gives the novel a more optimistic and happier ending compared to what I would’ve expected or liked. It slightly cheapens an otherwise grounded and solid story (or I like being a pessimist lol) but I’m sure some readers will find it comforting if you can suspend your disbelief.

As a whole though I thought The Only One Left is a great mystery novel. It has a complex narrative and investigation despite having a relatively small pool of characters and suspects to work with. But the plausibility that almost anyone could’ve committed a crime showcases the strength of its writing and plot. I’m also very grateful and thankful that Kit is not another dumb and emotionally vulnerable lead character who is competent at what she does and is quite shrewd in character judgement. Sager wrote Kit with a lot of respect and dignity which I can’t say the same for many other mystery thriller writers (Kit doesn’t randomly sleep or fall for the first attractive young man she meets with no context, other writers take note).