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This is the second book that I’ve read by Laura Dave and I’ve really liked both of them and I will read more from her. I don’t read a lot of domestic dramas; I simply don’t like the genre that much. Reading stories about a bunch of screwed up families is not my idea of an enjoyable read. However, every now and then, I come across one where the premise and storyline seem interesting enough or maybe I’m a fan of the author’s other work. That was definitely the case here.

The book summary basically just introduces the two MC’s, Nora and Sam, half-siblings (same father) who suspect that their father’s fall off the deck of his cliffside home was not an accident. They have to deal with a lazy, local police detective, who did a lousy job investigating the case Nora and Sam blatantly point out to him. Nora is a self-made architect, who had no help at all from her renowned developer father, Liam Noone (pronounced noon not no one). Sam is a former promising baseball player who had a career ending injury early in his career and has been working for his father for years after he left his high school coaching job.

In looking into their father’s last days as well as his personal and professional documentation, they discovered that he seriously considered selling his vast holdings and company to an old friend, Cece. They also soon begin to suspect that their “Uncle Joe� (who was really Liam’s cousin but was considered a “brother� because they grew up together when a young Joe came to live with Liam’s family) seems to know more than he’s saying. Joe is definitely hiding something!

The story flips back and forth between the present, Nora and Sam looking into Liam’s death and the days leading up to it, and the past, Liam’s and Joe’s teen years with a childhood friend, Cordelia, aka Cory. The past chapters start back 51yrs and conclude at one year ago. Somewhere around year 48, I began to suspect Cory’s role in Liam’s life and this story. I ended up being sort of right.

The character development of Nora and Sam was very well done, as well as Liam and Cory’s relationship, which is why the revelation at the end was kind of a shocker. Wow! Did I ever miss the mark on that one. The pacing was really slow at times, but not enough to lose interest in the storyline. The storyline was intriguing enough, which says a lot coming from me, who doesn’t typically enjoy domestic dramas, which is what this is as well as a murder mystery, at least for Nora and Sam. The reader knows from the get-go that Liam was pushed/murdered. It was the writing though that was a big part of what kept me interested too. Too many domestic dramas about messed up families are just plain annoying as crap. This one was a little intriguing because I really wanted to know how Liam and Cory’s relationship played into the story. Even though the kids are grown in this story, I still felt sorry for them for having kind of crappy parents, which is kind of a cheap shot coming from someone who has never been a parent. You don’t need to be a parent to know that parenting is REALLY hard. Having spent a lifetime watching friends and relatives raise kids, I see how hard it is.

Anyway, I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.9 that I will be rounding up to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley, Simon Element sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #SimonElement #TheNightWeLostHim