Last Seen Leaving: A Women Sleuths Psychological Thriller – A Mother's Search Uncovers Buried Family Secrets

by Kelly Braffet

As she did in her darkly thrilling debut, Josie and Jack, Kelly Braffet again explores the often ambiguous nature of love and danger in a riveting novel of suspense. When twenty-something drifter Miranda Cassidy wrecks her car one night on the way home from a bar, she seizes the accident as an opportunity to reinvent her life. Hitching a ride with a mysterious stranger, she finds quick work and a fresh start hundreds of miles away in an oceanside vacation town. She doesn’t look back, figuring no one is going to miss her. But when her mother finds no forwarding address, she senses something terrible has happened. The memory of the tragic disappearance of Miranda’s father years before and the force of long-buried emotions drive her on a frantic quest to find her daughter, no matter what the cost.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Kelly Braffet writes stories about unhappy people making bad decisions, occasionally with magic. She is the author of The Unwilling (available 2/20 from Mira Books), Save Yourself, and Last Seen Leaving; her first novel, Josie and Jack, has been made into a feature film starring Olivia DeJonge, Alex Neustaedter, and William Fitchner, and directed by Sarah Lancaster. Her writing has been published in the Fairy Tale Review, Post Road, and in several anthologies, as well as on Salon.com. She is a graduate of Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College.

She is married to the tall and immensely talented writer Owen King. He's dreamy. For more, see www.kellybraffet.com.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sounded really promising, and while I liked the characters and their voices (and if we're being honest, I really enjoyed a book where the author is ballsy enough to swear so much without worrying about offending readers), but the ending was so disappointing. I can't stand books where there are so many loose ends left afterwards.

The plot was really interesting I thought, but in my opinion, you can't consider it a 'good' plot unless it ends conclusively. I don't want to sit around and wonder how it was supposed to end.

Was George actually the killer? It seemed like it-the waiting around for her, the stalking, the weird reaction when she dyed her hair-but then why not just kill her and get it over with? I also didn't understand exactly what Nick did. Was he a drug dealer? Was he still alive? Did Anne know he was still alive? Was she going to try to look for him because she still loved him? Or was she going to move on and forget about him even though it seemed like he was still alive, just somewhere in Central America?

And what was with the papers that George supposedly 'stole'? I thought he looked them up from his job. How did the papers connect to the murders? Why would he have murdered the other girls? It seemed like the stolen papers were supposed to be a motive for the murders, but I didn't understand how.

When X-Ray showed back up, I thought I had the whole thing figured out. Nick was still alive and working for the CIA; George worked for the CIA too and wasn't lying about that and was some sort of spy for Nick so in the end he could reconnect with his daughter, and that's why George always acted so nervous and awkward; and X-Ray was the serial killer. But of course I was wrong on all counts. If I had been right though, may I just say it would have been a kickass story.

I wanted to know what the authors' intentions are from start to finish. I don't want to sit around wondering what she wanted us to assume from the ending. There had to be some specific things she wanted the readers to assume; I just wish she had spelled it out more clearly.

If the book had had a definite ending, and the police would have been like, "George is the killer, and oh by the way, your dad is still alive and is a drug dealer in Central America and faked his own death," I would have probably given this book four stars.

But since the only things she learned about her father she learned from an untrustworthy guy who was possibly a serial killer, you're still left knowing absolutely nothing in the end.

[Albert Dubreuil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story with rich, well-developed characters. I've read some reviews about this book in which readers complained about a lack of answers to the plot's questions, and that complaint annoys me.

If I could ask Kelly Braffet to add another 50 pages to this book, I'd want even more of the background and experiences for the main characters. That's what Braffet does best and that's why I'm reading her books. I don't need a Scooby-Doo Epilogue that explains to me who the bad guy was and how he almost got away with it.

If you want a great novel, read this and other books by Kelly Braffet. If you want the Scooby-Doo Epilogue, go find some James Patterson.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story! As soon as I finished the prologue, I was hooked. I love mysteries and stories that keep me guessing until the very end and this one totally delivered a surprising punch. I wasn't sure what to expect since this is my first Kelly Braffet novel and I must say she has amazing talent! She kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting more and gave plenty of details and backstory which helped to keep the reader informed and interested and knew just when and where to place those details. Just when I thought I wasn't going to like a certain character, we get some intimate details of their life that helps us to sympathize with that character. I felt so bad for the mother(myself being a mother) yet could identify with the daughter as well at times and tried to put myself into the situation. As the ending was near, I was sure I knew who did what and what was going to happen and surprise! It was totally different and that had me laughing with relief and joy and saying to myself that I did not see that coming. I'm so happy I had the opportunity to read this novel and congratulate Ms. Braffet on a Novel Very Well Written! I will now seek out her other works and see what other wonderful novels she has to offer us. I definitely recommend this to everyone who loves mysteries and thinks that by the middle of the book, they already know 'who dunnit' because trust me, you'll be hanging on with suspense until the very end!

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a number of points in this book when I thought I knew what was going to happen, who people were or were pretending to be, but I was consistently wrong. In a good way.

After finishing this book, I was reminded of this quote - "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."-- Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

Unfortunately, for all of us, and for almost all of the characters in this book, we don't understand ourselves, let alone those around us.

[Claire (Book Blog Bird) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was an okay mystery story but there were a couple of loose ends that didn't get tied up or explained. I don't need every story I read to be completely tied up with a big red bow, but the threads here were quite substantial and left the story feeling cut off.

Also the narrator of the audiobook used a really annoying voice for Mirandas speech. Like you know when you're nine years old and you're trying to convey your sibling's immaturity compared to your worldly-wisdom, so every time they say something you respond by going 'Meh meh meh meh meh' in a really high pitched tone? That's the voice the narrator used for Miranda.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Braffet's story of a mother searching for her missing daughter is compelling. An NPR review aptly called this book "3 novels in one" and I think that is true. A quick, gut punch read, you will not soon forget the mother/daughter dysfunction in Last Seen Leaving.

[erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now she was older and she no longer looked for magic.

i don't even know what to make of this, i feel like a little kid trying to process it all. it's certainly not an optimistic book and i'm not sure what the message is supposed to be. but it has to be said, the writing is seriously SPECTACULAR, it left me breathless... but the material was a little too strong, i don't know, i think i should have waited till i was older.

some similarities i found in Kelly's other books, because i'm bored:

: "Some people, she thought, lived their whole lives and never did anything that mattered."
: "I thought, there are people who live their entire lives and never know this kind of love."


: "She never complains. She should complain. She deserves to complain. You leave me here! she wants to shriek. You leave me!"
: "You think I wanted to leave you here alone?” “You must have,” I said, “because you did. You left me here.” I said it again: “You left me here.”


: "He was the only one who loved her, and now he was gone."
: "Patrick thought of Layla. Her words: Justinian hurts me but he's the only one who loves me."


: "The scene she plays will always be the same: over and over again, she will save him."
: "Maybe she'll even be good for him. Like you were for me. You saved me, you know."

and many more. there's a group of 4 misfits teenagers in both Save Yourself and Last Seen Leaving.
and i can't wait for Braffet's next book. because i know that even though i may not be in love with the subject matter, i'm in love with her way with words. it's like nothing i've ever read before.

[Liz Cee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly Braffet is one of my newest favorite authors.

Miranda's mother discovers her twenty-something daughter is missing so she travels to her last known residence and looks for her. Her quest seems to raise more questions than answers and she finds herself trying to solve the mystery that is her estranged daughter's life. We are treated to a vivid back-story which is at times heartbreaking.

I don't want to talk too much about the plot because I think you'll enjoy this more the less you know going in to it. Just be aware that this is not a typical missing person mystery. Ms. Braffet writes with a warts and all approach to her characters. She is a very talented writer and, if her subsequent novels are any indication, she will only get better.

I originally started reading her work because she is Stephen King's daughter-in-law, but had I discovered her not knowing that, I would have continued to follow her anyway.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. It was all right. I skimmed a lot of it, but the characters were unique enough and the plot was intriguing enough for me to plod through it to the end, which I thought was going to disappoint, but then pulled itself up at the very end. There were still a lot of loose ends, as per the intention of the book, and I don't like that. Not a big fan of the intentional loose end technique, where all sorts of questions were brought up and then left unanswered and we're supposed to go, "OOoh, but isn't that just like life? You never really find out everything you want." Yeah, too much like life. Life gives me plenty of mystery, I'd like my books to wrap it all up relatively neatly for me. I have enough to ponder in reality, I don't need to ponder fictional situations, too.

[Taco Banana · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very beginning this thing sucked me in (starting anew is a theme I do enjoy).
It was thrilling and naturalistic in the selfish characters that become enwrapped by their troubles.
The pacing of the story felt right on, characters traits received proper attention, nothing fell through the crack (other than the purposeful question lingering, of course). It was witty at times, harsh at others. The drama and thrills mounted nicely and the finale offered up some warm and fuzzies.
Also, the line about not wanting to see The Emerald Idol as an adult was right on... I tried to watch MacGyver a few years ago after being an avid fan in my wee days, bad idea.
Great read.

[Vicki G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is undoubtedly the most painful book I've ever read, b/c almost all of it's true about my relationship w/ my daughter since her dad was murdered.
Before it happened, there was a light of love in her eyes. She was more like him than me. But after I told her we have to stop looking for him, b/c they're considering him dead, the light fell out of her eyes and has never returned.
No so-called human being should be able to do something that causes that reaction in another person.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book for the reasons that other people don't like it: because the main character doesn't give a damn about anything but herself, because it's ambiguous and the ending isn't tied up with a pretty bow. Life is messy and sometimes unresolved.

[Yuckamashe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Kelly Braffet . She wrote one of my favorite books Josie and Jack. I liked this book too. It was a little slower paced. It had a creepy vibe which I enjoy.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5? Right at the beginning, Miranda crashes her car and gets picked up (willingly) by a creepy guy. Eventually her sort-of-estranged mother Anne has a feeling something is wrong, so she flies to see her daughter in Pittsburgh, and it turns out no one has seen her for months. So Anne stays in Miranda’s old apartment and becomes obsessed with finding her, pretty much assuming she’s been abducted or dead. It really seems like it, seeing as every single thing Miranda owns is still there, and who would leave without taking, like, anything? Plus her cat is outside, and hungry. (Which pissed me off.)

BUT (I will only talk about what’s in the blurb, no spoilers), Miranda, “who didn’t mind at all being thought of as a heartless bitch,” decided to let the guy drive her to Virginia, and just like that, she starts a whole new life with a fake name. Creepy Guy doesn’t live there, but of course he keeps coming around. There’s a whole backstory about her dad dying in mysterious circumstances when she was little as well. I just kept thinking, these people are stupid. And clueless and rude, lol. I wanted to know what happened though. I was obsessed to finish it—read for four hours today. And my conclusion is, it’s interesting, but there are better books to be read.

[Kamryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this, seeing as the storyline really didn’t amount to much. It reminded me a lot of “The Last Thing He Told Me,” which I liked, but was also underwhelming .

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Anne Cassidy
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 3.25

Twenty years ago, Anne Cassidy lost her husband, Nick, in an unexplained airplane crash. Nick was a pilot for Western Mountain Airlines., which had a small fleet of planes. Nick was never able to speak of his assignments and was gone for long periods of time. Anne always assumed that he was working for some kind of government agency, such as the CIA. However, it's possible that he was employed by mercenaries and engaged in some dangerous missions. At any rate, no one at Western is able to provide a satisfactory answer as to what happened to Nick; supposedly, his body lies deep in the Pacific Ocean.

And now it's happening again. Only this time, the person who's gone missing is Anne's daughter, Miranda. Ever since Nick's death, they've had an admittedly difficult relationship. When Miranda reached adulthood, they became completely estranged, with a few attempted reunions that made things worse instead of better. Occasionally, Anne reaches out to Miranda and calls her on the phone; that's the extent of their interactions with one another. After trying to reach Miranda unsuccessfully over a period of time, Anne becomes worried and decides to visit her daughter and see what's going on. Only she's not at her apartment; she hasn't been seen by anyone for at least two months. The local police turn up nothing in their investigation.

The real focus in Last Seen Leaving is on the psychological state of mind of Anne as she struggles to understand her relationship with her daughter. She is still very much mired in the past and dealing with the disappearance of her husband; the fact that her daughter is missing and would appear to be dead is like having the past revisited and putting Anne right back in hell.

The book alternates between Anne and Miranda sections. Miranda is a deeply disturbed and angry young woman who has been leading an aimless life. What her mother has no way of knowing is that Miranda was in a car accident and accepted a ride from a strange rescuer. She's pulled up roots and is now leading a vagabond kind of life at a beach resort in Virginia. It's very possible that she will end up dead—there's a serial killer in the area who has already murdered five young women. For her part, Miranda doesn't care if she ever sees her mother again. She considers Anne to be obsessed with the past and immersed in ridiculous new age mumbo jumbo practices in the present.

Labeling Last Seen Leaving crime fiction is a misnomer. Certainly, there is some uncertainty about what really happened to Nick and suspense around Miranda's situation, particularly as it relates to her rescuer. But the book rather summarily deals with the serial killer, and the police investigation instead becomes a recounting of Anne's conversations with the lead investigator.

Braffet has a nice prose style and a conversational tone in her writing. After I accepted the book as being more of a psychological study than a mystery, I enjoyed it more. I did feel that too much time was spent dealing with the past and Nick's disappearance and its impact on Anne and Miranda. The narrative slowed as we meandered inside Anne's head or digressed into Miranda's memories of young adulthood.

As the book concludes, it's hard to determine where these characters will go from here. In spite of Anne's desperate search for her daughter, it's hard to believe that either of them will do anything that will mend the torn fabric of their relationship. Without a real final resolution, the book felt somewhat pointless to me.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Josie and Jack better.

Some Favorite Parts:

It had been years since Anne had eaten meat, but she remembered what it was like to hold a dead thing in her hands.
______

Then she went home and threw up.
______

When she was a little girl this kind of weather had made her think of movies where something fantastic happens to somebody hopeless: lonely girls and fat boys and daydreamers, who venture out in stormy weather and find the door in the hedge, the magic ring in the gutter, the lost key to the secret attic.
______

The rush to claim pieces of April's death reminded her of the old theory about maggots growing out of pork chops like trees grew out of acorns - what did they call it? - spontaneous generation.
______

She felt as if she'd been sept into some alternate reality, some place where the things that were familiar to her had never existed. Like an old science fiction movie from the late sixties, with the quiet, doom-filled atmospherics and the hero who dies in the end.
______

"Everyone's a little crazy."
______

We lived in his van, made love all the time, lived on tacos and ketchup from plastic packets. Then we drove to Key West together, and there we said goodbye. He was the one who taught me to juggle.
______

This person, who was the only living remnant of the life that she had lived then, back when her husband and her daughter were both alive and she'd never been plagued by thoughts about the world as anything other than a backdrop for their lives, never thought about it as limited or limitless, lonely or loveless. Back when the world was where they lived and what they saw; when astral meant stars and plane meant flying, and spirit was what you called it when your daughter stamped her foot and wouldn't wear the stupid pink dress no matter what you said, and your husband laughed and said let her go naked if she wants to, even the kid knows my mother doesn't have any damn taste.
______

"The world takes us to strange places, sometimes," Anne said.
"And sometimes we take ourselves there."

[Arthur Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly Braffet is one of those rare authors whose characters get into your gut and then run around like Wolverine drunk at a pinata party. They are brilliantly real and at times cause discomfort. In Last Seen Leaving, there is so much back-thought and introspection by the characters that you can find yourself re-living and re-evaluating your own life right along with them. A very enjoyable read, thought provoking, and enjoyable. This book will enjoy a "well-used" for years to come. Great job!

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is "okay." It had a little too much cussing for me. It was a little sad that a family could be so torn apart from each other. I still don't understand the ending, and would like to know exactly what happened. It was entertaining, but I was hoping for a little more near the end. I wouldn't recommend it or read it again.

[Bbmarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent book. I sat down and finished in about 2 two-hour sittings. I remember thinking it would be too short, but it was paced perfectly. I really liked the way the author told both the mother and daughter's stories, with flashbacks to past(which I usually don't like)but it laid the story out just right. I will definitely be seeking out more books by Kelly Braffet.

[Sarah Beaudoin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I'd enjoy Last Seen Leaving but overall the entire book was pretty dull to me. The story about a young woman's disappearance sounds interesting, but with unsympathetic characters, slow pacing, and almost no climax, the narrative just seemed to drag.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elegantly written. I often hope for tidy endings with detailed explanations, but I am glad that didn't happen here.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing story about a daughter who goes missing.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stunning book by this author; a real page turner; exquisite writing!

[Danell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, Kelly Braffet is a fearless author.
Her stories and books give me the impression of someone who writes with a unique voice unwilling to compromise her vision. The characters in this book are sharply drawn, self-absorbed and convincing and the story speculates about how reckless choices affect our relationships and the direction of our lives.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is perfect. I wasn't so sure about Anne (or Miranda) in the beginning, but they both grew on me. I really thought Livingston was an important part of the story, and it bugged me that Anne left him in Arizona. I don't know if I liked how the George situation resolved itself, but I liked the ending.

[Michelle Nakagawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, "missing person" story about a mom searching for the daughter she's lost touch with and now presumes dead.
It's an interesting reminder that our actions affect others, though we don't always think they do.
My one complaint is not full explanation of the connection between the daughter, Miranda, and the man who picks her up, George.

[Shay Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the blurbs call this a page-turner, but I found it to be more of a slow burn. Although it does certainly have elements of a thriller, it is much more a story of a family that split apart, and how at least one connection plays out. 5 stars for that part, and 4 for the thriller aspect. I'm still trying to understand exactly what George was all about.