The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets

Berkley | March 2019 | 352 pgs

Source: Library

Marian Engström works as a conservationist and her job requires her to work with rescue dogs and travelling about places amid the wilderness. Her first assignment takes her to northern Alberta; there she learn her ropes from the adventurous and experienced Tate, who is her mentor turn lover. Working in the remote wilderness can make one lonely, but Marian loves her job and on top of everything Tate makes her feel special. Their togetherness is not long as they go different ways for their assignment and during the course of their separation Marian receives news about Tate's death. 

Tate's death may be accidental as some speculate, but the murder of four women is not. Dubbed as the Stillwater cases, the mysteries remain unsolved and till this day it still haunts the retired forensic profiler, Nick Shepard. Having diagnosed with a brain tumour, he now devotes his time with his wife until he receives a call from Marian. Saddened by the news of Tate's death, Marian's thought has been occupied by the things Tate had mentioned casually to her in the past and some of the stuff didn't sound right to her and for once she wondered if Tate had to do with the four women's murder. Whether to testify her doubts or to clear Tate's name, she decides that Nick may be the person who could unravel the truth with her. 

I really enjoyed reading this novel. For starters, the author's prose is smooth and precise and her descriptions of the snowy wilderness and the role of a conservationist are all well defined. I think some readers may think these may slow down the intensity but personally I appreciate the extra information which allow me to take a deeper look into that profession. As for character- and plot-wise, I think they are well executed, too. I also enjoyed reading about Nick's perspective and think he was a great character not to be ignored. There's even some write-ups about the four victims from Nick's profile and these allow the reader to understand a bit more about the women and how they behaved before tragedy struck. 

Finally, and most importantly, this book also focus on how some male criminals exerting their power over females and too often women fail to trust their intuition when something doesn't feel right (this is not a spoiler but a general portrayal of the four victims' behaviours before the murder. That said, I feel it is an important message which we shouldn't ignore, too.) 

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