Murder Mystery Suspense Thriller Book Review: The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Spoiler Alert: This review contains major plot revelations.

I just finished reading a murder mystery suspense thriller, The Only One Left by Riley Sager. My first book by this author. After finishing Karin Slaughter's book, I was hunting for something a little milder and tamer than Pretty Girls. I searched TikTok and came across a BookToker discussing this novel. I'd heard of Riley Sager before, but I wasn't reading murder mystery books at the time.

I started reading on December 8th and finished December 19th. There was a three-day reading gap in between because I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. Having just DNF'd another book prior and feeling bad about it, I decided to push through, and I'm so glad I did.

Character Analysis

The story centers around a wealthy family: parents Winston and Evangeline, and sisters Lenora and Virginia Hope. They lived on an estate in a large mansion perched atop a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. In 1929, when the girls were young teenagers, the entire family was murdered. The only survivor was Lenora.

Lenora, the older sister, survived for years as an invalid in the mansion, cared for by a rotation of nurses. She was hiding a secret and could only communicate by typing a few words at a time with her left hand. As a child, Lenora dreamed of leaving Hope’s End—the name they gave the mansion—a place she somewhat hated. She wanted to see the world beyond those walls. She fell in love with a servant, got pregnant, and then her whole world changed.

Virginia, the younger sister, died the night of the murder. According to local legend, Virginia's spirit haunted Hope's End.

Miss Baker was a trusted servant at Hope's End whose duties included teaching the girls to act like young ladies. Later, she became Lenora's overseer, taking care of the affairs of running the estate. But Miss Baker was also harboring a secret: throughout her time at Hope's End, she had an ongoing affair with Mr. Hope, the sisters' father. As overseer, Miss Baker became shrewd and unfeeling, locked in the past. It was evident in her manners, the way she dressed, the way she required nurses to dress, and the formal way she insisted everyone address her and Lenora.

Evangeline, the girls' mother, had become hooked on laudanum. Before her life spiraled out of control, she came from a wealthy family. After getting pregnant at a young age by the help, she lied to Winston about being in love with him to save her family from ruin. They married and had two girls: Lenora and Virginia. She would later regret her decision, as Winston turned into a philandering, controlling, manipulative, and divisive man.

Archie, Hope's End's trusted chef, had been at the house since he was a young boy, growing up alongside the sisters. He cared for Virginia, the dead sister, but he too was harboring a secret—one that involved a servant named Ricardo.

Jessie, the housemaid, had been with the estate for a while. Her duties were to clean, but she took a liking to Lenora. She bought her a Walkman and started recording herself reading books aloud, giving the recordings to Lenora to listen to. Jessie was hiding a secret of her own, which she revealed to Lenora via these recordings.

The mansion itself is also a character, playing a pivotal role in the story. The house stood for decades, crumbling over time, slanting to one side. Pieces chipped away from the structure as the foundation eroded and ocean water continued to slap against the rocks below. The terrace sets the opening scene and establishes the tone for the entire story.

Kit McDeere, the main protagonist and caregiver, was assigned to Hope's End to care for the ailing Lenora Hope. Kit was initially against taking the job because she'd heard the story about how Lenora murdered her own family. But having been suspended from her previous position, accused of inadvertently allowing her mother to die from an overdose of pain medication, Kit had no choice. She needed to work.

Plot Overview

As Kit settled into the estate, things about the property and the manner in which everyone died began to bother her. She wanted to know what happened to the family and whether Lenora was really the cold-blooded killer the town claimed she was. She also wanted relief from her own accusation regarding her mother's death.

Kit started asking Lenora questions, to which Lenora could only tap "yes" or "no" or type using an old typewriter. The deeper she dug, the more secrets she uncovered—including the murder of the last caregiver, Mary, who knew the entire story about the events at the house and was killed for it.

Afraid she could be next but too deep to stop, Kit continued digging for the truth. It led her to a stunning realization: Lenora, her bedridden, immobile patient, was actually Virginia, the presumably dead sister. And Miss Baker was actually Lenora.

Miss Baker; the real Lenora, had forced Virginia to take on her identity. A few months after the murders, she bribed the family doctor to declare that Virginia had died from self-inflicted hanging. Then Lenora took over Miss Baker's identity (the real Miss Baker had left the property days before the murders). Now Lenora was free to live the life Virginia had longed for.

Still not understanding why Mary was murdered, Kit left the estate to head home and talk to her father about her mother's death. Upon arriving, she saw a suitcase; a woman's suitcase, and the letters that Lenora (actually Virginia) had typed, revealing the whole story about that night.

Kit was hit with the truth: her father, Richard (also called Ricky), was the one who had a hand in the murders. He was also the boy Virginia had fallen in love with and fathered her baby. The baby was taken by Virginia's father as soon as it was born, and he ordered the real Miss Baker to take the child away.

What Worked and What Didn't

What worked: Virginia getting to live her happily ever after, later in life. Virginia finding out what happened to her son. Kit, her granddaughter Jessie, and her good friend Archie being by her side when she finally revealed the truth to the world—that she was, in fact, Virginia.

Lenora, realizing the hurt she'd caused her sister, decided in the end to stay in the house as it crumbled around her. Ricky decided that would be his fate as well.

What didn't work: Virginia faking her paralysis for over fifty years. She literally stayed inside the estate pretending to be immobile and never got caught.

Villain(s)

There were several villains in the story. The main villain was Lenora (the fake Miss Baker). The trajectory of her and her sister's lives changed when she decided to swap places, steal someone's identity, and chain her sister to a life that wasn't hers.

Virginia was also a villain in her own life. She unintentionally let Ricky get away the night of the murders and lived a lie, pretending for decades that she was paralyzed.

Ricky's greed and the insult from Evangeline caused him to finish the murders that Evangeline had started.

Archie, the trusted cook, was also a villain for going along with Lenora's plan and believing that Virginia had committed the murders. I would also include the parents. They were villains in many ways as well.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the story. However, as I started reading chapter after chapter, I wasn't sure the book was worth continuing. It wasn't until I reached the 60% mark that the engagement ramped up, and from there, I couldn't put the book down. I enjoyed all the twists and turns, though there was one twist that was particularly frustrating. But in the end, I loved it.

Themes

The novel explores loss, addiction, depression, murder, betrayal, classism, blackmail, and fractured family dynamics.

Recommendation

I recommend this book. It was a good read and not at all scary if you can get past the haunting rhyme and the so-called haunted estate.

Will I read another Riley Sager book? Yes. But only if it's not too scary or too psychological.

Rating

4 out of 5 stars. I almost gave it 3.5 stars, but what changed my mind was that I could actually see this novel as a movie for television.