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2000s: The last place you look is always where you find it, isn’t it?
The Last Place You Look
What you need to know before your trail
Sarah Cook, a beautiful blonde teenager disappeared fifteen years ago. She’s never been found. No trace of her anywhere. What’s even more frightening is that her parents were murdered on the very same night. So two victims or three? Could Sarah be responsible for the horrific crime?
Her boyfriend Brad is currently in jail and on death row for the crime.However not everyone thinks he’s guilty. Some say it’s because his relationship with Sarah was never fully accepted – him being from the wrong side of town and the fact he’s black and Sarah is white.With his execution only weeks away, his devoted sister, insisting she has spotted Sarah at a local gas station, hires PI Roxane Weary to look again at the case. Brad has always maintained his innocence.
Roxane finds herself drawn to the story of Sarah’s disappearance and the case gets creepy when she realised that she’s linked Sarah’s disappearance to one of her policeman father’s unsolved murder cases involving another teen girl. This case could get personal, if it doesn’t get Roxane first.
Travel Guide
Exploring Columbus
Columbus – Judging by Roxanne’s actions in this book, Columbus seems to be on the map as being one of the best places to get whisky. There may not be any left by the time you visit as Roxanne does her best to drink it dry during the plot, but this is part of her destructive tendencies. She seems to stumble on to crime scenes and witnesses and is constantly spotted or reported or could it be harassed by the local police as she tries to explain what she is doing staking out houses and watching people from cars. There is a sense of the twisty, maze of Columbus street, certain areas of town where Sarah’s friends or Brad’s ‘associates’ seem to hang out.
The Brewery District
High Street runs right down the Brewery District of the city and this is where she meets Kenny. The Brewery District is traditionally known as the Old German Brewing District runs from the motorway down to Greenlawn Avenue.
Eating Columbus style with Roxanne
The restaurant, Wings where Roxane eats really does exist and this is said to serve the best Whiskey in town
The Correctional Facility at Chilcothe
Brad sits here and maintains his innocence. A creepy and dark sinister place where you can hear the metallic empty sounds and hear the frustrated roar of the prisoners. Scenes are very intense here and Roxanne has her work cut out. There’s always a sense of doom in a city or town where people sit on death row, the clock for solving the case and potentially solving a miscarriage of justice is slowly ticking away….and where ever you are in that city, the metal clang of the bars echo into the night.
Streetview Maps
A) OH - Columbus - Chillicothe Correctional Institution
D) OH - Columbus - Wing's restaurant
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
Real, raw and races to the finishing line. I felt I was in the passenger seat of a very fast racing car when I read this. Going through the streets of Columbus, taking a detour to Death row and back again, staking out houses on street corners, feeling the breath of the police down my neck…. as I saw real and raw.
This thriller delivers – it goes this way and that but the finishing line is very satisfying. Roxanne is that rough and ready character I like reading about. A bit of a tired old drinking habit like other detective types, but her other points really made me like her and want her to deliver. Boy did she get into some scraps? With her past, I’m not surprised and this is a gripping case. What would it be like to delve into a risky case where the suspect is on death row? Where there could be racial tension and a city convinced they’ve got their man?
I was fascinated with Roxane and how she went about her work. In between sleeping around, getting drunk, having random meetings with strangers and getting stopped by the police. She lives and breathes the city and its streets and the sense of place was nicely woven in – the vagueness of moving around at night but also popping in a few nice places such as the city’s restaurants and parks.
I will definately be back for more Roxanne and her Columbus. Ohio just got its most complex and fascinating PI!
As for the one responsible for the murders – it was the last place I looked. So that title is very apt indeed.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Last Place You Look
Author/Guide: Kristen Lepionka Destination: Columbus, Ohio Departure Time: 2000s
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