Review by Booklist Review
As pandemic shutdowns loom, the germophobe owner of the Last Ditch Motel in Cuento, California, announces to the motley crew of permanent residents that she is closing the motel. Scottish-born therapist Lexy Campbell, who lives on a houseboat moored on the nearby slough, convinces the owner it would be safer to fill the motel with those needing a safe place to shelter in place. The vacant rooms are quickly filled, but shortly thereafter, a threatening sign is hung on the motel fence, demanding that one of the new guests be forced to leave. Molly, a detective sergeant at the Cuento PD and one of the motel's new residents, fears trouble, and she's on the mark. When Blaine, another of the new guests, is found murdered, two investigations begin: Molly's official one and the remaining residents' gossipy, informal one. The murder is solved as each of the residents contributes a piece of the puzzle, with numerous misconceptions and side plots. The banter among the various characters will draw Janet Evanonvich fans to this engaging, not-quite-a-locked-room mystery.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in March 2020, Agatha winner McPherson's fine fourth Last Ditch mystery (after 2021's Scot on the Rocks) uses the restrictions and free-floating anxiety of the early Covid period--school closures, toilet paper hoarding, lockdowns--to good and often comic effect. Kathi, owner of the Last Ditch Motel in Cuento, Calif., and "a serious, clinical, lifelong germaphobe," is afraid that the government may commandeer the place and fill it with potentially infected people. As a preemptive strike, Kathi lets her motel regulars convince her to occupy the empty rooms with vulnerable seniors, dependents of first responders, and people in danger of domestic abuse, "in case the governor issues a Don't Budge order." When one of the newcomers vanishes, leaving her room awash with blood, Scot transplant Lexy Campbell notes, "How were we to know how long we'd all be banged up together in the Last Ditch like some sitcom slash commune slash cult? And how could we have guessed that one of us wouldn't make it out alive?" The ragtag collection of motel guests pitch in, each in their own way, to uncover the truth while trying not to break Covid protocol. Clever turns of phrase and witty observations fuel this fast and funny novel. Hopefully, Lexy will be back soon. Agent: Lisa Moylett, CMM Literary. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this latest from the Agatha Award-winning McPherson, the pandemic disrupts The Last Ditch Motel, which responds by selecting a few special rooms as a safe haven for those in need. But it's not that safe: first, ominous signs appear, then a dead body. Does this mean that someone inside is responsible?
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A dark comedy of death and Covid-19. Scottish marriage therapist Lexy Campbell moved to Southern California to marry, then divorce, a dentist who involved her in crime solving. Now she lives on a houseboat moored behind the Last Ditch Motel, which is about to become a haven for a mismatched bunch who take shelter there during California's pandemic-induced shutdown. Lexy is already close to the wacky motel denizens, who are now inviting friends and relatives to stay. Permanent resident Roger Kroger is a physician who's offered his motel room to Blaine Temple and her two kids while he stays at their house with fellow doctor Philip Temple as the two of them work long hours at the hospital. Taylor, Lexy's ornithologist boyfriend, moves in with her to make room for his blind mother to stay in his room at the motel. Then there are some unrelated guests: Meera Flynn is leaving behind an abusive husband, a cop who doesn't take kindly to her having escaped. Information technology expert Arif Jafari is a trans man with an abusive wife. All of them are still slowly working out new routines when Lexy finds Blaine's room spattered in blood, her children screaming in fear, and no sign of Blaine. Lexy has dealt with Sgt. Molly Rankinson before, and they're not the best of friends, but that doesn't stop Molly from moving in and questioning everyone in the motel once Blaine's body is found. Lexy and her friends, who have inside information about the activities of the motel guests, do some sleuthing of their own in a race to catch the killer. Plenty of suspects and mordant humor against a background of pandemic paranoia. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
