The Last Child by John Hart - A-

I love a good mystery.  Always have.  First, I read Encyclopedia Brown.  Then, I graduated to the Hardy Boys (50+ of them) (Note to readers:  In the 1970s, the Hardy Boys were just fine for kids.  In the 2010s, not so much.  The Tower Treasure did not age well.)  I read a bunch of Agatha Christie novels starting in junior high.  I have blogged on kids' series before here.

(Short interlude.  The scene:  a cold February, post-football Sunday afternoon when I was a kid (maybe 15?).  An Agatha Christie novel that I did not read was "Murder on the Orient Express."  Anyway, not a whole lot to do on this particularly cold afternoon, so I settled in my favorite recliner to watch the movie version of Murder on the Orient Express.  Snacks to my right.  Drinks to my right.  I'm comfortable.  My very favorite sister asks me what I'm doing, and I say, "I'm going to watch Murder on the Orient Express."  She says to me [SPOILER ALERT!]  "Why are you going to do that?  You know that everybody did it.")

I had previously read John Hart's "King of Lies."  Interestingly, I finished that book on a similarly rustic vacation to the vacation on which I finished "The Last Child."  I often tend to remember books read on vacation.  I recall enjoying "King of Lies."

That's not why I picked up "The Last Child," however.  In fact, I had forgotten that I had read "King of Lies" until reminded by the style of this novel.  I picked up "The Last Child" because it had won the 2010 Edgar Award for "Best Novel."

As I said above, I love a good mystery.  I don't like it when an author screws with the reader by withholding a crucial piece of information to "solve the mystery."  ("Oh, did I not mention or even hint that Mr. Smith was having an affair at the time his wife was killed?  You would have found that possibility enlightening?  I know I said that 'Mr. Smith had stood behind Mrs. Smith, serving as unfailing caregiver, always there, never a moment to himself.'  You couldn't surmise that an affair was a possibility?")

"The Last Child" picks up about a year after Alyssa Merrimon, twin sister of Johnny Merrimon, had disappeared without a trace.  Alyssa was 12, and her disappearance literally and figuratively tore the Merrimon family apart.  Johnny is both lost without his twin sister and the strongest remaining member of the nuclear family.  Johnny's father had fled resulting from the guilt he carried from having been the one who was supposed to pick Alyssa up on the fateful day.  Johnny's mother has engaged on a downward spiral into alcohol and drug abuse and pretty much ignoring her remaining family--Johnny.

13 year old Johnny is a marvelous character.  Treading the line between adolescence and adulthood, Johnny will stop at nothing to find his sister.  With his family gone, Johnny's only caretaker is Detective Clyde Hunt, in charge of the investigation into Alyssa's disappearance.  Det. Hunt keeps an eye on Johnny from a distance and seems to be the only character who understands Johnny.

The mystery has a satisfying conclusion.  Again, I love a good mystery.

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the lights on for you.