Last Seen Leaving by Kelly Braffet

Last Seen Leaving delivers delicious suspense, meticulous plotting, and keen eye for character in a story about a mother in search of her daughter, and a daughter in search of herself.

Miranda Cassidy's glamorous father, a pilot, vanished in Central America when she was a child. Her mother, Anne, sought comfort in the Arizona desert and the trappings of New Age spiritualism, but the fiercely independent Miranda, deeply unsettled by her father's death, never forgave her mother for uprooting her. Now she is working a go-nowhere job outside Pittsburgh, her empty days drifting meaninglessly into each other -- until one night when she crashes her car on a lonely highway and is picked up by George, a passing stranger with mysterious motives.

When Anne finally reaches out to her daughter, nobody has seen or heard from Miranda for months, and Anne begins a frantic search. As she uncovers the details of the life her daughter left behind, she also begins to excavate their shared past and reexamine her own choices. Meanwhile, Miranda is living under an assumed name in a Virginia beach town, where a number of young women have recently turned up dead. Maybe George's unexpected reappearances mean nothing and he is unconnected to the bodies washing up on the shore. Maybe her mother will find her in time. Maybe not.

An edgy and engrossing page-turner, Last Seen Leaving explores the often ambiguous nature of danger and the dark secrets we keep to protect those we love.

Hmmmmm, I wasn't overly impressed with this book. It was good......but not great, and in my opinion did not stand up to Ms. Braffet's first novel: Josie and Jack. I felt it was lacking in many areas and drawn out in others. All in all this was not a great read for me. I was kind of disappointed since I loved her first book. I also felt the ending fell short and I would have liked to have heard more about where the story went from there. For me it was an ok read, and one I'm glad I finished, but not one I would recommend others rush out and buy!! 3/5