by Petronella McGovern
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, 2024
Publisher’s blurb
Family. It means everything to Sheridan. She has missed having her brother around. At last, Lachy is back in Australia, and Sheridan can’t wait to spend the Easter holidays all together in the mountains with their kids.
But, on Good Friday, something devastating happens that rips their two families apart, and now she can’t imagine ever forgiving him.
Lachy knows he’s not coping, but his sister doesn’t have the full story. And, terrifyingly, nor does he. There are some critical gaps in his memory. How is he connected to a missing woman, a hit-and-run, and a request for DNA?
To untangle the truth, Lachy must decide who he can trust. His sister? His friends? Even himself?
The Last Trace is a gripping thriller about siblings and secrets, and the traces we can never erase.
Review
By Carol Woeltjes
The Last Trace opens in a country pub, nothing unsettling in that, until you realise, Lachy, our narrator, can’t remember how he got there, nor does he know why the old bushie insists on buying him a drink. This is not Lachy’s first blackout, but it’s the first when his son has been present. He has to think fast: what has he said, what has he done?
Not remembering what he’s done consumes Lachy, it has since his first blackout as a teenager. This fear of who he is when he can’t remember has him doing all manner of things including a DNA test and sending its results to a woman whose surname he doesn’t even know.
Lachy’s teenage son Kai has noticed the memory lapses and worried his dad may be showing signs of early onset dementia like his grandma asks his aunt Sheridan to come and visit. The visit goes horribly wrong and threatens to tear the family apart. Lachy wants to patch things up and confides in Sheridan, who backs him, but insists he confront his problems. Little does Sheridan know that she is sending Lachy into a storm that will change their family forever.
The Last Trace is a cross generational story with four narrators who take turns building the suspense. Early in the novel I had so many questions, but this was never overwhelming, just propulsive. Small details are expertly threaded through the story giving the reader just the right amount of information at just the right time.
Themes of guilt and shame reoccur throughout the novel. Petronella McGovern has masterfully woven in the generational impact of these often-misplaced emotions and the extremes many will go to shield themselves from them.
I loved the ethical questions hidden within the story, what becomes of the data from a DNA test once its completed, who owns it and who can use it? The climate crisis, what should we be doing individually and collectively? The role of power in relationships and what happens when it’s used to exploit.
McGovern also made me question my loyalties so many times. The characters go under my skin and when I had to confront the possibility that they may not be who I thought they were, I was squirming. Could I have misread them so badly? You’re going to have to read this gripping page turner to find out.