by Ali Lowe
Publisher: Hachette Australia, 2025
Review
by Jennifer Cameron-Smith
A select group of six guests travel to Loloma Island, Fiji, on Friday the 29th of December. They have travelled to this exclusive resort in the Pacific Ocean to be amongst the first to see in the New Year. The guests include two married couples, Luella St John-Gray, her husband Benedict; Kitty and Fergus Miller, and unusually for this resort, two single women: Dr Sofie Barthélemy and Thomasina Delana. They will be well looked after by the resort’s staff, including Una Simpson and her nephew Sailasa.
But, as the cover of the book reveals, this holiday of a lifetime is going to be someone’s last … Who? And why?
And so it is that I found one of the guests, capable of offending almost everyone instantly, particularly easy to dislike. Another guest, a start-up founder anxious to raise funds and hoping for an opportunity to do so, is desperate. I found myself focussing on these two until one of them died. And then the other goes missing, and a body washes up on the shore… murder, or misadventure?
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, trying to separate red herrings from real clues and finding myself caught up in deciding between multiple possibilities. If only I had Una Simpson’s powers of observation and determination!
Ms Lowe very cleverly adds layers and twists to this story. One of the staff has a money problem: could he be involved? And what about the connections between three or four of the guests? It seems that almost everyone we meet at the resort has a motive. The story unfolds over a week, with a clever final chapter (including a twist I had not considered) set four months later.
Yes, I thought the ending was perfect. A terrific crime thriller.
This is Ms Lowe’s fourth novel, and I’ve added the other three to my reading list.
Publisher’s blurb
PERFECT LIVES, PERFECT CRIMES. The gripping, twisty and suspenseful new destination thriller from Ali Lowe – perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and White Lotus.
New Year’s Eve, Loloma Island, Fiji. At one of the most exclusive island resorts in the Pacific Ocean, the champagne is poured, the fireworks are ready, and the countdown to New Year is just beginning. It’s set to be a night that no one will forget.
Especially when a body washes up on the shore…
But it’s impossible to find answers when everyone here has a motive.
The billionaire’s daughter, glamorous, untouchable, hungry for her inheritance.
The start-up founder, out of money, and out of time.
The young dive instructor, in way over his head and struggling to stay afloat.
The husband, blinded by desire, in all the wrong ways.
And the lover, hidden in the shadows, where no one can see them….
One person’s holiday of a lifetime is about to be the last they’ll ever have.