Oh friend, this is the Riley Sager I knew and loved. If you love his backlist but maybe felt disappointed in Survive the Night and The House Across the Lake, this one hits different. The Only One Left gave me big Lock Every Door vibes with much more character development and depth. 

In short the story is about a triple murder decades ago by Lenora Hope, who was seventeen at the time she allegedly killed her mother, father, and sister. Now fifty some years later, Kit McDeere is a home health aid down on her luck who is given only one option- be the live in aid for Lenora or be out of a job. But Lenora can’t speak and can only move her left hand. How on earth will this go? 

This was so close to a five star thriller for me- great character development, slow build but fast paced, and a twist that really did get me but also didn’t feel unrealistic. My only quip is that I found about 40 pages a little slow at the 200 page mark, but then I was back to feeling immersed in the mystery and ready to fly through it. 

Read this for isolated vibes, an old mystery, a story within a story (journal entries), and compelling characters with messy pasts.