A woman whose employment history includes five murder houses should probably come with a warning label.
One Last Secret, the fifth book in Blake Pierce's The Governess series, continues to prove why these books are perfect commute audiobooks. They're entertaining, fast-paced, and this one was just twisty enough to make me sit in the driveway after getting home because I needed to hear the end.
Mary has definitely grown on me over the course of the series. She still has a remarkable talent for finding employment in homes where murder has happened or is about to happen. At this point, five out of her last six jobs have involved homicide. That's not bad luck; that's practically a supernatural gift.
What I appreciated most about this installment was that the mystery surrounding Annie, Mary's sister who disappeared thirty years ago, finally received a satisfying resolution. That thread has been hanging over the series from the beginning, and I was pleased with how it was handled.
I also enjoyed the hopeful ending. Without spoiling anything, the book leaves the door open for Mary to have her own happily-ever-after, and after everything she's endured, I find myself rooting for her. I'm going to have to download the next few in the series.
These books aren't deep literary masterpieces, but they don't pretend to be. They're quick, engaging mysteries with a likable heroine who somehow manages to stumble into danger with astonishing regularity. And when a book keeps me sitting in the car to finish the last chapter, that's always a good sign.
