Author Laura Dave’s new novel, The Night We Lost Him, opens with a literal cliffhanger: Hotel magnate Liam Noone is relishing the view from the cliffs outside his California estate and reflecting on his life choices when he is pushed over the edge to his death. That first chapter offers the reader crucial information that the rest of the characters don’t know — that Liam did not fall by accident — but the whodunnit and why remain a mystery for his children to solve.
What follows is a meandering but suspenseful novel that is part mystery, part family drama, part love story, as Liam’s daughter, Nora, works alongside her estranged brother to uncover the details of his death. This is the long-awaited follow-up to Dave’s 2021 page-turner, The Last Thing He Told Me. And despite their utterly forgettable titles, both novels offer interesting characters and quality storytelling that explain Dave’s position on the best-seller list.
Here, we learn that Nora is an expert in neuroarchitecture who shares her father’s passion for transforming physical spaces. But she has also inherited his reluctance to commit to relationships, and as she and her brother start to unravel the mystery, they also discover long-held family secrets.
The Night We Lost Him is a true genre mash-up. Fans looking for a lightning-paced thriller won’t find that here, as a dual timeline advances the story at a much slower pace than some readers might expect. But what it lacks in jaw-dropping plot twists it more than makes up for in soulful romance and family drama. Vivid scenery and a bittersweet ending make it a chef’s-kiss novel worth checking out.
