Mark Tilbury – The Last One To See Her

‘The Last One To See Her’ by Mark Tilbury is a dark and very gritty crime thriller.

Eleven-year-old Jodie goes missing when she is sent to the shop. Only three people saw her just before she disappeared: The shop owner, Jim Bentley. A drug dealer and local scum. And Mathew Hillock, a young man who has suffered a terrible incident when he was younger and subsequently has been left with a brain injury. The only problem is that both Mathew and Jim cannot fully account for the time around Jodie last being seen. The police investigation turns to Mathew in a very complicated way so he finds himself at the centre of everything and has to consider the unthinkable.

I was really engrossed in this book. Mathew being so vulnerable after all that he had been through really made me think like his family, “Nah, couldn’t be him”. Evidence started to mount and there was still a part of me that would not go there. Mark’s book does highlight how people’s perspectives change when it comes to a crime and the possibility of a disabled or vulnerable person being the suspect just because they are different.

Jim Bentley, on the other hand, is a violent, nasty in fact, evil man. I hated him immediately and his drug-fuelled life too. He is willing to go to any length to cover up his evil deeds. I really was willing the police to get digging into him!

Mark Tilbury has a nickname on social media ‘twisted Tilbury’ and he definitely lives up to this reputation in this particular book. If you are at all faint-hearted and really need to read this book, harden your heart and be prepared, that’s all I can say! The prologue starts with a bang and the graphicness of the violence throughout is not shied away from, although I do think it creates the picture of the people perfectly.

I really had to know who was responsible for Jodie going missing and I was never really sure and I was willing it not to be Mathew so I kept turning the pages. A fantastic suspenseful, gripping and also scary book that shows us what being different can really mean. A massive thank you to Mark “Twisted” Tilbury for giving me a copy of this book and allowing me to be a part of this fantastic book’s Blog Tour.