The Last Dead Girl

by Harry Dolan

Overview

David Loogan’s dark past is revealed in this prequel to Bad Things Happen—the critically acclaimed mystery that Stephen King called a “great f***ing book.”

On a rainy night in April, a chance encounter draws David into a romance with Jana Fletcher, a beautiful young law student. Jana is an enigma: living in a run-down apartment with only the barest of possessions, sporting a bruise on her cheek that she refuses to explain. David would like to know her secrets, but he lets them lie—until it’s too late.

When Jana is brutally murdered, the police consider David a prime suspect. But as he sets out to uncover the truth, he soon learns that Jana’s death may be related to an earlier murder, one that she was obsessed with during the last weeks of her life.

And as he retraces her steps, he begins to realize that he’s treading a very dangerous path—and that her killer is watching every move he makes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425273821
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Series:	David Loogan , #3
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	380,391
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Harry Dolan is the bestselling author of Bad Things Happen and Very Bad Men, both featuring David Loogan. He graduated from Colgate University, where he majored in philosophy and studied fiction writing with the novelist Frederick Busch. A native of Rome, New York, he now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his partner, Linda Randolph.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

 

Praise for Bad Things Happen:
 
“You better believe [Dolan] has a gift for storytelling . . . the narrative comes with startling developments and nicely tricky reversals.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
 
“[T]he novel is as well plotted as Agatha Christie at her best. . . . It’s witty, sophisticated, suspenseful and endless fun . . . the best first novel I’ve read this year.” —Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
 
“Brilliant.” —Chicago Tribune
 
 
Praise for Very Bad Men:
 
“One of the ten best mysteries of the year.” —Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
 

Reading Group Guide

1. INTRODUCTION
On a rainy night in April, a chance encounter draws David into a romance with Jana Fletcher, a beautiful young law student. David would like to know her secrets, but he lets them lie—until it’s too late.
 
When Jana is brutally murdered, the police consider David a prime suspect. But as he sets out to uncover the truth, he soon learns that Jana’s death may be related to an earlier murder, one that she was obsessed with during the last weeks of her life.
 
And as he retraces her steps, he begins to realize that he’s treading a very dangerous path—and that her killer is watching every move he makes.

ABOUT HARRY DOLAN
Harry Dolan is the bestselling author of Bad Things Happen and Very Bad Men. He graduated from Colgate University, where he majored in philosophy and studied fiction writing with the novelist Frederick Busch. A native of Rome, New York, he now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his partner, Linda Randolph.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The Last Dead Girl features many strong women, most notably Jana and Sophie, who both make the first move with David, rather than the other way around. In what other ways are these women similar? How are they different? What does their confidence say about both of them, and how does it shape their stories?
2. Do you think David’s lack of control in his two relationships—both in their beginnings and endings—serves as a catalyst for him to pursue clues in Jana’s case so thoroughly? Or is this curiosity a facet of David’s character?
3. Initially, Gary’s case does not seem to be linked to Jana’s death. Why, then, do you think David researches it so passionately from the start?
4. Angela tells David that’s she’s okay with Gary’s current situation—because he’s not her problem, and she’s not responsible. How do other characters in the book contradict this train of thought, the idea that we only take care of ourselves? Who feels the most responsibility for others in this story? Who doesn’t? Why?
5. Both David and Roger are interested in Jana romantically. After what happened to her, why do you think Jana is so much more comfortable with David, a stranger, than she is with Roger, her admired professor?
6.  What do you think of Sophie’s confession, when she ultimately tells David the real reason for her infidelity? Do you think they would have been happy if he’d known before he met Jana? Or do you think that David needed to meet Jana, no matter what?
7. Discuss Angela Reese’s idea of duality. What different sides does each character show throughout the book?
8. Discuss Neil and Gary’s relationship. Do you think they’re both beyond saving, as David seems to think? Do you think there’s any real compassion left, on either end?
9. Why do you think the author chose to tell this story in alternating narratives, and with an irregular timeline? Did it add to the atmosphere of the novel?
10. Most of the characters in The Last Dead Girl have secrets, both good and bad, and no character is purely good. Do you feel this is an authentic portrayal of human nature? Who do you relate to most in this story, and why?

Editorial Reviews

11/11/2013
Set in 1998, this prequel to 2009’s Bad Things Happen puts Dolan’s gifts as a storyteller on full display. Series hero David Malone (who later becomes David Loogan) finds himself sitting in the Rome, N.Y., police station, the prime suspect in the investigation into the murder of Jana Fletcher, with whom he recently began an affair. David soon learns that Jana was involved with the Innocence Project, an organization committed to freeing the wrongly accused. Believing Jana’s murder to have some connection with her investigation of Gary Dean Pruett, a man convicted of killing his wife, David searches out those involved in the Pruett case for answers. Throughout David is secretly followed by K, an elusive, homicidal deviant who wants to stop David from discovering the truth. That K doesn’t just kill David right off doesn’t really make sense—after all, he has few qualms about murder—but if you can look past this detail, you’re in for a suspenseful ride. Agent: Victoria Skurnik, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Dolan's seemingly effortless prose sets off dialogue that surprises and delights, and his intricate plot is simply dazzling: a twisting, shifting labyrinth of events, characters, and motivations . . . every bit as good---if not better---than the first." ---Booklist

From the Publisher

Dolan has a talent for ingenious, serpentine plots...Dolan is an inventive, offbeat writer who manages to provide an entertaining mystery...His David Malone novels deserve the praise they've received. Most likely, we'll keep learning more about the trouble-prone Mr. Malone for years to come."

The Washington Post

"Absorbing, exciting...fast and unpredictable...Mr. Dolan's characters are human enough to catch you off-guard, and he makes the actions of even the creepiest ones believable.

The Wall Street Journal - Tom Nolan

2013-12-21
Stung by discovering his fiancee's infidelity, an upstate real estate inspector walks out on her and into a relationship with a local law student--a relationship that turns even more intense with the student's murder. As he tells Detective Frank Moretti, David Malone knew Jana Fletcher for 10 days before her death. And as Moretti tells him, they'd been lovers for 10 days as well, and there's no suspect more obvious when David finds Jana strangled to death. Except for discovering her body, he insists he had nothing to do with her murder; more likely she was killed by whoever dropped the Popsicle stick in the woods nearby. Thanks to a series of cutaways to the perp's viewpoint, the reader doesn't have to take David's word for it. The killer, identified only as K, is indeed the man who's been watching Jana from the woods, warming up for her murder by snuffing Jolene Halliwell, a hooker who attached herself to him a little too insistently. In fact, as Moretti's compulsive investigation gradually reveals, Jana's death is only the latest in a string of violence that extends back two years--a saga that melds seduction, prostitution, drug dealing and kidnapping into an unholy mess swirling around unlovely high school teacher Gary Dean Pruett, whom Jana was determined to free from prison since she was convinced that he hadn't killed his wife, Cathy, even though he'd clearly been cheating on her with his (barely) former student Angela Reese. Nor has Jana's death brought this murderous string to an end. As in his first two thrillers (Very Bad Men, 2011, etc.), Dolan plays out the complications with a spider's patience. This time, however, an unmemorable culprit makes his infernal logic seem just a tad less inevitable, scary and remorseless.

Kirkus Reviews