The Last Party

Perla Wultz lives in a gated community in Pasadena with her husband, Grant, and their daughter, Sophie. She is affluent, sociable and accomplished, and she plays the devoted wife and mother without a flaw. Underneath, she carries a private obsession that has taken over her thoughts.

The object of it is a crime from twenty-three years ago. Leewood Folcrum confessed to killing two young girls during a birthday party and was sentenced to life in prison. The case has not faded for Perla, and it has not faded for a doctoral student who is interviewing Folcrum for his dissertation.

The student pushes the killer to talk about his motives, his confession and what actually happened that night. As his interviews continue, the story moves between the old crime and the present, and the lies behind the murders start to come loose. It becomes unclear who is deceiving whom, and for what reason.

This is a suspense novel with a thriller's escalation, built around secrets held by both a mother and a convicted murderer. A carefully twisted plan is set in motion as the pages go on, and the question of who dies next hangs over the second half.