Shay Deroy is a Texas housewife who recently quit her job to write her book, a decision encouraged by her financially successful husband Cal. Back when she was a college student at Whitney, when she was Shay Evans, she lived with three other girls in a suite on campus – her best friends Laurel and Clementine, and a fourth roommate Rachel. When Rachel’s father, Don, visits Rachel to meet her roommates, the charming, interesting, and handsome older man instantly captivates the young women. What began as a seemingly innocuous meeting quickly spiraled into a cult-like situation that still haunts Shay eight years later. When a body is found on the Whitney campus, Shay can’t believe it belongs to Laurel. The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead is a dark, psychological suspense novel that follows Shay as she tries to uncover lies and find answers to so many questions that left a much longer trail of victims, and turns out to be much bigger than Whitney college.  

When readers meet Shay, she is living what appears to be a normal life, listening to true crime podcasts. One of those shows, titled Transgressions, is actually hosted by her childhood friend Jamie Knight. The episode she listens to covers the mysterious death of Laurel Hargrove, found hanging on a tree outside what used to be her favorite spot on Whitney campus. Shay can’t believe her ears as she listens to the details of the police report – which says the death was a suicide – and realizes the scene is eerily similar to another incident from her past. When Jamie continues to insinuate that he doesn’t believe that Laurel killed herself, Shay decides to contact him to learn more about what happened and what he knows. 

Before they know it, Jamie and Shay embark on a wild investigation with details that go back to Whitney eight years ago. Shay knows that in order to understand what happened to Laurel, she needs to tell her own story – something she never wanted to relive or admit to ever again. Through a series of recorded interviews with Jamie, readers learn just how deep the girls’ strange relationship with Don was, and how strong of a hold he had on them. Furthermore, as readers progress through The Last Housewife, we learn the horrible details of Shay’s previous actions and what she discovered about herself as a result of what she did years ago. 

Winstead’s unique choices in storytelling will undoubtedly captivate readers of The Last Housewife. The book is dark yet captivating, and explores many themes we see in today’s society; for example, gender roles and power struggles between men and women, how society treats beauty, and sexual consent. I will warn readers that this book includes a lot of triggers – including suicide, rape, physical violence, sexual violence, trauma, self-harm, misogyny, gender essentialism, and drug use. While Winstead respectfully treads this content, she doesn’t take these topics lightly. 

Overall, this book is a must-read. Despite the horrific subject matter and frightening revelations of our main character, Winstead’s talent for building suspense and setting an appropriate pace is admirable. I wanted to get to the bottom of it all with Shay and Jamie, and Shay’s drastic actions during the book’s climax are undoubtedly justifiable. If readers can get past the trigger warnings, they won’t regret picking up The Last Housewife. 

Ashley Winstead joins us for a Cantina Conversation where we talk about her writing process, what inspired her to tell this story the way that she did, and plans for the future. Keep an ear out for an upcoming episode of The Nerd Cantina Show podcast and pre-order The Last Housewife, available August 16.