“A suspenseful and heart-wrenching thriller about ambition, obsession, and what happens when the lies we tell about ourselves become indistinguishable from the truth”

Robin Wasserman, author of GIRLS ON FIRE

“Exploits conventional ideas about female manipulation only to challenge them . . . a haunting piece of fiction, full of characters whose self-obsession leads to tragedy”

Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month

“Beautifully told, it is Mejia's first book to be published in Britain and announces her as a future star in crime writing” 

Daily Mail

Everyone thought they knew Hattie Hoffman. When she was murdered, they found out just how wrong they were.

Seventeen-year-old Hattie Hoffman is a talented actress, loved by everyone in her Minnesotan hometown. So when she's found stabbed to death on the opening night of her school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of the community.

Local sheriff Del Goodman, a good friend of Hattie's dad, vows to find her killer, but the investigation yields more secrets than answers; it turns out Hattie played as many parts offstage as on. Told from three perspectives: Del's, Hattie's high school English teacher and Hattie herself, The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman tells the story of the real Hattie, and what happened that final year of school when she dreamed of leaving her small town behind . . .

Wonderfully evocative of its Midwestern setting and with a cast of unforgettable characters, this is a book about manipulation of relationships and identity, about the line between innocence and culpability, about the hope love offers and the tragedies that occur when it spins out of control.