The Last Cuckoo cover art

The Last Cuckoo

When Ghosts Live on in Stepfamilies

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The Last Cuckoo

By: Maria Frankland
Narrated by: Chris Nuttall
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About this listen

You died three weeks ago, so how can you be following me on social media?

Your funeral is packed to the rafters leaving standing room only. Everyone talks about your untimely death and the hole you’ve left behind.

But no one feels your loss more than me, Mum.

I’m the one returning to an empty house and I’m the one who receives the first notification from X.

Anna Hardaker is following you.

And so it begins. As if things aren’t bad enough with everyone whispering, ‘that’s the lad whose mum’s just died,’ it’s suddenly as if the past is coming back to haunt me.

It’s like you’re trying to lead us to the truth.

But you’re dead so how can you be? There are days when I feel like I’m going mad with it all and the others aren’t helping. Suddenly everyone wants a piece of what’s going on and what you’ve left behind as your social media posts become darker and more frequent.

Until we’re forced to confront the nightmarish reality that’s been staring at us all along.

©2020 Maria Frankland (P)2024 Maria Frankland Psychological Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Paranormal Rage

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All stars
Most relevant  
Loved every minute.
One of my new fav authors after listening to a few of her books. This one is the best I’ve read up to now. The narrator was truly brilliant and I could listen to him and his accents all day. Listened to this in one sitting. One more for my collection. Now picking my next listen by the same author. Can’t get enough!! A HUGE 5 stars but worth so much more. You would be mad to not listen to this title. Wish it had been longer but then again,least it wasn’t drawn out. A real page turner.

Best book I’ve listened to in a while and best book to date by the author!

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The story kept me interested through out and made me want to listen to more. The narration was great and brought all the characters to life through all the twists and turns of the story. All in all a great audio book.

A great story and very well narrated

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Just discovered Maria Frankland books and loving them , started this morning with The Last Cuckoo and haven’t been able to put it down and the narration by Chris Nuttall is perfect , overall can’t remember enjoying a new ( to me ) author this much , in fact I’ve bought two more on the strength of this one

New Author Found

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The story was well structured and it wasn’t until very close to the end that I guessed the outcome. This is the first thriller I have read by Maria and I am really looking forward to reading many more.

I rarely give five star ratings but this book definitely deserves it

This book was amazing and I read it within a couple of days

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Loved this book. Very well written with such a style I felt drawn in by some characters and repelled by others.
Full of twists and turns, intriguing throughout!
A definite one to delve into but also one that I am going to reread again.
5 stars!

Intriguing till the end

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Listener received this title free

Told in the first person by Jamie, an only child and somewhat emotionally retarded soon-to-be 25 years old old man, The Last Cuckoo follows the emotional events occurring after the funeral of his mother, Anna.
A painter artist of some renown, Anna has fallen to her death whilst redecorating the stairwell of the house in which she lived with her son. Divorced from Jamie's father, she had plans to remarry another divorcee, Ian, thus bringing his only daughter, Claudia, about 20, also into the fami!y. Trouble was, the two youngsters violently disliked each other. Without the unifying factor of Anna to maintain some sort of stability, emotions begin to spiral, extending to include Ian's still possessive former wife and Jamie's dad and new partner. Then the Twitter posts start appearing...include

This is a very interesting and well written telling of a mystery as well as a portrait of some problems which can form in the extended, divided families so prominent today. The characters are well developed, especially, or course, that of Jamie himself, and the narration of Chris Nutall further enhances each one, his individual voicing s excellent, as is his reading throughout, well paced and spoken with emotion in a gentle northern English accent. Sadly, not one of the characters is likable (apart from a very elderly neighbour who makes an occasional walk on appearance). On the contrary, every one of the main protagonists is singularly selfish and unpleasant, rather posing the other great mystery - why on earth did Anna and Ian even want to see each other any more let alone get married? However, the plot develops slowly, but never drags, cryptic clues dropped as the story progresses.

This is an involving, page turning (yes, I know my copy is an audiobook, but you get the idea) novel, intriguing and unusual in it's presentation. And, remarkably adept for a first novel. It can be irritating but also thought provoking and, if the ending is not quite the unexpected bombshell obviously intended, it does at least keep the reader guessing for much of the book. I was very fortunate in being freely gifted with a complimentary copy of The Last Cuckoo, at my request, by the rights holder via Audiobook Boom. Thank you so much. It was unexpectedly riveting reading and recommended to all who enjoy psychological mysteries and family dynamics.

"Artist Anna 123, # cuckoo # before my time."

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Listener received this title free

It’s been three weeks since Jaime lost his mother, Anna, after she fell to her death while redecorating the house she shared with her son. Struggling to contain his anger, grief and loss, Jaime finds himself isolated from the rest of the family as each member with their own agenda await the outcome of Anna’s Will.

Several days following the funeral, Jaime is appalled when he receives a Twitter notification alerting him to a tweet from Anna’s account which suggests that her death was no accident. The question is, who is behind the tweets and is there really more to Anna’s death?

The Last Cuckoo is a dark story which focuses on family dynamics and the consequences of toxic relationships. Narrated in the first person by Jaime (as though he’s talking to his mother) we are given insight into Jamie’s innermost thoughts and feelings as he reminisces about his troubled past and struggles to move on with a life without his mother. While having Jaime’s point of view offers valuable insight into his psyche, it does make him a somewhat unreliable protagonist. I felt at times that his behaviour was immature for a 24-going-on-25 year old although some of his actions were understandable considering the behaviour and characteristics of his so called family and friends.

The secondary characters were well developed. We have Jamie’s narcissistic, opportunistic father Phil, who was barely around for his son following his divorce from Anna but who begins to sniff around now that Jamie has been left a substantial amount of money in Anna’s Will. Phil’s relationship with his current wife Katherine is equally volatile and she in turn has always resented Anna and Jaime. Then we have Anna’s fiancé Iain, his antagonistic ex wife Stacey, along with his toxic self centred daughter Claudia who resents Anna’s presence in her father’s life and despises Jaime.

In the background to all these deeply unpleasant characters, is a relentless Twitter campaign orchestrated to lead those that Anna loved - and didn’t love - to the truth behind her death. I confess I had my own ideas about the culprit from the get go so I was completely unprepared for the twist at the end.

This book was my first introduction to the author and she didn’t disappoint. This was a well executed, razor taut thriller/mystery. The author did a wonderful job of creating characters that seemingly come alive. The plot maintained my interest from the offset and kept me guessing. The author has skilfully highlighted the challenges that stepfamilies face when trying to meld two families with children into one. I couldn’t help sympathising with Anna throughout. Her life had been full of disappointments and it seems that just as she had found some semblance of happiness, her life was tragically cut short. I’ll definitely be looking out for future works of this author.

I received an advanced free audible copy of The Last Cuckoo and I am voluntarily reviewing it. Chris Nutall (with his Irish accent) did a wonderful job of bringing the story and characters to life with his clear and concise narration.

A well executed mystery/thriller

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A really enjoyable thriller. The writer's use of language for the main character, Jamie, is brilliant. I loved how the narration of the book really brings Jamie to life.
This will keep you guessing and in my case, wrong!

A great audio book.

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superbly written which kept your interest throughout. The narrator was perfectly matched for the character and the twist and turns Maria Frankland delivers are innovative,

Absolute Belter!

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Listener received this title free

This story is so twisted I can’t even gather my thoughts to write a summary. Also, I just finished it in as the end is mine blowing as is all of Murray’s books I’m overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions. This book is so good I have never encountered an author who every book she writes blows me away. If you love books that he has twist on top of twist until the very last sentence and the best thing of all is they’re all plausible and they all makes sense then get this book. If you love a good thriller get this book I highly recommend it it’s so so so freaking awesome!

Another homerun by Maria Franklin

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