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Maria Frankland
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The Last Cuckoo: A Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Killer Twist Kindle Edition

by Maria Frankland (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 736 ratings
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.

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  1. Print length
    294 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    March 4, 2020
  5. File size
    1.9 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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From the Publisher

how can she follow you
when she died three weeks ago?
The Last Cuckoo
Hit and Run
Undercurrents
Last Orders
In His Shadow
Left Hanging
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Customer Reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars 736
4.3 out of 5 stars 1,087
4.2 out of 5 stars 554
4.2 out of 5 stars 1,299
4.1 out of 5 stars 1,025
4.2 out of 5 stars 1,641
Price $2.99 $3.99 $2.99 $2.99 $3.99 $2.99
Synopsis Do you listen to your mother? When she's already dead? The sunniest days bring the darkest news. You never know what, or who, is around the corner. The grass isn't always greener on the other side... Gaslighters choose their prey with care. Within a marriage can be the sweetest, or the darkest place to be.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The alleyways of Maria Frankland's fictional universe are uncompromising; they bear the lines and shadows of experience, and return an authenticating nuance to the rapt readers' investigative instinct.
Set in a Yorkshire of the imagination, and executed in dialogue which is both persuasive and explosive, The Last Cuckoo is profoundly sensitive to the collective emotional trauma of a bereaved family in a freefall of grief and recrimination.
In her superb first novel, Maria Frankland unlocks a compelling crime drama by gradual accretion and revelation. We sincerely hope she visits the terrain again soon."
Steve Whitaker Yorkshire Times

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B084DTG91H
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Autonomy Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 4, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.9 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 294 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 736 ratings

About the author

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Maria Frankland

Maria Frankland

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Maria Frankland has a dubious internet search history and a very worried mother-in-law. However, neither of these things can stop her writing gripping psychological thrillers in which you’ll never find a happy-ever-after.

Her novels are mostly set in Otley in Yorkshire where you’ll hear the accent through all her characters. These are people you could live next door to, or closer still… don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Maria’s novels are fast-paced, down to earth and realistic. You never know what’s around the corner…

Follow Maria on Amazon by clicking that white follow button - Happy reading!

For film and TV rights enquiries, contact: maria@mariafrankland .co.uk

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
736 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Susan Jacob
    5.0 out of 5 stars A real page turned for me.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I just kept waiting for Jamie to get justice. Those around him were so toxic.
    This is one of my favorites so far.
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  • Pheadra Farah
    4.0 out of 5 stars More family saga than thriller
    Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This was both a compelling and frustrating read. I wanted to read because I was intriguied by who was behind the ghost-like tweets, and frustrated because Jamie, the main character comes across more like an immature 15-year old than a 25-year old male, in modern times working for an insurance company.

    Anna is a best-selling talented artist. She is divorced from her former husband Philip, an excuse for a husband, father and man. They share a son, Jamie(24 on the brink of 25) who still lives with her. She is engaged to Iain when she is discovered at the bottom of the stairs supposedly having fallen while balancing on the banister, painting the ceiling. Iain's daughter, Chloe, his ex wife Shirley and Philip's second wife Katherine are truly loathsome. When twitter lights up with messages from Anna one is left to guess who might be posing as her and why does she refer to someone as a cuckoo? The character of Jamie came across as hard to like because of his neediness, naivete and stupidity and the BIG reveal turned out to be less than spectacular because I had guessed 20% in who the main culprit was. The book is however a very good take on blended families, summarized in these lines:

    Judge Lakin, presiding, said the case highlighted the problems of resentment and jealousy in second-time families, where fractured families are forced to bring their ‘baggage’ and merge their lives under one roof, often against the will of the children. He added that this is a sad example of a culture where one in three marriages will end in divorce. We have moved away from the ‘nuclear’ family, he said, to a situation where the stepfamily is the norm. Statistics also show that the step family dynamic fails eighty three per cent of the time.

    4 Stars.
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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly Out Together
    Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    An interesting and entertaining story that keeps one guessing through the end. Grief, loss, jealousy, and greed prevail with strained relationships. I couldn't have predicted the conclusion. What turn around of events!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Tracy J Rogers
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great author and genre
    Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Love author and genre
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  • Rebecca
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fast pace
    Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2024
    Fast paced read, ending was not surprising but writing style made you want to keep turning the page. Love Maria’s writing
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  • RACHEL
    5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book
    Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2023
    Maria does not disappoint!!
    I have read all her books and they are all amazing!!
    Lots of twists and surprises 🥳 and will keep you turning the pages late into the night 🌙
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  • patricia bird
    2.0 out of 5 stars Not a surprise!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    No surprise ending which was a such a disappointment. The only likable characters was the victim and Bette..the little old lady living across the street. This is the second book I have read by this author and I have noticed, in both books, most of the characters are awful people and the endings are horrible!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Shelley T. Eason
    1.0 out of 5 stars A painful slog
    Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Not one likable character. I would not recommend it. Had to force myself to skim to the end. That’s all.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Nisareen Khan
    5.0 out of 5 stars A well executed mystery/thriller
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    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.
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  • Jade
    4.0 out of 5 stars This was a good read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This was a good read, however, it was quite prolonged in places. It's basically one long letter to a parent. The twist at the end is pretty good, and there's some parts of the book where you feel like your right there in the moment, and want to scream (that's what makes this book worth reading). I'd have given in 5*, but I felt like the ending was very sudden.
    I am enjoying reading Maria Franklands books though! So glad I found this author
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  • Maggie
    5.0 out of 5 stars So Many Suspects
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Jaime lost his mother in a tragic accident which leaves him a house and a substantial cash inheritance. However, things are rocked in his world when tweets begin to be left, supposedly from his dead mother, in the weeks following her death. The police are contacted by Jaime and his uncle but they are frustrated by a lack of action from them. There are so many suspects for Jaime to choose from. His estranged father and his new wife, or is it his step-father to be and his daughter. The story lurches from one traumatic incident to another with Jaime becoming more depressed as time goes on. I found this book to be so well written and a compelling read, as is always the case with Maria Frankland books.
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  • Pamela J
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This was not one of my favourite Maria Frankland books but having said that I still read it within a couple of days and couldn't put it down!
    I didn't find that I liked any of the characters very much. It was still full of the unexpected twists that I've come to love in these books.
    I was convinced that the old lady across the road was sending the messages and she was going to turn out to be some kind of computer whizz!! I mean, maybe she did. You'll have to read it to find out...
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  • Adele Lisa
    4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling insight into human psyche
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book had me gripped from the beginning. The characters are really compelling (anyone who has read 'Gone with the Wind' or 'Vanity Fair' knows that a character doesn't have to be likeable to be compelling!) The voice of the narrator as a young man was so convincing and the use of present tense made it feel so immediate. Really original plot with so many unexpected twists. I think young people and people who enjoy thrillers or dramas would enjoy this. A talented writer with a startling insight into the human psyche.
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