The Last to Vanish is a 2022 thriller by bestselling American author Megan Miranda. Like Miranda’s other work, the novel is set in rural North Carolinian Appalachia, where the author resides. An instant New York Times bestseller, the story explores the Desire for Human Connection while navigating Closure Amid Loss and Grief and How Secrets Connect and Divide Small Communities. The Last to Vanish was a July 2022 LibraryReads Hall of Fame selection and an August 2022 Indie Next List selection.

This guide refers to the 2022 e-book edition published by Marysue Rucci Books/Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Content Warning: This guide summarizes and analyzes passages that depict gun violence and substance addiction.

Plot Summary

Trey West arrives in the fictional town of Cutter’s Pass, North Carolina, on a stormy summer evening. He rents a cabin at the Passage Inn, the last place his brother, Landon West, was seen before disappearing four months prior. Abigail Lovett, the inn’s manager and novel’s narrator, immediately recognizes Trey and situates him in the same cabin where Landon stayed. Having witnessed her mother’s death 10 years prior, Abby empathizes with Trey and hopes to help him find Closure Amid Loss and Grief.

Abby knows her decision to house Trey will not be well received. Although Abby has lived and worked at the inn for 10 years, she still feels like an outsider to the close-knit Cutter’s Pass community. The inn sits at an entrance to the Appalachian Trail, and mountains surround the picturesque town, attracting outdoor adventure tourists. Celeste, the inn’s owner, treats Abby like family and helps her to feel more connected to the locals. Celeste shares a close relationship with the highly respected sheriff, Patrick Stamer, one of the town’s central figures. Several Cutter’s Pass permanent residents thoroughly trust Patrick, including Ray and Marina Shiles (owners of The Last Stop Tavern), their son Cory Shiles (tour guide), Rochelle (Patrick’s assistant), Jack Olivier (employee of The Edge outfitting store), and Harris Donald (repair technician). Abby considers the locals close friends, even building a romantic relationship with Cory upon arriving in Cutter’s Pass.

Abby relates more to the people not originally from Cutter’s Pass, like her coworker, Georgia, and best friend, Sloane. These characters are more protective over guests and tourists, whereas the long-term residents guard themselves against outsiders. Their lack of trust is partly due to the disappearance of seven people from Cutter’s Pass over the past 25 years. The Fraternity Four (Brian, Neil, Jerome, and Toby) vanished in 1997, bringing notoriety and accusatory investigation to the small mountain community. Alice Kelly disappeared in 2012, followed by Farrah Jordan in 2019 and Landon in 2022. “Trauma tourists” flock to Cutter’s Pass, hoping to find a connection between the missing people and to uncover the truth about their disappearances. Endless theories, legends, and ghost stories evolve about the disappearances, and the people of Cutter’s Pass encourage and profit from interest in the missing people. At the same time, the insiders guard themselves against any actual investigations or negative press, particularly when brought in by family members of the missing people, like Trey.

Trey and Abby find Landon’s hidden flash drive, setting them on an investigation into all the disappearances. They uncover more evidence (photographs, Farrah’s camera, Landon’s cell phone, and a notebook) that connects Georgia and Landon as acquaintances. Abby sometimes follows several misleading trails, suspecting Cory or Patrick of being partially responsible for the disappearances. Abby discovers the Passage Inn’s logo in a famous photograph of the Fraternity Four and realizes Celeste must have known the missing men. Celeste admits to meeting the group, taking their photo, and leading them on a hike-turned-intervention. The friends confronted Brian about his substance addiction, at which time Brian shot and killed his three friends. Celeste grabbed the gun and shot Brian in self-defense. Before his death, Neil confessed to being Abby’s father (Abby was a toddler then). Celeste, Patrick, and Vincent hid all evidence of the crimes and never spoke of the incident again.

Realizing the mystery behind the Fraternity Four is entirely unrelated to the other three disappearances, Abby connects with Alice’s sister, Quinn, on Instagram and requests information and pictures about Alice’s hiking friends. Landon’s notes lead Abby to this line of inquiry. Quinn sends Abby a group picture with Alice, Harris, and several others, though Quinn refers to Harris as James, Alice’s ex-boyfriend. In a chaotic confrontation, Harris tells Abby that Alice slipped and hit her head in the woods and he hid her body, knowing he would look guilty of murder. When Farrah and Landon’s investigations revealed Harris, he murdered them as well.

Harris is convicted of murder and sent to prison. The residents of Cutter’s Pass accept Abby as an insider when she refuses to reveal additional evidence about the Fraternity Four. Celeste makes Abby a joint owner of the Passage Inn, and Abby closes the novel feeling connected to the town and people of Cutter’s Pass.