41 pages • 1 hour read
Megan MirandaThe Last House Guest
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Interlude 5-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Interlude 5 Summary: “Summer 2017”
The day after the Plus-One Party, the police—including Detective Collins—question Avery about Sadie’s death. Avery gets a ride across town from Faith’s father. She stops inside the Blue Robin, takes note of its condition, and then walks back to her car. There is sand on the floor, which Avery attributes to Sadie brushing herself off after a beach bonfire sometime earlier in their friendship.
Chapter 26 Summary
Avery reviews what she’s learned about the Plus-One Party and considers the possibility that Sadie did make it to the party alive. Avery pulls her car over to examine the trunk. She finds scratches and dents on the inside of the trunk’s lid, as well as a broken buckle from one of Sadie’s gold sandals. Avery realizes that Sadie was in the trunk, alive and fighting to escape, which was how she got from the party to the bluffs unseen. Avery also discovers that the $100,000 her grandmother received after her parents’ deaths came from the Lomans’ accounts.
Chapter 27 Summary
Avery determines the Lomans were somehow responsible for her parents’ accident. While she is angry, she knows the evidence of the payoff could be seen as a motive for her to murder Sadie. Avery realizes that Parker’s scar, which Sadie made fun of, was not from a fight; it was from the accident. Avery returns to the Blue Robin and investigates the master bedroom more closely. In the bathroom, Avery moves the vanity and discovers an old bloodstain, evidence of a fight in the cramped space.
Chapter 28 Summary
Avery briefly stops by the memorial dedication before heading to the Lomans’ house to search Grant’s office again. Avery looks through the family’s medical files and finds record of Parker being treated for a laceration and potential concussion two days after her parents’ accident. She sends a photo of the document to Detective Collins and is surprised when he appears in the house moments later. Avery shows him all the evidence she has collected, including the fact that Sadie’s photo of the road matched the accident photo exactly. Avery reads part of the newspaper clipping aloud but stops when Collins starts to burn Parker’s medical records in the office trash can. The article reveals Collins was the first officer on the scene at her parents’ accident.
Chapter 29 Summary
As Collins burns all of Avery’s evidence, she realizes the other payment Sadie found was sent to him, a payoff to cover up Parker’s involvement in the accident. The night of the Plus-One Party, Sadie confronted Collins with her evidence, and he killed her for it. In the present, Avery runs out of the office as the fire spreads. She escapes by jumping from the master bedroom balcony and running to the bluffs behind the house. Avery runs straight into Parker, and she tells him everything just as Collins catches up. Parker lunges toward Collins, who reaches for his gun, but Parker shoves him backward. Collins falls over the bluffs into the sea below.
Chapter 30 Summary
Parker is arrested at the scene. Avery refuses to support his statement that he did not mean to push Collins over the cliff, that he only did it to protect himself and Avery. In front of the gathering crowd, Avery loudly declares that Parker killed her parents and that Sadie is dead because she found out. Avery hands over the remaining evidence at the police station. Connor picks her up and takes her to the B&B, where her remaining possessions and a room await her.
Epilogue Summary: “Summer 2019”
The Lomans’ house was burned beyond repair. Avery now lives in the guesthouse, after she bought the land and completely deconstructed the main house. Avery invested the money from the sale of her grandmother’s house and used the funds to acquire and flip a stretch of land she hid under an LLC. She sold the land to Faith’s family. Now, in the present, Avery returns to start a new season renting out her and Faith’s new properties.
Interlude 5-Epilogue Analysis
The novel’s closing chapters push every major thread to its breaking point. Avery’s narration in Chapter 26 is a breathless spiral as she uncovers the truth. The reveal that Detective Collins is the novel’s true antagonist is particularly compelling because of his role in the community. Avery (and the reader) would not immediately suspect him of any involvement because of his honorable position and apparent commitment to the truth. In reality, Collins abused his position to maintain control over the investigation; by inserting himself directly into the scene, the interrogations, and the chain of evidence, he gave himself a plausible explanation for any trace evidence he left behind and a means to point the investigation toward Avery if anyone ever became suspicious of him.
The Lomans’ true motivation for taking Avery in was guilt. Although Sadie initially thought Avery was a secret Loman, the fact that Parker accidently killed Avery’s parents was enough motivation for the family to keep Avery close, to keep her happy and in gratitude to them, so she would not seek the truth on her own. The Lomans covered up Parker’s involvement to protect him and their reputation, but the coverup caused Parker additional trauma after the accident—it made him doubt himself and whether he could be a good person after what he did. It also instilled in Parker a sense of detached complacency in which he felt no responsibility to others and had no desire to be accountable for his actions. This is evident in his reaction to being arrested in Chapter 30: He searches the crowd, “desperate for someone to fix this” (335), but since his actions this time were so public, no one will help him.
The Epilogue sees Avery returning to Littleport to prepare her own rental properties for the season. She used the business knowledge she learned from Grant to partner with Faith and operate their own vacation rentals, effectively pushing the Lomans out of Littleport entirely. She mended her friendship with Faith, signaling a return to her roots, while using the Lomans’ business savvy for her own benefit. In the end, Avery embodies the best of both worlds she inhabited, creating a legacy she can be proud of.
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