A murder. A missing manuscript. An undying love.

Thisbe Chisholm wants to be a writer. It’s 2007, a time of digital revolution and skyrocketing property prices, but she’s an old-fashioned girl. She doesn’t even own a mobile phone. She has no stars-in-her-eyes desire for fame, to see her name on the cover of a book, either. She longs only to tell of the stories written on her heart.

While her best friends, Penny and Jane, and her darling boyfriend, John, seem set for stellar careers in their chosen fields, Thisbe works nights as a hostess at a glitzy harbourside Sydney club – a job she despises but it’s paid the rent for the last three years since university graduation. Just as she completes her novel, though, she is brutally killed at the end of John’s street. Who murdered Thisbe? What will become of her novel?

From the gritty glamour of Bondi Beach to the cold streets of London, here is a tale of tragedy and literary betrayal, of a publishing industry grappling with change and a great love drowning in guilt-wracked grief.

Haunting, whimsical and sharply observed, Her Last Words lays bare the truth that, while some crimes might go unpunished among the privileged, words themselves have a way of enduring – and exacting a justice all their own.

"Consummate storytelling. A deeply satisfying page-turner that is sharp, funny and full of knowing detail, all delivered with lashings of love." - Tracy Sorensen, critically acclaimed author of The Lucky Galah

"This is the best book I’ve read all year." - Rose Emery, Goodreads

"Her Last Words is a deeply personal book , one that bravely resists all pigeonholes and beautifully traverses them all. It is that rare beast – a literary page-turner, filled with big-hearted empathy, sharply observed humour and delicately wrought insight into the complexities of love and grief. Kim Kelly is a talented and courageous story-teller." - Cassie Hamer, bestselling author of After the Party and The End of Cuthbert Close

"I love this woman’s writing. She has all the words and she weaves them together with love and imagination in a way that just makes my soul sing.’" - Theresa Smith Writes

"A stunning contemporary novel …With exceptional characterisation, eloquent prose, and raw emotion, Her Last Words is a compelling read" - Shelleyrae Cusbert, Book’d Out