The Last One at the Wedding

The Last One at the Wedding (2024) is a bestselling domestic thriller by American author Jason Rekulak. It follows the thriller/horror novel Hidden Pictures (2022) and The Impossible Fortress (2017). The Last One at the Wedding focuses on father-daughter duo Frank and Maggie Szatowski as they navigate a difficult relationship and Maggie’s upcoming wedding to tech millionaire Aidan Gardner. Frank, a UPS driver, is proud of his working-class background and of having raised Maggie alone after the death of her mother. Maggie, on the other hand, longs to shed the “stigma” of a childhood markedly less affluent than that of her fiancé. As the wedding approaches, it becomes clear to Frank that something is amiss between Aidan and Maggie and that Maggie has been hiding much below the surface of her polished exterior. The Last One at the Wedding explores themes related to Taking Pride in a Working-Class Identity, The Strength and Pitfalls of Parental Love, and The Corrupting Influence of Wealth. 

This guide refers to the 2024 hardcover edition by Flatiron Books.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss addiction, death, violence, substance use, sexual content, and suicide.

Plot Summary

As the novel begins, narrator and protagonist Frank Szatowski receives a long-awaited call from his estranged daughter, Maggie. The two have not spoken in more than three years, and Frank feels terrible about the rift in their relationship. Maggie is his only child, and he raised her by himself (with help from his sister, Tammy) after his wife’s tragic death. The two were closely bonded until the incident that caused their feud, and Frank has missed her terribly. Frank has been a UPS driver for the entirety of his career and is nearing retirement. He is proud of his work history and work ethic and put Maggie through school using his savings. After college, Maggie snagged a lucrative position with Capaciti, a wildly profitable tech startup specializing in new battery technology.

Maggie calls to tell Frank that she is getting married to Aidan Gardner, the son of Capaciti’s CEO, Errol Gardner. She explains that she would like to put the past behind them and asks if Frank will be present at her wedding. Elated, Frank immediately agrees and the two make plans to meet for dinner so that Maggie can introduce Frank to Aidan. They meet at Aidan’s home, a penthouse in a large, imposing skyscraper in Boston. Although Frank is proud of being working class and not overly impressed by wealth, he is nonetheless struck by how affluent Aidan is. Maggie looks radiant and Frank notes how happy she seems, but Aidan remains aloof through much of the dinner and seems disinterested in the meeting. This strikes Frank as a red flag, and he becomes suspicious of Aidan.

Although Frank is initially excited about the prospect of Maggie’s marriage, he receives a sinister envelope that seems to confirm his suspicions that something is amiss with Aidan. The envelope contains a photo of Aidan and a young woman, on the back of which is written, “Where is Dawn Taggart?” (48). Frank questions Maggie, who reluctantly reveals that Dawn Taggart is someone Aidan knew who went missing, and her family suspects that Aidan killed her. She assures him that the family is wrong and that local police investigated and were unable to find evidence linking Aidan to the crime. Reluctantly, Frank tries to put this information out of his mind and focus on the wedding. The ceremony, part of a three-day event, is to be held at Osprey Cove, a sprawling property owned by the Gardner family. It was once a summer camp, but the Gardners revamped it and use it as a retreat space for industry friends, colleagues, and connections. When they arrive, Frank is chagrined to learn that he must surrender his jeep and sign a “privacy document,” and he is immediately suspicious of Hugo, the camp’s groundskeeper.

Frank, Tammy, and Tammy’s foster daughter, Abigail, are shown to a large, lavish cabin. Maggie is too busy to show them the space, the Gardners have not yet stopped by to introduce themselves, and Aidan is nowhere to be seen. Frank cannot shake his worries about Dawn and the suspicion that something is seriously wrong with the Gardner family. His anxiety only increases when they discover a spider infestation in the cabin. The creatures seem like an evil omen, and Frank vows to find out more about Aidan and his family.

As the wedding weekend unfolds, Aidan continues to be largely absent. Maggie is caught up in a whirlwind of preparation and has little time for Frank. Frank meets Aidan’s father but is told that Aidan’s mother is unwell and likely will not attend much of the wedding. Frank remains suspicious of the Gardners, and when one of the wedding guests turns up dead in the lake, he is sure that Aidan, Errol, or one of the family friends is the killer. The family dismisses the woman’s death as the result of a drug overdose (Maggie herself noted the woman’s troubled history with “street drugs”), but Frank isn’t so sure. He seeks out Dawn Taggart’s family in hopes of learning more about Aidan and finds out that Aidan and Dawn dated. Aidan and Maggie both deny this, and Maggie reiterates that Aidan was at her place the weekend of the disappearance.

Aidan then seeks out Catherine Gardner, Aidan’s mother, and learns that she is not sick. She is mired in alcohol addiction to cope with her husband’s many infidelities and, as it turns out, her role in Dawn Taggart’s death. Dawn was not involved with Aidan, Frank learns, but Errol. After becoming pregnant, Dawn demanded money from Catherine, and Catherine accidentally killed her. Aidan, Errol, and Maggie covered up the murder. Maggie did so in part because she was promised a lucrative financial package in exchange for her help. Frank is horrified to learn that she, too, is romantically involved with Errol. Her marriage to Aidan is a sham and is only slated to last one year, after which point the two will separate and she will become the beneficiary of a large package of Capaciti stock and will walk away with half of Aidan’s assets.

Aidan, however, has grown increasingly uncomfortable with the entire series of events and dies by suicide. The guests leave, and Frank hopes that this will be the end of Maggie’s time with the Gardner family. She, however, remains a Capaciti employee and becomes even more enmeshed with the Gardners than ever. Back at home, Frank finds that Aidan left a map in Abigail’s luggage that seems to indicate the location of Dawn Taggart’s body. Frank is sure that the map was meant for him rather than Tammy’s foster daughter and immediately calls Maggie. He hopes that she might use the map for leverage and end her relationship with the Gardners. Maggie has no such plans and invites Errol and his lawyer to the meeting that Frank sets up with her. Frank is forced to come to terms with the fact that Maggie has always been manipulative and that he never truly saw the real Maggie because he couldn’t see past his parental love. Although he initially decides not to reveal Maggie’s role in Dawn’s death to the police, when Errol and his lawyers threaten Abigail (because she saw the map), he knows that he must do the right thing. As the novel ends Tammy has adopted Abigail and she and Frank split parenting duties. Maggie is incarcerated in a minimum-security facility and is once again estranged from Frank.