My review will follow the publisher’s blurb :
The highly anticipated fourth novel from Ruth Ware, The Globe and Mail and New York Times bestselling author of the In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Lying Game.
Harriet Westaway—better known as Hal—makes ends meet as a tarot reader, but she doesn’t believe in the power of her trade. On a day that begins like any other, she receives a mysterious and unexpected letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but she also knows that she can use her cold-reading skills to potentially claim the money.
Hal attends the funeral of the deceased and meets the family…but it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and that the inheritance is at the center of it.
Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, this is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.
This must be my favorite Ruth Ware so far. I’ve yet to read In a Dark, Dark Wood (Ware’s debut novel) but I have plans for that this summer.
I’m one of those people who loves to hang on to clues, wondering if this or that has a certain significance in the grand scheme of things. I kick myself if I miss something that should have been obvious. If you are anything like me, you’ll enjoy piecing this one together. Throughout the novel, I was wondering what the connection was, what was the final link that put everyone, everything together.
The setting of The Death of Mrs. Westaway gives so much to this novel. You couldn’t help but feel the state of disrepair of the Trepassen estate. Not only in the building but within the family as well. Ruth gives us some interesting family dynamics to wade through – who doesn’t love weird, sketchy, secretive, bitchy family dynamics? There is a lot of juxtaposition in this book too. Hal’s character is physically weak yet very perceptive in the way she can read people. Then there is the the wealth of the Westaways that is in contrast to the 20$ in Hal’s pocket. (don’t break out in song)
Having some chapters with diary inserts gave an extra sense of eerie to the already very moody atmosphere. Wait, actually the live in housekeeper gets all my extra spooky points! So you can see, mood is a huge thing in this novel. Every place Ware took us, from the fortune stall on the pier to Hal’s apartment to the Trepassen estate… everything just added to the atmosphere.
But for me, like I said my high comes from piecing the puzzle together. I find such pleasure in wadding through the words and waiting for that feeling when I know I’ve found something significant; it’s such a rush. I want to scream. BUT I CAN’T – usually the family is fast asleep while I’m up reading.
Actually, another thing I love about Ruth Ware novels is the way she ends them. I love that middle ground ending where she gives us just enough to be satisfied and yet we can still wonder about the future and the decisions that could be made by her characters.
I agree with the blurb, this one is unputdownable.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware – available now !
Published by Simon & Schuster Canada
384 pages
ISBN 9781501151835
A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.