The Villa is a duel timeline mystery. In 1974 we follow step sisters, Mari and Laura, and three others on an Italian Villa getaway to the Villa Rosato. The group is going to spend this time writing stories and songs and spending intimate time together. Emotions start to get the best of someone and another ends up dead.

Flash forward to present day to Emily and Chess. Childhood best friends who are both going through things in their adult life. When Chess calls Emily and invites her on a getaway/writing retreat, she can’t pass up the chance. The two women jet off to the Italian Villa Aestas- once the Villa Rosato, the setting of the 1974 brutal murder of musician Pierce Sheldon. Emily digs into the villa’s past and finds that maybe something more is to be told about that summer.

I enjoyed this story and the duel timeline. The audiobook narrators did such a great job bringing the characters to life.

I recommend this to someone who it looking for a beach read mystery. This is a perfect read for a warm day on the water!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to listen to an early recording on this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

My favorite narrator Julia Whelan she can narrator the cereal box for me, not my favorite Rachel Hawkins book.

Okay so I went into this one blind and I was glad I did because I did not know where this book was going until almost the end. So if you want to be surprised stop reading now and take this as your sign to just go ahead and read it.

If that’s not you and you actually want to read my review before making your decision here it is:

➕pluses- number 1 MURDER HOUSE! Number 2 this one is pretty short so I finished it in a day. Number 3 The audiobook is done by a full cast and features a podcast which I love. Number 4 This was definitely an original concept which I think can be difficult with thrillers since there are just sooo many! Additional thoughts- I enjoy alternate timelines so the past and present POV worked for me; though I did enjoy the past better than the present. I liked that the characters were all writers of some kind. The ending also felt satisfying and kind of reminiscent of Verity.

➖misses- Rachel Hawkins/Erin Sterling is now an auto read author for me, but I never feel like her books are my favorite. They just don’t have that special wow to land them in 5 star territory. It’s not super thriller-y just kind of suspenseful with wondering what will happen next. The climax also wasn’t very intense- like this whole book stayed pretty even keel when I wanted some more heart pumping moments. The Villa also had several awful characters. Chess is an insufferable friend. Mary held the book together IMO.

Overall, I would recommend this one. I think y’all will enjoy it for what it is.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The Villa
by: Rachel Hawkins
read by: Julia Whelan; Kimberly M. Wetherell; Shiromi Arserio
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio and St. Martin's Press for the early listen and ARC. This review applies to both the audio and digital ebook.
Suspenseful, thrilling, and shocking!
This book will definitely take you on a thrill ride and will keep you hooked until the very end. Loved all the characters. Great story line.
The author did an amazing job with this story holding the reader captive until the very end. The narrators did a fabulous job telling the story.
Will recommend

A very suspenseful novel that kept me on the edge of my seat. Such a page-turner written by Rachel Hawkins and narrated by Julia Whelan. This is the first book that I have read by this author, now I will be looking into her other titles. Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. I went in skeptical because I found it hard to relate to the characters personally. Once I got past that though I really enjoyed the story. I loved the multilevel story within a story within a story. The narration for the audiobook could not have been better.

Emily and Chess were inseparable growing up, but in their early 30s, their relationship is no longer what it was. When Emily’s life begins to fall apart after her recent divorce, Chess invites her on a girls trip to a beautiful Italian Villa. The Villa itself has a dark history that Emily becomes fascinated with and inspired by during their visit.

I really enjoy Rachel Hawkins’ writing style. The way her settings play such an integral part to her stories and the way she slowly builds suspense makes her books so fun to read, and The Villa had so many of the aspects of her previous work that I loved. I particularly enjoyed the small flashbacks to the Villa’s past and how they were interwoven throughout Chess and Emily’s story. The mystery kept me intrigued from start to finish, and while there were a few plot twists I saw coming, the book still surprised me in many ways. I was so engaged, I read this one in one day!

The audiobook was narrated by Julia Whelan which means it was phenomenally done!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies!

Wow, I did not think I would like this book as much as I did, being that it was a thriller. Rachel Hawkins deserves all the stars though. This story was set up as two different stories, well three if you include the book within this story. At first, I thought it was going to be another jealous crazy best friend story, and while it does have hints of that it's so much more, especially when you get further into the story and realize everyone is not as good as they seem. Also, I'm one of those people, who get anxious and read the ending first, before I carry on with the rest of the story, but I still wasn't expecting the plot twist, and it left me speechless. Overall, it was a fantastic read, and all the narrators did a fantastic job narrating the story. I think the differences in accents between the different characters was amazing and really added to the story.

This book has a spectacular Italian setting which I love! Great settings and interesting characters are what I look for in a book. Two best friends go on a vacation to Italy and stay in a house that a murder took place in. Come to find out, back in the 70’s, several friends also stayed in the house and had experiences there and they were of the killing kind! The book is told in a dual timeline and is easy to follow.

I took to the current story of Emily and Chess more than the others that stayed in the house when the murder occurred in the 70’s but both storylines are great! I could relate to a lot of the music and happenings of the 70’s so that is what I looked forward to when I got to those chapters.

I love Rachel Hawkins’ books. I liked this one a little more than Reckless Girls but since she is such a great author I like all of them! Good build up of the plot and characters. A lot of the mystery happens from the middle to the end. Enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book.

I liked this book! I suppose it would be considered a thriller because there are suspected murders? Also at the end, the reader may need some time to absorb the book to figure out who one of the killers is, so I liked that part of the book. I wish there was more of a tie-up of what exactly happened in the second potential murder, but overall, the book was a pretty good read.

When Emily gets invited on a trip to Italy by her long-term best friend, Chess, she jumps at the chance to reconnect and continue writing the next book in her novel series.
When in Italy, Emily stumbles upon secret papers which show a deeper and darker history of the Villa they are staying in and is motivated to begin a new novel. As Emily gets into her writing, she begins to sense a divide and tension between her and Chess. As secrets begin to bubble up through the surface, Emily and Chess are forced into a life-changing decision.
Great read. Loved the narrator. Highly recommended.

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for my honest review

This sort of fell flat for me after reading Reckless girls right before. I enjoy Julia Whelans narration but when it switched back to Mary & Laura’s past I got so lost! I could keep up with the other parts of the book. For me the ending of the book really made up for rest of the book. I loved the ending!

Well that was delicious. Definitely my favorite of Rachel Hawkins thus far. The characters were perfectly flawed without absolutely despising them. And that can be difficult to do. Dare I say, it had low key Verity vibes. Nothing near as wild or crazy, and it wasn’t a “romance” at all—if you can call Verity that. But as far as the plot and the book of Mari’s and Emily reading it. And the TWIST at the end. I could have done without the Mari/Pierce/Noel part (if you know, you know). But I thought the Emily and Chess relationship was so relatable to long term friendship dynamics so often turning sour (minus the huge fame). And of course the narration is top notch! Julia Whelan is the best around!

The Villa, by Rachel Hawkins, is a stunning novel that absolutely captivated my attention and held it throughout the entirety of this fast-paced thriller. This dark, gothic mystery is told from two points of view and two timelines that blend together seamlessly to create a complete and enthralling story of the secret events that occurred at a picturesque villa in Italy. This story is not only atmospheric, but also eerie and chilling in it’s unique plot.

We get one perspective from 1974 that tells the tale of a group of young creatives, three musicians, an author and an extra, odd-man out, who spend a summer at a Villa in Italy. We have love triangles, sordid behavior, manipulation, drugs, sex, ambition and jealousy. You know it can’t end well and it doesn’t. But you can’t help but feel empathetic towards some of the characters and their predicament.

We also have the present day perspective with two estranged friends. One, a wealthy, renowned self-help author, and one a successful, though less well-known cozy mystery writer. The two are unexpectedly drawn back together and decide it’s high time to reunite and enjoy a summer together to refresh and reignite their passion for writing at a villa in Italy…the same notorious one known as the murder house.

This story has layers, surprises, deceit and well-placed twists and turns. It’s well-written, nicely paced, creatively plotted and deliciously entertaining. The Villa is a definite 5 star read for me and Rachel Hawkins is now an auto-buy author for me!

I was privileged to be able to listen to the audio-version of this book and it was exquisitely narrated by Julia Whalen, Kimberly M. Wetherell, and Shiromi Arserio. They truly set the tone of the story and made it so impactful and immersive.

I am kinda over the moon for Rachel Hawkins' thrillers. There is something charmingly atmospheric about them. Add in the dark history of the location on this one and it was a recipe for success.

The Villa, by Rachel Hawkins, is a well-written mystery that will draw you in and keep you reading into the night. The dual timeline connects the history of the home to the current situation and the detailed description of the home pulls the reader into the story making them feel like they are actually part of it. I am a fan of novels written by Rachel Hawkins and this one did not disappoint. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for an ARC audio version in exchange for my honest review. I used both the ebook text and the audio version of this book. I really enjoyed the narrator on this one!

I will say the audiobook was not bad at all. I appreciated the multiple cast narration for this, but the overall story I did not enjoy.

I received an ARC of this audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley for this copy of The Villa.

I found The Villa to be a steadily paced thriller. The book parallels two stories in two different time lines, the present and the 1970's, and both timelines are set at the same Italian villa. I enjoyed both timelines equally and was invested in the outcomes for the characters in both.

Wow, I loved The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. This is a great read. In the book, we travel with best friends Emily and Chess on a trip to Italy, to a home with a murderous past. While we are learning about the love/hate relationship between these lifelong friends, we are introduced to another story which took place at the villa in 1974. Mari and her stepsister Lara are also involved in a love/hate relationship. There is jealousy, betrayal, envy, destructive men, and many other emotions as well as a mystery to be solved. The comparison between the two stories makes for a very interesting read. Finally, all the women come to terms , both personally and professionally, and learn who they are and what they must do to save themselves. Have already recommended this to friends.

I'm always up for reading anything Rachel Hawkins writes. I loved the dual timeline of this story, but was especially drawn to the story from the past and found myself anxious to hurry and get through the present day story and back to the past story. So I definitely had a preference for the historical fiction part of this book, but as the two timelines started to connect, I couldn't put it down. Excellent character development, although many of the characters were very unlikable - they were unlikable in their own unique ways. The description of the setting and scenery was fantastic - I could picture myself right there. I did alternate between the e-copy and the audiobook and the narrator of the audiobook was great. I had no difficulty switching between the two and for me, when I hear the narrator's voice in my hear while reading the book, I know they're a good narrator, and that was the case here. If you're a fan of Rachel Hawkins other books, or just a fan of mysteries, give this a try.