This was a great book. I've read several of Ruth Ware's books and I think this is my favorite. It is suspenseful, dark, and really creepy.
Hal is a fortune teller, being threatened by a loan shark, who gets a letter telling her that she has received a significant inheritance. She knows it has to be a mistake, because she has no living relatives. But would it really be so bad to along and pretend? She walks into family drama, family secrets, and family danger. This book has so many plot twists, but they all make sense, and the book wraps up with a satisfying end. Ware does a great job of creating the atmosphere of the story and describing place. I also felt that I knew the characters well.

The novel starts out slowly and by the 30% mark, it really picks up. While the protagonist has questionable intentions, you feel for her and understand the reasons for her deceit. But then again, everyone in the novel is deceitful and hiding something. The setting is very gothic and the atmosphere truly adds to the to narrative. In fact, the estate becomes a character in and of itself. As slow as the first part of the novel began, the ending is almost too fast and not all the motives are flushed out before the final page.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway is the first Ruth Ware book that I have read. The gothic elements of the book appealed to me (and the magnificent cover), and I was not disappointed. The book is full of dark and twisty story lines and a mysterious and creepy family home, and I thoroughly enjoyed following Hal’s progression as she attempts to uncover the sinister goings-on at the Westaway family home. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a clever, highly atmospheric book with creepy undertones that made me want to keep my light on at night after I finished the book.

When 21 year old Hal Westaway receives a letter claiming she may have been left a substantial inheritance by her grandmother who recently passed. Hal immediately knows there has been an awful mistake--she has no relatives. The opportunity is to good to pass up due to her being broke and in debt to a loan shark; Besides, they had her name and address. Soon Hal finds herself wrapped up in a tragic unfolding history--one that might just take her life. Ruth Ware's latest thriller is captivating, as usual. Ware has a way of drawing readers in so gently that you can be surprised when you look up and two hours have gone by. Ware is truly a master and her novels are perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.

What if the gothic suspense reader were able to take the stylistics of Daphne Du Maurier, Agatha Christie, Phyllis Whitney, and Victoria Holt and season the concoction with some ingredients from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre? If such a literary souffle were possible, it might look something like Ruth Ware's The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

The plot centers around Harriet "Hal" Westaway, a young woman who makes her living reading Tarot cards on a Brighton Beach pier. She's barely making ends meet and her meager existence is threatened when the local loan shark sends an enforcer to terrorize her into paying back money she foolishly borrowed. At the same time, Hal receives a letter from a lawyer, telling her she is in line for an inheritance from a grandmother that Hal didn't know existed. Hal is certain she is the potential beneficiary of a case of mistaken identity.

Hal couldn't pretend to be someone else, could she? What would be the harm in claiming a small inheritance that might help her through this dangerous time in her life?

Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems and no one is who they appear to be. Ware skillfully weaves a tale full of tantalizing twists and turns. Hal, for all of her desperation is a smart and sympathetic heroine who uncovers her hidden past in teasing layers. The attentive reader will find clues in Ware's motifs of magpies and tarot cards, but this mystery does not fully reveal itself until the very end.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a satisfying suspense roller coaster. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Full Disclosure--Net Gallery and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Enjoyed this book with all of its twists and turns. Neatly resolved at the end and while I thought I had the perpetrator determined, I was wrong. A couple times. Which is always the sign of a well written mystery. Have already and will continue to recommend this title to my friends.

Excellent! Ruth Ware's latest is, by far, her best. If you loved and miss those wonderful old Gothic novels ala Barbara Michaels, this is a book for you

Hal begins her day like any other day, down on her luck and reading people's tarot cards to make ends meet. Then she receives a mysterious letter telling her that her grandmother has died, and that she will indicates she is entitled to a substantial amount of money as the result. There's only one problem: her grandmother has been dead for twenty years. Still, she decides to try and claim the money, using her skills as a tarot card reader to her advantage. She travels for the funeral, and, upon arrival, realizes something much bigger is amiss than a letter being sent to the wrong person.

The Westing Game meets Gone Girl. The Death of Mrs. Westaway captured my attention on the very first page. I believe it is Ruth Ware's best novel to date. I immediately loved and sympathized with Hal, a poor tarot card reader who's entire life changes when she receives a letter from a lawyer, dangling a surprise inheritance in her lap. What follows is a haunting tale of love, betrayal, and murder.

Ruth Ware is back with another suspenseful mystery that will keep you late at night reading til the wee hours. Loved this book to bits!!

I was really into this for about the first half of the book. Then it started to drag a little. And then the mystery was revealed and I was a little confused for a little bit and so then I lost interest even more. Not as good as Ware's previous books but not bad.

You guys, I am so torn about my feelings! I liked The Death of Mrs. Westaway a whole lot more than The Lying Game, but I didn't love it like I loved The Woman in Cabin 10. It was a bit repetitive (like describing how one man is doughy around the middle constantly), and Hal, the main character, said sorry so much that it started driving me crazy. However, The Death of Mrs. Westaway did make me laugh out loud more than once, and I really enjoyed the diary entries that are interspersed throughout.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway is about a girl named Hal who is down on her luck (to say the least). Her mom passed away, she owes a loan shark money, plus the tarot reading business she took over when her mom died is barely bringing enough money in to pay the bills, let alone pay off her loan. So when she gets a letter from a lawyer about being named in a dead woman's will who is supposedly her grandma (even though she knows she isn't), Hal jumps at the chance for some free money. Using what little she has, Hal hops a train and heads out to the estate. From there so much suspense ensues that this book was incredibly action packed.

I never got bored with The Death of Mrs. Westaway and the ending was like BAM, so crazy and I didn't see it coming. There was mystery and suspense from the first page which a lot of people are going to love. It also has an old-timey feel even though the latest the book goes back is the mid-90s. I honestly felt like I was reading something based in the 40s or 50s then someone would mention a phone and I'd be like whaaaat? I loved the old timey feel though, and it really made this book stand out for me.

Final Thought: Even though this book didn't quite live up to what I was hoping it would be, I still really enjoyed it. I think a ton of people are going to enjoy this new creation from Ruth Ware. It is just so different from her other books, but in a good way. Ware is definitely one of my favorite authors, and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway in 3-ish words: Imaginative, Delightful & Deceptive

I really enjoyed The Woman in Cabin 10, so I had high hopes for this book, and it definitely met my expectations! The dark mansion setting and characters that keep you guessing. Definitely recommend!

A wonderful, yet creepy tale of family and the secrets that can be buried and hidden from those you love. This was an engrossing read and one to check out!

Ruth Ware has a great reputation in the literary world but I have not had the chance to pick up one of her books. So I was highly anticipating this book and hoped that she would not let me down. Happily, I can say it was exactly what I was looking for in a good mystery story with some heightened suspense too.

This story started off with plenty of intrigue and interest. It did take a bit for the windup and the full mystery to show itself. A few bits were a tad predictable but for the most part there are plenty of twists that keep you guessing.

The author is a wonderful storyteller with awesome descriptions and fine detail that keeps the interest high. I felt like I was right there in the story myself many times and just wanted to protect poor Hal. All I could think about was the freezing cold biting through her bones. Ware brings us great imagery and an overall a fabulous story.

While this is my first story by her, I now know I will be looking for other books when I need a bit of creep factor and mystery in my life. Engrossing and not to be missed!

When I was 13 or so, I bought a Seventeen Magazine that contained, nestled among the glossy pictures of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and James Van Der Beek, a very rudimentary guide to palm reading.

Ever inquisitive, I read the guide carefully and inspected my own palm, trying to draw from every slope and imperfection some insight into what the future that stretched out before me might hold.

After “mastering” my skills on my own palm, I read the palms of friends, continually returning to this magazine, this article, until the wrinkled pages took on a fabric-like softness.

It was this stint as a (very) amateur palm reader that came immediately to mind when I was introduced to Hal, the protagonist of The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware’s newest novel.

Harriet, or Hal as she is known, lives a meager existence. Her only source of income is the little she can scrape together working as a tarot card reader on a vacation pier in England. And, while this work might be sufficiently sustaining in summer when the pier is flush with tourists, when it isn’t warm and sunny — so, basically, most of the time — she hardly brings in enough to pay the rent on her stall.

Hal has worked in this capacity since the unexpected death of her mother, who was mowed down in a hit and run several years prior. Since her mother’s passing, Hal has been alone in the world.

A ship without a port.

A girl without a long term plan — or, really, any plan, come to that.

But then, Hal experiences something to which she is unaccustomed — a bit of good luck. She receives a letter from a lawyer stating that Hal’s grandmother, Hester Westaway, has died and that, as a result, Hal is to receive an inheritance.

Fan-fucking-tastic!

Wait. Not so fast.

There is a problem. (Obviously)

Hester Westaway isn’t Hal’s grandmother. And Hal knows it.

Aware that this is a mix up, and moral — even to a fault at times — Hal plans to inform the lawyer of his mistake.

That plan changes pretty fucking fast, though, when a leg-breaker for a local loan shark comes ‘round and informs Hal that if she doesn’t come up with money immediately things aren’t going to go well for her.

So Hal, feeling that she has basically no fucking choice, spends what little money she has left to buy a ticket to Penzance and, basically, crash the funeral for the woman she knows is not her grandmother in hopes that she’ll inherit a little bit of money so she can settle her debts and finally stop living so hand-to-mouth.

But when she gets to Penzance, sees the mysterious Trepassen mansion and meets the family of the recently deceased Mrs. Westaway, it becomes clear that things won’t be as simple as Hal had hoped.

Adding to the complication of this already complicated AF situation, Hal begins to find evidence that her mother — who, despite bearing the surname of Westaway, never mentioned her connection to the Westaway’s of Penzance — was actually a resident of Trepassen house at some point prior to Hal’s birth.

Trepassen House holds secrets, Hal quickly realizes. But why are these secrets buried so deeply? Who is desperate to keep these truths from being unearthed? And, perhaps most importantly, how great a length will this secret-keeper go to ensure that the truth doesn’t come out?

This is Ruth Ware’s fourth book, and I have read each and every one, so I feel a can safely consider myself a bit of a Ware aficionado. #HumbleBrag.

When I first saw this book come available for advanced reading I was excited, specifically because I feel that Ware’s growth as an author has resulted in a startlingly significant increase in quality from book to book. So I went into this book hoping — and, really, confident — that it would be her best yet.

So, was it?

Well, like my relationship with zombies… it’s complicated.

I mean, there were some definite strengths to this book.

The most significant of these strengths was the clear dedication of attention to the establishment of truly scintillating settings. Ware did an exceedingly effective job of capturing the natural mysticism of both the boardwalk on which Hal plyed her wares and the old, massive, and intimidating Trepassan House.

As I read, I could feel the cold in my joints, appreciate the sting of the surf on my skin, and all-but see the line of largely shuttered-for-the-winter shops laying just feet from the choppy surf.

Similarly, I felt authentic trepidation as Hal explored the dimly lit, windy hallways of Trepassen house — girl, go back to your room. This shit is scary and literally not one time ever did something good come out of exploring the dark hallway of a scary-ass ancient house. I also had had a palpable desire to leaf through the pages of the mysterious books that filled the long-ago-abandoned library.

Another clear strength was Ware’s development of her protagonist.

All told, I legitimately liked Hal as a character.

She was spunky.

She was strong.

She persisted where others might understandably have perished.

Honestly, I connected with her almost immediately, so it wasn’t difficult to become invested in her as a person.

I wanted her to be safe.

I wanted her to be successful.

I wanted her to not have her legs broken by the loan shark or be discovered to be a big fat fraud by this family.

I must say, though, while I never completely stopped caring about her, my affinity for her did wain a bit as the book went on. Unfortunately, much time was spent as the plot progressed discussing how Hal was wrestling with the choice that she made to deliberately defraud this family.

And, admittedly, I understand why Ware belabored this point.

She wanted us to like Hal.

She wants us to think of Hal as a moral person.

She wants us to think of Hal as someone who has a conscience.

That being said, there was quite a bit excessive time dedicated to the weighing of decisions and the deliberation regarding the potential impact of proceeding with her plan to knowingly mislead the family.

Ultimately, I found myself saying aloud “Listen, I get it. She feels bad. Can we move past this? Like, please?”

Granted, I didn’t say this aloud until, like, three glasses of wine in. Because, before that, #inhibitions.

Though slightly annoying — and IMO unnecessary — the continued return to Hal’s feelings of guilt was just a minor flaw.

The real Achilles heel of this book was the driving mystery itself. Unfortunately, it simply wasn’t quite thrilling enough to induce the chills that readers usually seek when they pluck a book off the shelf in the thriller/mystery section.

There were unanswered questions until nearly the end of the book, which should have been enough to keep me reading.

But, regrettably, I wasn’t sufficiently perturbed by the continued existence of these questions to really care what the answers ended up being.

And the fact that I didn’t care what the answer ended up being — in this rare case — was probably good. Because the most important answer — the one I had spent the entire book seeking — ended up being really, quite significantly, unsatisfying.

Despite these inarguably noteworthy concerns, I cannot write this book off entirely due, in large part to the fact that the writing was exceptionally solid, the vocabulary diverse and the protagonist endearing.

All things considered, the novel was good.

It was atmospheric.

It was engaging.

But it wasn’t the best book I’ve read all year, and it wasn’t the best work Ruth Ware has put out there into the world.

It gets 3 out of 5 cocktails.

Ware has, in my eyes, set quite a high bar for herself. Until she can match the strength of The Lying Game, it will be hard for me to justify rating another one of her works as highly as I did that one.

I didn’t love this as much as The Lying Game, it felt slow at times and lacked the suspense I was anticipating. It also really bugged me that the MC went by Hal as a nickname for Harriet. It is what it is, but Hal feels decidedly masculine to me and I kept getting thrown off.

I think this might have been my favorite Ruth Ware offering so far. A modern-day noir filled with a creepy estate and even creepier characters. Good read - it really took you away!

Fans of Ruth Ware will once again be thrilled with her latest novel, The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Hal, just 21, is struggling through her days after the passing of her mother just 3 years ago and her more recent indebtedness to a questionable loan shark. In the mail, she receives notification of the death of her grandmother, which may lead to a substantial inheritance at the reading of the will. Hal, young yet fairly well skilled in life, immediately knows this is in error- the woman who passed is not her grandmother. However, the potential for a tantalizing inheritance is too much- Hal attends the funeral and subsequent meetings with solicitors and other family members listed in the will under the guise of “granddaughter”. Fairly quickly, Hal realizes something with this family is amiss. She dives headfirst into the details to unravel the truth. Ware has constructed a tight novel in which the obvious is not so obvious and the truth is elusive. Hal is a likeable character in her naiveté, hope, and hurt.

I've been a fan of Ware's since In a Dark, Dark Wood, but The Death of Mrs. Westaway may be my favorite. There was suspense from the first page until the last. A lot of modern Brit thrillers all feel like Girl on the Train copycats or can be really gross, but Westaway reads like a classic Christie novel. Definitly recommend to all thriller fans.

With thanks to NetGalley,com and the author, Ruth Ware, for the advanced reader copy.

"The Death of Mrs. Westaway" is a psychological thriller and a family drama wrapped up into one. Hal, a young tarot card reader in the holiday town of Brighton, is struggling to make ends meet when she receives a letter announcing the death of a grandmother she did not know she had, and a possible bequest. Hoping to turn her circumstances around, she spends much of her remaining cash to travel to a funeral and family home, confident that she can convince people she is who they thinks she is, the long lost granddaughter. As events unfold, the bequest is much larger than anticipated; the Grandmother and her still-living housekeeper much less humane than imagined; the 'new' uncles and family more welcoming than expected. Hal has doubts about her goal, and doubts about her ties to this family. The twists and turns are surprising, the end result somewhat expected. A page turner to the very end, I read it in one day and found it a satisfying read!