Ruth Ware has done it again. This book is a quintessential thriller, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! The story follows the tale of Hal, a tarot card reader in Brighton as she is notified that she has inherited an estate without ever having known the person. I was absolutely intrigued and as always with Ms. Ware's writing - surprised by the ending as well. Every twist and turn taken was necessary, and the characters were well-described and flawed as any person might be.
Having read other books by this author before, she had a standard to uphold and I can confidently say that she has surpassed her previous books with this one.
Anyone who reads mysteries and thrillers will know that a unique idea is hard to come by but somehow this idea is fresh and new and lends new life to the genre.
Very well-written and extremely thought out, I would highly recommend this book.

Harriet (Hal) is a young girl that has reached the end of her tether. Her mother was killed in an auto accident. There is very little money to support herself except for one thing. Hal's mother had a small business on a pier dedicated to fun and games for the public. She told fortunes, in particular reading of Tarot cards, for people believing in those things. When her mother was killed Hal had no recourse other than to take over the business and dedicate herself to the Tarot cards. She owes money all over the place and has even gotten herself into the clutches of a loan shark who has threatened her with violence if she doesn't pay a now very inflated sum of money.
A mysterious letter inexplicably is sent to her with the notice that she has received a substantial inheritance. Looking at the data on the letter Hal feels that she has no choice but to use her people skills acquired via the Tarot readings to try and collect the inheritance which she knows is not hers. She soon finds herself at the funeral of the woman who has apparently made the bequest to her and immediately feels that there is something very wrong with everything - the inheritance, the other people present who think that she is part of their family. But her decision is made - Continue!
Ms Ware provides the reader with a memorizing feeling of continued suspense throughout the novel; a feeling that keeps one glued to the pages. The characters are done very well, and Hal herself becomes a person that one roots for and entertains the hope that in spite of committing what would be a major crime she will come out ahead and utilize what is happening to her as a method of bringing herself out of the situation she is in and move forward in her life. Certainly Ruth Ware will be a force in the world of literature in the future with her books being sought out by an expanding group of followers.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time to figure out where exactly it was taking me. I enjoyed the exploration of the main character finding new family and enjoyed reading about all the characters back stories. I also enjoyed how the book included both the past and the present as the tale unfolded. This had a gothic, dark feel to it. I remember reading Diane Setterfield's The 13th Tale and this gave me that same creepy vibe! A definite must read. I was disappointed with Ware's last book, so reading this made me very very happy!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The only character to really have any depth was the main protagonist. All of the other characters were one dimensional which took away from the potential of this being a more engaging mystery. The story was suspenseful at times but just seemed to plod along and go nowhere at certain points. I ultimately found the ending to be anti-climactic and a little disappointing so it ended up being an average read for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary digital review copy of this book.

Ruth Ware has done it again. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is an un-put-downable tale of family turmoil, long-buried secrets, and deception that will keep you up at night, reading just one more chapter...until you've devoured the whole thing in one sitting. Ware gives us an appealing protagonist, shifty characters, a questionable will, and the de rigeur treacherous housekeeper all wrapped up in a brooding Cornish mansion right out of Agatha Christie. One of the best I've read this year. Highly recommended.

Excellent book. Good premise and believable characters. Recommend this book.

Holy cow, this is a great read. As always, I feel like the middle section of Ware’s books could be trimmed a bit because they tend to be repetitive, but I will totally forgive it this time. Hal is a protagonist that you care about and want to succeed. Thwarted at every turn, she desperately grasps at an improbable straw, hoping to escape the dangers and struggles of her life. She finds herself in a perplexing and ultimately, dangerous situation. Atmospheric, gothic, frightening, and mysterious...this book doesn’t disappoint. Thank you, NetGalley for my advance copy!

Hal is young and broke with no family left, just trying to get by giving tarot card readings on a cold, quiet pier. The bills are piling up and debt collectors are becoming impatient. Afraid she'd reached her limit, Hal receives a letter informing her of the death of an unknown relative, Mrs. Westaway, and a sizable inheritance that is coming her way. Thinking it must be a mistake, Hal knows that it's probably the only way she can solve her financial dilemmas. So she goes to Trepassen, an estate full of lies and secrets, and discovers a surprising truth about herself.

Ruth Ware has a knack for writing completely different books with different tones each and every time, and The Death of Mrs. Westaway is no exception. After being so very disappointed in her last novel, The Lying Game, Ruth Ware has redeemed herself with this chilling tale. The unputdownable nature of Ruth Ware's first two novels was alive and well in this book. I highly recommend this book to fans of the mystery/thriller genre and fans of Ms. Ware's work.

Highly recommend! My first of Ware's, but not my last! The characters are so developed you can feel their pain! I loved the way this book just told a story and you moved with it, so many shift and have different points of view, in thrillers, but it was nice reading it as it happened. I think that this is one of the best books I've read this year, which I've read so many amazing ones, that's a hard job to accomplish!

Straight outta the Agatha Christie playbook, but with much better pacing and absent an irritating, sanctimonious detective.

This is Ruth Ware's fourth novel in only a handful of years, so I had some skepticism coming in about whether these are coming too fast for the product to be truly good, especially coming off Ware's last offering, The Lying Game, which was a complete dud.

The book isn't without problems, but I was pleasantly surprised. It lacks the snappiness and good quality solve of The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ware's best work to date), but it far exceeds the mediocre In a Dark, Dark Wood or the sloppy and unlikeable Lying Game.

What Ware does best is pacing. Once you start, you just can't stop. This has been the case in each of her books, even those that ultimately felt like weaker offerings because of plot failings.

Here, the plot is nothing terribly original (lost/fraudulent heir tales are as old as the hills), but Ware has given us a captivating cast of characters, thrilling pace, and a delightfully rendered slow-creep atmosphere that feels almost gothic at times.

The plot is far from perfect (and hard to discuss without spoilers, so I'll try to be vague), but it isn't flawed enough to negate the thrill of reading it. The murderer is pretty easy to peg from the beginning (though the Why of it creeps up slowly), and though the motive for the first of this person's crimes makes perfect sense, the ensuing murders/attempted murder are a little tough to reconcile with the rest of the portrait we've been given for this particular character. Still, it does all technically make sense, and none of it comes completely out of left field, something one can (unfortunately) never take for granted in a mystery.

There are no true twists (the plot point that comes the closest is easily figured out well before the author reveals it), but Ware is so good at keeping the reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish that it doesn't much matter.

Unfortunately, there is a frustrating thread left dangling at the end of the novel regarding a very important plot point that left me very disappointed, particularly because it would have been an easy issue to reconcile. Alas, this type of small miss is perhaps what comes of churning these books out too quickly.

Regardless, I had loads of fun reading this, as one always does with Ware's work, and the plot as a whole holds up far better here than it does in some of her other novels.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ruth Ware, and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books Gallery/Scout Press for the privilege to read this pre-pub.

This was a wonderful neo-gothic story of family secrets, Tarot readings, mistaken identities and more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, much more so than the last two from Ruth Ware. This was an intriguing, fast read, holding my attention and keeping me reading page after page. Although some of the mysteries were too heavily hinted at and revealed themselves, it was definitely a great book, one I will recommend without hesitation.

I like the book enough, but it wasn't a favorite of mine from Ruth Ware. The build up was very slow and the characters were hard to connect with. I will say though that the author does a wonderful job at bringing originality to the genre and I will continue to look forward to her future releases.

Ruth Ware does it again. Hal Westaway is struggling to make ends meet after hit and run death of her mother when a letter arrives informing her of a bequest from her grandmother. But her grandparents died years ago! Her decision to follow up on that letter leads to secrets from the past that can put her in grave danger. This taut, suspenseful novel is hard to put down. Highly recommended.

Having read several books by Ruth Ware, The Death of Mrs. Westaway is my favorite!! I truly enjoyed this book; it's filled with haunting family secrets, intrigue and action. FIVE STARS ALL DAY!!

After her mother's death, Hal is down on her luck with a loan shark on her tail. Having no family around she has no one to turn to for any kind of support, financial or otherwise. Reading tarot cards is just not paying the bills. One day she receives a letter from a probate attorney advising her of an inheritance from the late Mrs. Westaway, allegedly Hal's grandmother. Hal doesn't know who Mrs. Westaway is and while she believes there's a huge mistake, with her financial crisis, she's willing to lie to get her hands on some of that inheritance. And so Hal's intended deception begins, but what she finds instead is a tangled web of deceit in a family with a legacy filled with hidden secrets and intrigue that began before Hal's existence.

I am so grateful that Netgalley, Ruth Ware, Gallery, Threshold, Pocketbooks and Gallery/Scout Press gave me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions outlined above are all my own.

I'm torn over this book. I have read all of Ruth Ware's novels, and I find her extremely talented. She's a master at creating moody, foreboding atmospheres, and that was one of my favorite things about this book. I guess my biggest complaint about this novel is that I felt it was a little slow. While I, like so many other readers, appreciate a slow burn with a big payoff, I felt this was just a touch too slow with too little of a payoff. Ware is an amazing author, and was able to hold my attention even when I was ready to put it down and start another book. I will say that I didn't see the EXACT ending coming, but I had a pretty good idea that the book would end the way it did. If you're looking for a fast paced thriller, this is not the book for you. Its much better suited for readers who like taut, tightly wound novels that slowly unfold. I'd give of 3.5 stars, but judging by the other reviews, I am in the minority. I see this book being another best seller for Ware- but it isn't my favorite novel by her, by far. Last thing- I think this is the type of book that would translate well on screen.

I couldn’t put this book down! Kept me guessing til the very end. At first I didn’t care for the main character, but through the book I started to understand her. I haven’t read Ruth Ware before, definitely going to read her other books after this one! Thanks for the ARC!

Reading Ruth Ware new novel brought me back to when mystery books were truly mystery. No thrills and chills just good solid " who done it " mystery. Similar to Then there were none, or the Spiral Staircase, I enjoyed it very much

This one has it all, mystery, a gothic mansion, a disappearance, and an inheritance. It moved along pretty quickly, but I felt the characters could have been better developed. Twenty-something Hal receives a letter from a solicitor that her grandmother has passed and she is expected at the lady’s funeral and reading of the will. Hal has a debt collector to avoid, so she heads out to the funeral. However, she knows the woman is not her grandmother. Hal decides to defraud the family to pay off her bills. However, someone does not want Hal there and will stop at nothing to get her to leave before solving any mysteries. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Wowzer!!!! Ruth Ware has truly outdone herself with The Death of Mrs. Westaway! I mean from just reading the description I was already on the hook-- this book is addictive with a capital A!

I love Ruth Ware’s writing style! The storyline was carefully and methodically crafted to have you guessing until the very end. I very rarely re-read mystery/thrillers, but I will absolutely be reading this riveting novel again (it’s honestly that good)! The Death of Mrs. Westaway is 5+++ star book that would make the perfect beach read! Must read!!!

21 yr old Hal Westaway struggles to make ends meet, reading Tarot cards on the boardwalk of a coastal England community when a letter arrives in the mail that may solve all of her financial woes. It appears that her grandmother has bequeathed Hal a substantial inheritance but there is one huge snag, Hal knows nothing of her family and the one person that would have all the answers is deceased. Three years earlier, her mother tragically died in a car crash. Hal sets course on a journey to uncover her family history, secrets, and revelations. Ruth Ware has done it again with another suspenseful drama filled with an entangled with a web of lies, deceit, and mystery.