A tarot card reading young woman is struggling to survive on her meager income. She receives a notice that her wealthy grandmother she did know she had passed away. She was summoned to her grandmother’s estate. While she is at the estate she begins to learn about her family and that her mother may not be who the Westaway family had thought. There is some mystery and suspense to this book. There are some spooky scenes, but I found this book to be lacking overall with not much excitement. The writing and descriptions are very well done.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth Ware is really good writer. She can bring you into story and make you tense even if the scene is mundane. She's like horror music that once placed in a scene of people walking in a field makes you paranoid. She knows how to write. My problem has always been that her main characters make stupid decisions to keep up the tension. This time her main, Hal, isn't stupid.

This book is very Gothic in feeling. There are secrets around the corner. I like the supporting characters even though I'm still weary of them.

My only problem is that we're given clues to who Hal's father and one clearly states who is he. When Hal finds the clues she reaches the wrong conclusion. I thought I misread the clue until it was revealed I was right. Why did Hal figure it out? To keep the tension?

And I would have loved to find out how she gets away from the gangsters.

The language used was a bit hard to follow. Even so, the book was definitely a thriller. There was mystery throughout the book that kept you turning the page, regardless of how old fashioned the wording seemed to be.

Described as the "Agatha Christie of our time", Ruth Ware has a reputation for thrilling suspense novels that are impossible to put down. In The Death of Mrs. Westaway, the mystery surrounds a completely unexpected letter informing Hal that a long lost relative has died and that she must attend the reading of the will. This should be the perfect solution to Hal's most desperate money problems except that she knows there has been some mistake. This Mrs. Westaway can't be her grandmother- her mother, recently passed herself, told her all about her grandparents and how they died before Hal was born. And yet. And yet Hal really needs the money. Just a few hundred pounds would rescue her from the scary loan shark that has been threatening her with bodily harm. And really, these people are so rich and have had so much their entire lives and Hal has so little. How much a difference can a few hundred pounds really make to them? The real trouble starts when Hal meets these people and begins to worry that there are many more secrets than just her own.

There was a lock on the door. Two, in fact. They were long, thick bolts, top and bottom
But they were on the outside.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway is the first of Ware's novels that I've read, but it won't be the last. This book really was hard to put down with a pace that kept me interested enough to fly through the pages. I can't wait to read more Ruth Ware. Any suggestions for what I should read next?

As a tarot reader, Hal is great at reading people. So when a case of mistaken identity offers her the opportunity to claim an inheritance from someone she's never met, she might just be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, there's a lot more to this mysterious family than meets the eye.

This is definitely a slow-burn mystery/thriller, and it takes a while for the suspense to build, but the end is worth the wait. The story holds such a range of intriguing and strange characters, and Hal makes a great protagonist as the skeptical tarot reader stuck between a rock and a hard place. Lovers of Ruth Ware's other books won't be disappointed. This packs the psychological thriller punch that keeps us coming back for more.

Enjoyed this novel. It was atmospheric and reminded me of a classic Agatha Christie novel. I love the setting, moody and gothic.

Another Ruth Ware hit ! What an engaging mystery. It includes a mysterious letter, a fortune teller, a dark and
stormy night. What else could you ask for ? Loved it !

I typically love anything from Ruth Ware. This was a bit too complicated. Too many things. It does not help that **** spoiler alert, don’t go further if you haven’t read this yet****






This is the second book in a row with people that have changed places. So that’s a bit wearing on me, honestly.

Read it, but it’s just not as good as her other novels.

Best Ruth Ware book so far!

I've read a few of her books in the past, but I can't say I'm a big fan. This has to be the first of her books that I have read in which I actually like the heroine! Ironic, considering that one of the plot points is that she is trying to con her way into an inheritance.

Hal is a young woman who has been trying to make ends meet since her mother died. She pretty much lives in poverty. And, because she make the mistake of turning to a loan-shark at one point in the past, she is in danger of loosing what little she does have. Then she gets a letter that her long-lost grandmother has passed away and left her an inheritance. The only problem is that the letter appears to have been sent to the wrong person. Desperate, Hal decides to play the part of long-lost granddaughter in hopes that perhaps she will at least receive enough money to get the loan-shark off her back.

What made me like Hal more than other of Ware's heroines is that, despite what she is doing, Hal has a moral compass. She knows what she is doing is wrong and feels terrible about it. She's actually a nice person in bad circumstances. She's not full of herself or petty, like some or Ware's other characters have been in previous books.

As for the mystery, it's full on Gothic right down to the decaying mansion and creepy housekeeper. As with Ware's other books there's no shortage of plot twists, some of which I saw coming, some of which I didn't.

Overall, this was a thrilling and suspenseful read,. I'm thankful that NetGalley gave me the opportunity to review it.

Such a wonderfully creepy read! Ware doesn't disappoint. Much better than The Lying Game, thank goodness. So glad Ware is back.

I enjoyed Ms Ware’s latest book, The Death of Mrs Westaway. It was not a book that I couldn’t stop reading, but it was definitely a good read. My heart went out to Harriet (Hal) who, as a young adult, struggles to keep her head above water after the death of her mother. When an opportunity arises she grasps at it, hoping that it will be the answer to a prayer.

Only after Hal meets the family of Mrs Westaway does she begin to have doubts. Her plan to claim an inheritance that she has no right to begins to fall apart. Realizing the pain that she is inadvertently bringing to the family, Hal back-pedals, only to be swept up in the family drama again.

The story has moments of suspense and unexpected twists. Ms Ware has created characters that are well-drawn and interesting. Even though I am an avid mystery reader, I still find myself mostly clueless until the end of a book. However, in this case, I figured out the conclusion well before the end. But, this didn’t really diminish my enjoyment of the book and Ms Ware’s writing.

My favorite gothic novel is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Some reviewers have compared it to The Death of Mrs Westaway. There are a few valid comparisons but, in my opinion, Rebecca is in a class of its own. With that said, I still highly recommend Ms Ware’s latest book. The suspense is slow and relentless and the ending is quite satisfying.

Another great book from Ruth Ware. Spooky and mysterious with a good main character. Where was Mr. Westaway though?

This was great! Spooky, atmospheric, and thrilling. I was engaged the entire book, even when I THOUGHT I had the twist figured out. This was my first Ruth Ware book and I am excited to try others!

Suspenseful with touches of the gothic, The Death of Mrs. Westaway will resonate with fans of Agatha Christie.

Broke. Alone. Desperate. Hal scrapes by reading Tarot. She is named in the will of Mrs. Westaway and the promise of a legacy draws her into the murky past of the grand estate.

Hal is my favorite of Ware’s narrators thus far. I’m sympathetic to her narrators but find them unlikeable characters. Hal is different—I was rooting for her from the start! She is so young and so vulnerable and such a fighter.

I read the first 30% (ahh, Kindle) in starts and stops but once Mrs. Westaway’s will was read—I was captivated. Armchair detectives can solve the mystery alongside Hal, but Ware is talented with misdirection so read carefully!

A great book for a stormy day and a cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

Typical Ruth Ware, very dark and atmospheric. Not quite as good as "The Woman in Cabin 10" but just as satisfying. Another flawed heroine, so likable, but not always sensible. Descriptions of the house and surrounding countryside made me feel as though I was there. Several interesting twists towards the end, but I had figured out one of them early on. I see shades of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca here.

I have wanted to read a Ruth Ware novel but just never got around to it until THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY. I am glad I finally read a Ware novel and will surely read another,

This book was dark and atmospheric. The addition of Tarot added to the atmosphere of the novel and was an interesting introduction to Tarot. The book was just interesting enough to keep me turning the pages but I really never engaged with the characters, perhaps it was difficult at times to differentiate between them. They were not defined enough.

This book is fueled by deceit, The main character Harriet begins to believe her own lies and the story builds to a clever twist.

Fans of Ruth Ware will surely like this novel and any reader of mysteries should pick this book up and settle in for an enjoyable read.

Another great story by Ware. Loved all the twists. Much better than her last book. Can't wait for the next one.

I very much enjoyed the newest book by Ruth Ware. Harriet "Hal" Westaway, is a struggling tarot card reader who is trying to make ends meet after her mother dies. She's taken a loan from a gangster and doesn't think she can pay it back. One day in the mail, she receives a letter stating that she has been named in a will for a grandmother she didn't know she had. But is it really for her? She doesn't know anything about her mothers family, or her father's for that matter, so she decides to rely on her skill as a reader of people to fool the family of the deceased. All she really wants is to get a little bit of money to pay off the loanshark and live. What she gets in return is a mystery surrounding who she really is.
The book, at times was confusing. I am still trying to process the picture that she was given and who was who. But it kept my attention and I had no idea until the end how it would turn out.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway was a fun, fast-paced, creepy read. The twists and turns led to an ending that I thought I saw coming, but was surprised by in a good way. I always recommend Ruth Ware's books and I will do the same with this one!

On a cold stormy day, inadequately dressed for the weather, Harriet "Hal" Westaway stood at the gravesite of Hester Westaway at St. Piran's Church. Having received a mysterious letter from solicitor Robert Treswick, Hal as the "assumed granddaughter" of the deceased needed to pay her respects as well as claim her bequest. After the funeral service, the Westaways traveled to Trepassen, the family estate in the English countryside of Cornwall. The gloomy, eerie manse was crumbling and aggressive magpies were frequent inhabitants of the homestead.

Hal was between a rock and a hard place. Upon the death of her mother three years ago, the once confident twenty-one year old was now pale and skinny, always hungry. "The person she was now was not the girl she would have been". By necessity, Hal had taken over her mother's kiosk, a little booth on Brighton's West Pier. "Madame Margarida"-specialist in Tarot, Psychic Readings and Palmistry. Hal was best at cold reading. She could read the secrets people hid in plain sight, on their faces or by the clothes they wore. These skills would come in handy because Hal was about to perpetrate a fraud. She was certain she received the solicitor's letter in error. Hal was drowning in unpaid bills. In addition, she was being stalked by loan shark, Mr. Smith. Threats of bodily harm included broken bones and teeth if the loan was not repaid, with interest, within the week. What choice did Hal have?

The dysfunctional Westaway "uncles" consisted of Harding, who interrogated Hal military style, Abel, the friendly sort and Ezra, who was often uncommunicative. Hal's "aunt" Maud, Ezra's twin, left home twenty years ago never to return. The Westaways were not happy growing up with manipulative, uncaring mother, Hester. Unfriendly housekeeper Mrs. Warren ran the household with unwavering sarcasm. Upon arrival at Trepassen and needing to stay until the reading of the will, Hal was shown to the attic room which contained bars on the windows and two locks bolted on the outside of the attic room door.

"The Death of Mrs. Westaway" was chock full of deception. Everyone had secrets including the sinister Mrs. Warren. Why were the siblings always sparring? What was it like to have experienced childhood in Cornwall's Trepassen estate? Author Ruth Ware has created a masterful goth atmospheric novel replete with stark, stormy weather. The twists and turns experienced by the excellent fleshed out characters make for nuance and unease as the mystery unfolds. Kudos to Ruth Ware.

Thank you Gallery, Scout Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Death of Mrs. Westaway".