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The Death of Mrs Westaway

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Member Reviews

Of all the Ruth Ware books I have had the pleasure to read, this has to be my favorite. To be fair, The Lying Game is a very, very close second. The Death of Mrs. Westaway, though, feels just as intimate and comfortable yet more twisted in an 'ohhh, right' kind of way. With plenty of misleading turns that eventually deliver a satisfying ending. This would be a fab beach read for a summer holiday.

Hal is a character the reader swiftly warms to; her predicament is understandable. Possibly less so the deception she decides to try, but hey, she's a tarot card reader on Brighton pier so who am I to judge? Her life soon changes with the delivery of a letter telling her of a possible bequest from a mysterious grandmother she knows is not hers. Being hard up for dosh to pay back a shady loan, she decides to go to darkest Cornwall in winter to see what she can get. She has no idea that what lies ahead is a slow-burn gothic tale of secrets long buried awaiting her inquisitive search for answers.

The brilliance of this novel lies in the classic, old school style whodunit structure. It's cold, dark and creepy at Trepassen, the Westaway family's rundown estate, and that atmosphere drives this tale flawlessly. It reminds me strongly of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier with a crusty, ill tempered housekeeper to ratchet up the tension for poor Hal. I liked the slow reveal that seemingly lays the cards out for all to see but it is not as it appears. I loved the twist! Of all the books Ms. Ware has written, this seems the most plausible ending, which I greatly appreciate. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a likeable story with genuine characters and a great mystery. Well worth a read.

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This is a terrific read. I was gripped from the start and the book dragged me along. The characters are well written. I liked all of them, even Hal’s possibly estranged family in the fancy big house. I loved Hal. Most of the book is told from her point of view. She’s a great character and I liked being inside her head as she tries to untangle increasingly dark threads of the mess she’s gotten herself into. Hal thought it would a simple case of fraud and she could get some money to start a better life. It quickly becomes clear something else, much darker in going on. Hal is a feisty. She could walk away untouched but becomes determine to put all the jigsaw pieces together. The Death of Mrs Westaway is the kind of book that you struggle to stop reading once you’ve started. I thought it was great.

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As soon as I started this book I knew I’d find it hard to put down.

Hal Westaway, who lives alone in Brighton following her mother’s tragic death receives a letter from a solicitor in Penzance telling her that her grandmother has left her a substantial amount in her will.

She doesn’t believe the letter is meant for her. Her grandparents are dead but she owes a lot of money to an aggressive loan shark but feels that this might be the answer to her prayers. Her day job as a tarot reader doesn’t bring in much money and she’s struggling with paying the rent and bills as it is.

She travels to Cornwall and Trespassen House and meets her relatives who are a mixed bunch some of which are enraged their mother has left almost everything to a stranger. The house is really creepy and surrounded by resident magpies which makes everything feel more threatening. She’s installed in a bedroom far away in the attic, with bars on the window, bolts on the outside of the door and with something threatening etched on the glass. The housekeeper, Mrs Warren seems to take an instant dislike to her.

There’s a story running alongside from the past and two girls who have happy and unhappy times at Trespassen house. It’s very cleverly woven into the story in the present day. Hal unearths lots of secrets, mystery and tragedies and you wonder if she’ll make it out of Trespassen House alive. A brilliant, brilliant read which I loved.

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The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

Harriet (Hal) Westaway is at her wits’ end. Since her mother died, Hal has eked out a living reading tarot cards and telling fortunes on the pier at Brighton. But she’s got nothing left and now a loan shark is after her. Then, out of the blue, a letter turns up from a solicitor offering her sympathies for the death of her grandmother and advising her that she is one of Mrs Westaway’s beneficiaries. But Hal’s grandparents died over twenty years ago. This isn’t possible. They’ve got the wrong person. But what if she were to pretend to be the right person?

As Hal makes her way to Trespassen House in western Cornwall for the funeral, her feelings are in turmoil and they only get worse when she meets Mrs Westaway’s sons and their families, not to mention their terrifying housekeeper. It’s so easy to be sucked into this life, to tell one more lie, but there’s something unloved about this decaying once grand house. And in its overgrown gardens and cold rooms, secrets refuse to stay hidden.

The Death of Mrs Westaway is such an atmospheric and moody read. This is largely due to the setting, which is wonderfully visualised by Ruth Ware. Trespassen House is remote, it takes trouble to reach it – and to leave it – and it affects everyone who has ever lived in it. This is a creepy and disturbing tale and it grips from the outset.

What I enjoyed more than anything, though, is the novel’s heroine, Hal. Hal is a fantastic creation. She is believable and is always very likeable. She is facing impossible choices and it’s hard to blame her when life has become such a struggle, through no fault of her own. Despite having very little, she is generous and kind to a fault, and when she does her tarot readings she believes that she must care for her clients, that she’s doing them some kind of service to move their lives along. The members of the Cornish Westaway family are also memorable but more than anything they are curious and I enjoyed getting to know them.

This is a psychological thriller and so we’re given twists and surprises but I actually found the mystery secondary to the setting and the characters. I guessed much of what was to happen but it didn’t matter because I was enjoying Ruth Ware’s writing so much. I’ve liked some of Ruth Ware’s novels more than others but The Death of Mrs Westaway is certainly one of my favourites and a real return to form after The Lying Game. I love atmospheric reads, especially when they’re set in this part of Cornwall that I adore so much, and The Death of Mrs Westaway is an immersive pleasure from start to finish.

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Hal is barely scraping by when she gets a lifeline in the form of a letter stating she is an heir. The only problem is Hal knows she isn't related to the family but could she pretend to be to get a little money. Hal decides to try and soon learns it's much more complicated than she could ever have imagined.

This was such a good read, a little slow to start with but once I got into it, I couldn't put the book down. The plot was clever with so many twists and turns. I couldn't be sure how it would end. As for the ending what a clever twist. I had figured out bits and pieces but not all of it and it was brilliantly done. A great story.

I loved Hal, yes she set out with bad intentions but you just want her to get her chance, that better life she craved. This book puts you through so many emotions but it all added to a brilliant read.

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Harriet (Hal) Westaway is down on her luck and pretty desperate when she receives a letter from a solicitor in Cornwall, informing her that she has inherited a substantial bequest from her Grandmother and that her presence would be appreciated at the funeral.


Harriet would not think twice about this, were her own grandparents not dead for twenty years already. Deciding to go to the funeral out of curiosity, Hal vows to tell the truth as soon as she arrives. But she is not expecting a kindly solicitor or a welcoming family of “uncles” and cousins.

Hal is sidelined by the intrigue she has for her newfound family. For although she is not the Harriet Westaway they are looking for, she is still a Westaway. And there are things that she doesn’t know about her Mother’s life before her that she is determined to find out.

Despite her financial woes, Harriet’s main reason for deception does seem to be genuine interest in the Westaway family and its secrets. Of which there seems to be many ...

For this reason, I couldn’t help but like Harriet, though at times I wanted to shake or shout at her to stop what she was doing and think about the consequences.

The death of Mrs Westaway is another brilliant Ruth Ware novel that has something for everyone.

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Written by Ruth Ware — Cornwall has proved a rich source of inspiration for many a writer. From Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca to, more recently, In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings and Robert Goddard’s Panic Room, its rugged coastline and windswept landscapes have provided ripe pickings for evil-doing.

Let’s add The Death of Mrs Westaway to that list. Yes, it might begin in Brighton, but the real drama happens in Trepassen House in St Piran, Cornwall. Central to everything is Harriet Westaway, better known as Hal, who scrapes a living by reading tarot cards, crystal ball and the occasional palm in her little booth on West Pier in Brighton.

Hal took over the role of Madame Margarida from her mother, after she was killed by a hit-and-run driver outside the door of their tiny flat. Ever since, she has been struggling to make ends meet, and at a particularly low point she borrowed money from a loan shark who is now applying pressure for the money to be repaid. Which makes an unexpected missive from a solicitor in Cornwall all the more welcome. Mrs Hester Westaway of Trespassen House has died, and Hal is mentioned in her will. Could a surprise inheritance be the answer to all her problems?

After a pretty scary encounter with the loan shark’s enforcer, Hal scrapes together her every last penny and buys a ticket to Penzance. The taxi from the station to Trespassen House leaves her almost broke and her unannounced arrival causes a stir. Mrs Westaway’s three sons, Harding, Ezra and Abel, and the curmudgeonly housekeeper Mrs Warren, are all taken aback by the newcomer and the tale she has to tell. She’s treated with suspicion and those misgivings are not without foundation because Hal is living a lie. She is the daughter of a distant cousin, not Maud, the Westaway family’s long-lost family member. She’s been surviving on her wits for years, but can she pull off such a great deception?

The answer to that question will keep you entertained throughout this cleverly plotted, utterly engaging book. You’ll come to love Hal. Small, tattooed and bespectacled she may be, but inside the mousy exterior beats the heart of a lioness – and she’s going to need all that courage to cope with what is to befall her. Death lurks around the shadowy corners of Trespassen, and why is ‘Help Me’ scratched into the dirty panes of Hal’s attic room?

Yes, there are distinct echoes of du Maurier’s Rebecca but Ruth Ware creates a tale that is very much anchored in the modern day, although this book has such an old-fashioned air about it that it comes as a surprise now and then when Hal pulls out her mobile phone or checks something out on Google.

You’ll never feel completely at ease while reading The Death of Mrs Westaway. Instead, Ware scatters sneaky kernels of doubt, meaning you’re forever mulling over the possibilities and that incessant yearning for the truth is always on the back burner as you read. As with The Lying Game, the author digs deep into the murk to uncover deception, lies and family secrets, in a compelling, creepy setting that has more than a tinge of the ghost story about it – probably best to have all the lights on as you read! Ruth Ware is a writer who is never afraid to tackle something a little different and in The Death of Mrs Westaway she’s really hit her stride. This is her best novel yet so go grab your copy right away.

Surprise bequests drive Vaseem Khan’s The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra and House of Spines by Michael Malone, while Cornwall is also the setting in Martyn Waites’ latest, The Old Religion.

Harvill Secker
Print/Kindle/iBook
£7.99

CFL Rating: 5 Stars

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I really struggled with this book, I felt it lacked pace and tension, By halfway through I didn't feel like much had happened and I'd already worked out who Harriet's real dad was and who the person was that she called mum. I really wanted to love this book as the premise wounded interesting and I love a suspense novel but I just couldn't connect to the characters, even down to Harriet's nickname, 'Hal' it made me think of an American guy.

This is my honest opinion, thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

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One of the best books of 2018. Beautifully written and crafted. A touch of gothic horror and modern-day Daphne du Maurier. A page-turner and full of twists.

Hal (Harriet) Westaway reads tarot cards on Brighton Pier to scrape together a meagre living. She does not believe in them but knows how to read people. Hal is threatened by a heavy from a loan shark so when a letter arrives from a solicitor informing her of the death of Mrs. Westaway and that she is a beneficiary, Hal decides to use her savings to get out of Brighton and go to the funeral in Cornwall. There she meets her three new uncles and her experience of reading tarot cards helps her to convince them that she is part of their family. As events unfold, she begins to wonder if this is true, especially as she inherits the run-down house with its ancient housekeeper just like du Maurier’s Mrs. Danvers and comes across a diary with some pages missing.. Hal’s knowledge puts her life in danger.. I had to keep turning the pages and couldn’t stop reading.

A wonderful book. Had not come across Ruth Ware before and as pleased to see she has written more books, which I shall certainly read.

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Every once in a while a book comes along which surprises you. One which you find that once you start reading, you don't want to put it down. A book which casts  a spell, pulling you under and making you throw all other concerns, plans and duties aside until you have finished it. For me The Death of Mrs Westaway was one such book and, if I am being completely honest, I can't necessarily tell you exactly why.

It is not full of fast paced action. If anything, the start to the novel is somewhat slow as we are introduced to our protagonist Hal and the circumstances which see her make her journey from her home in Brighton to the far south west and a family she never knew in Cornwall. There are moments of menace, where you feel a strong underlying tension which is what ultimately leads Hal to make the decision she does, but other than this it is quite a quiet and maudlin existence she leads. And yet ... well in spite of this I felt compelled to go on Hal's journey with her, there was just something about the way her character was developing that made me want to read more. 

Young, and with a considerable talent for reading other people there was a heady mixture of vulnerability and yet quiet determination about Hal. Although she never quite came across as the most gregarious character, there was a fire in her. All of the supporting characters, Hal's family, the housekeeper Mrs Warren, are brilliantly drawn and the mistrust and uncertainty between them all clear to see. Even Hal proved time and again how adept she was at playing a role, one which fitted her circumstances well, and yet despite her deception, in spite of the yarn you know she is spinning, she is perhaps the only character you feel you can truly trust in the whole story. 

And what a story. From the very beginning I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about the old house, the family and ultimately the woman who can to leave Hal an inheritance she didn't feel she was entitled to. Ruth Ware has crafted such a finely woven tale that it is hard at first to see where the threads have been pulled together to make the whole. And yet pulled together they are as interspersed amongst Hal's story in the present you have that of a young woman who once stayed in the house, one whose past if far more harrowing than that which Hal has experienced. And this element of the plot is as fascinating as the present day for although you know the story is set a mere twenty something years earlier, it may as well have been in Victorian England, such is the feel of the style and the horror of the story. It is quite remarkable how the author has captured this classical spirit in what is still quite a contemporary tale.

This story is full of mystery, full of half spoken truths, a myriad of lies and old resentments which are slowly and surely uncovered. And it is this, if I had to define just one thing, that really made the book live for me. As I read I could see pictures forming in my head about who was who, what was what and how past and present intertwined, and I had to know. I just really, really needed to know. For me, of late, this is a rather rare thing indeed. More often than not, especially with a tale of this nature, I am somewhat indifferent. I want to know but I don't need it. With this book I needed to know. How it ended, who Hal really was to the late Mrs Westaway and just which one, if any, of her new found 'Uncles' was really telling the truth. I resented flying to Dublin (although I did get reading time on the plane), I resented stopping for dinner and I most certainly was not going to sleep until I had finished so a late night it was for me there then.

This book has that really classical literature vibe to it, even though you know it is set in modern times and the characters plagued by modern technology, Facebook and the like. Yet as you join Hal as she steps through the doors of Trepassen House you may well be setting foot back into the past, into a house, not a home, which has stood stock still in time, hiding secrets in a way that only a house of its age can. The imagery is perfect, the magpies and the superstitions attached to them, the tarot cards, the threat which is ever present and it makes for an oppressively atmospheric, chilling and ultimately intriguing and absorbing read that I absolutely loved.

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The Death of Mrs Westaway had such an old fashioned, timeless feel to it that had me completely hooked right from the very start!
A brilliantly written atmospheric, captivating tale that had me so engrossed I couldn't put it down!
A very well deserved 5 stars!

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A bit of a departure here for Ruth Ware with this christie-esque family mystery featuring an old house and a devious legacy.

Hal is very engaging as she makes some difficult decisions that may put her on a collision course with the law..But needs must in her situation, however she has no idea what she’s walking into…

The trademark twists and turns that have defined this authors previous books are still here but with a different feel and a really old school piece of storytelling. The group dynamic is one of the strengths here as Hal meets the family and we start to learn about the dark secrets that lurk at the heart of them.

It is a journey of discovery for Hal, highly intriguing and beautifully written. The focus here is not so much on the unexpected as it is on the relationships that Hal builds along the way. It is a hugely entertaining novel and has a strong emotional core.

I really enjoyed it. Especially the old house hiding it’s many many secrets…

Recommended.

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When I spotted the cover of The Death of Mrs Westaway I knew I would enjoy it. I LOVE gothicky mysteries with spooky old houses and old family secrets!

The story starts with Hal (Harriet), who is struggling to make a living following the death of her mother three years previously. Hal had to give up her dreams of going to university and instead took over her mother's job of tarot reader on Brighton Pier. Falling behind on payments to the local loan shark, it seems like a dream come true when a solicitor's letter arrives to tell her that her grandmother has died and left her a bequest. Except Hal's grandmother died before she was born, didn't she?

Ruth Ware takes familiar tropes and motifs from the traditional/old school gothic mystery and puts her own original spin on it. There is a nod towards Rebecca, with the creepy Mrs Danvers-like housekeeper, but all references are done with an affection for the genre.

Hal makes a very likeable, if unusual heroine, who has suffered several setbacks in life. I loved the way she kept telling herself that she was a tenacious rat, not a little mouse, whenever she felt herself falter! Linking in Hal's job as a tarot reader, and the way she reads the cards to help her think through problems was inspired and I was became so engrossed in the story I completely forgot to try and work out who the murderer was.

The title makes the story sound like an Agatha Christie but it's a traditional gothic mystery. Exactly who was murdered and why isn't revealed until after a superb build-up of tension. There is a thread of historical (1994!) backstory running through the plot, giving an insight into the characters' past, but it doesn't dominate the novel.

The Death of Mrs Westaway should appeal to fans of Daphne du Maurier, Eve Chase, and possibly Mary Stewart, although there is no romance.

In conclusion, The Death of Mrs Westaway is one of my favourite reads this year. I absolutely loved it. More please!


Thank you to Ruth Ware and Vintage Digital/Harvill Secker for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed.

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The following is my review as posted on Goodreads.

I quite enjoyed The Death Of Mrs Westaway. Ware and I didn't get off to the best start but I have to say the books have been getting better and better. This falls into that old fashioned Christie type of whodunnit that became more engrossing as the book went on.

Harriet or Hal as she prefers is our main protagonist here. A young woman who has recently lost her mother is struggling to make ends meet. She isn't earning very much working as a tarot reader at the end of a seaside pier. Meeting daily needs is becoming a constant and worrying chore so she becomes really intrigued when one day she receives a letter informing her that she is a recipient of an inheritance from her grandmother. Piqued and on the run from loan sharks who she's borrowed money from and finding it difficult to meet their extortionate interest rates, she sets off for Cornwall where this supposed inheritance is coming from. At the very least Hal wants to find out what's going on.

I found the storyline really engaging and like Hal's character although her need to do things her own way was wearisome at times. But Hal's family in Cornwall and the setting of Trepassen House was eerily evocative of whodunits of old. Many a time I changed my mind as I thought I had it sussed to then be thrown another curve ball. Ware adeptly kept the ball of wool tangled until the sinister end.

Overall a creepy evocative tale that kept me entertained. Recommended.

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The Death of Mrs Westaway is a creeping, slow burn of novel with a young protagonist who I was rooting for almost from the first few lines. With her back story and by isolating her so completely from any kind of support network, Ruth Ware's created a main protagonist in Hal - or Harriet Westaway to give her her full name - whose actions you can understand and sympathise with even if you don't condone what she's planning to do by heading off to Cornwall to claim the bequest. And it's not as if staking her claim is going to be easy once she gets there.

Locked doors, bars on windows, creepy shadows and ominous magpies, a decidedly frosty reception from the housekeeper and the pervading cold and decay of a house past its best are what Hal finds when she goes in search of what she thinks may be a few hundred pounds to get herself out of her current financial problems. While the menace in her home town of Brighton exists in the more everyday form of final demands and making rent payments while trying to avoid a loan shark she borrowed from at a low point in her life, that in Cornwall feels decidedly old school and more akin to something from a Daphne du Maurier novel, despite the action only dating back to 1994/5.

What makes this novel work for me is that Hal is not as mercenary as she might appear; she does have a conscience and struggles with it once she realises this is not a random wealthy family but real people. She's also not as weak as she may appear and Hal has to draw on her inner strength and skills learned from reading the tarot cards, and the people who come to her for readings, in order to work out the family dynamic and who to trust as well as unlock family secrets and the deeper mystery as to why and how her mother's life, and now Hal's, are linked to this menacing and creepy house and a more sinister game than Hal's tarot card reading.

I finished The Death of Mrs Westaway over two busy days, so while it's a slow burn of a mystery, it's anything but a slow read. Ruth Ware kept me turning the pages to check up on how Hal was doing and see if she was right to answer the original letter summoning her to Cornwall. It often feels as if Hal is a sacrificial pawn and those who set this whole thing in motion weren't too concerned for her wellbeing, so the reader has look out for her and I was willing her to prove herself more than this and come out stronger for the experience. The clues are there to solve the mystery yourself before Hal does but it's well worth staying to the end to see how it all plays out. Decidedly creepy and something to make you shiver in the summer heat.

My first Ruth Ware book but, on this showing, it won't be my last and I'll be checking out her back catalogue.

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A great fourth novel by Ruth Ward, who after the disappointing The Lying Game, in my opinion anyway, is back on great form with this creepy, almost gothic, chiller.
Harriet (Hal) Westaway is the heroine. A young twenty something struggling to make a living on Brighton’s West Pier (yes, it’s still standing here) as a tarot card reader. As her debts mount up, she suddenly received a letter inviting her to Cornwall as she may be due an inheritance from her recently departed grandmother. But, according to Hal, her grandmother had died years previously.
I was really glad to see that Ms Ware did NOT employ the irritating first person present tense that seemingly crops up in every new psychological thriller which I absolutely hate with a passion! . This is a straight forward third person past tense narrative, and all the better for it too I say. Her character comes across perfectly in the first third of the book and she becomes easy to relate to. You might, just might, think it a slow burner to start off with, but stick with it and the plot will draw you in and everything comes full circle, keeping you guessing until the end.
If like me, you were disappointed with The Lying Game, give this a read, you will be glad you did.

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With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I always enjoy Ruth Ware’s novels so I was pleased be given the chance to read an advanced copy of her new book.
When Harriet, or as she prefers to be called Hal receives a letter that could make her life easier she jumps at the chance. Despite feeling that it wasn’t intended for her. But the risk that she was in at home in Brighton was nothing compared to what she faced in the now dilapidated home in Cornwall. The house that she goes to is nothing like the image that she had seen on a postcard.
A family, united by the death of their mother, but the undercurrent of malice gets more evident as the novel progresses. It’s difficult to tell which of them, if any, genuinely welcome Hal into their lives. Especially when the will is read.
I loved the way everything was described. The way the house had fallen into disrepair through neglect. Most of the rooms were cold, dark and unwelcoming, Hal’s bedroom especially. I had a vivid impression of a home that wasn’t full of happy childhood memories where everybody was loved and visitors made welcome. Instead this was a home where children grew up in fear of their mother and the housekeeper Mrs Warren. The mother only appears through memories and diary entries but they were a clear image of a woman who wasn’t able to show love easily. Mrs Warren does appear. It did feel a little strange that the family accepted her rudeness and lack of respect. But then I started to wonder what she knew.
I was a little dubious about the storyline involving tarot cards. I have always thought I would be too scared to attend a reading of any kind but the way it was described showed a different way of approaching it. I still wouldn’t do it, but I now think about what the cards reveal slightly differently.
I liked Hal a lot, she’d had a tough life and lost the only parent she had too young. I ached for her to be able to be close to her new family but not knowing who was a threat. For that reason I won’t reveal my thoughts about the other characters. Make up your own mind.
Recommended.

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I enjoyed the Death of Mrs Westerway. Hal received a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance - surely this is a mistake, but she’s also desperate for money. Hal finds herself at the funeral and quickly realises something is very wrong.

This book is a slow burner gradually building with a tension that keeps you intrigued until the end. It’s well written and thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and the author for the chance to review.

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Well that was a creepy read! It is odd but somehow I always associate the creepy aspect with historical novels, after all we are too aware of the present in modern times to get spooked by an old crumbling house complete with scary housekeeper, aren’t we?

Ruth Ware is one of those writers who really knows how to create an atmosphere and so even though the greater part of this book is set in the present and that in the past only dates back to 1995, I was drawn into a world of the improbable with barely a question.

Hal (Harriet) Westaway is broke. Not the sort of broke that afflicts most twenty-somethings on a regular basis but the sort that means she is in danger of losing the only home she’s ever known, and perhaps not without damage since she’s in hock to a loan shark. She returns home one night to find a letter, one from said loan shark (or one of his mates) and one from a solicitor in Penzance who claims to have a bequest from her Grandmother who has recently died. Only problem is that Hal’s grandmother wasn’t Hester Westaway and she certainly didn’t live at Trepassen House before she died.

Of course we take a trip to Trepassen House for ourselves and find a property that is almost a character in its own right. It’s the full gothic experience complete with barred windows and secret messages and of course the very creepy housekeeper. Not quite what Hal is used to. Ok she may be in dire straits money wise but she plies her trade in reading Tarot cards on Brighton pier and her home is the only one she’s ever known. That’s not to say Ruth Ware doesn’t impress on her readers the difference of this seaside pier in the winter time, having its very own atmosphere. Safe to say she’s slightly out of her depth in this situation. Hal’s mother died and it’s her business Hal has inherited but her mother wasn’t one to mince her words, always reminding Hal:

"Don’t fall into the trap of believing your own lies."

This story despite obviously being set in the present, something the author embraces rather than tries to disguise, has an old-fashioned quality to it. The sense of danger is only all too imaginable when you put yourself in the shoes of a young woman with no money even if she is someone who is not an out-and-out innocent. Normally I find myself getting highly irritated by characters who do stupid things – I’m sat tutting and shaking my head saying ‘well what did you think was going to happen?’ but somehow this author had me bought into the storyline so that, under the circumstances, the decisions seemed plausible. There are shades of Daphne Du Maurier and Patricia Highsmith but fear not this story is an original.

I can’t leave this review without stating quite how brilliantly Hal is portrayed. This definitely isn’t a one-dimensional character, she is made of shades of grey with all the complexities that real people have, something she is never more aware of than when she is reading the tarot cards for her eager audiences.

I highly recommend this book which is perhaps more suited to an autumnal evening with the rain lashing down, but fear not, I was chilled despite lying in the sunshine devouring every last word of this masterpiece.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to the publishers Random House UK who allowed me to read an advance copy of The Death of Mrs Westaway which is published today. This unbiased review is my thanks to them and of course Ruth Ware for the thoroughly entertaining read.

First Published UK: 28 June 2018
Publisher: Random House UK
No of Pages: 400
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
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The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware was a slow burner but well worth reading for its thrilling climax. The Death of Mrs Westaway has many twists and turns throughout it and whilst I guessed some there were many I didn’t.

Harriet Westaway, Hal, is in dire need of some money when she receives a letter informing her of a substantial inheritance from her recently deceased grandmother. It seems like all her prayers have been answered.

The only problem is she knows her real grandparents died more than 20 years previously. She decides to take a chance and use all her skills as a con woman to convince people she was the intended recipient.

When she starts the deception, little does she realise she can't stop after all if she does she risks everything including her life.

The Death of Mrs Westaway begins with the following rhyme that those of a superstitious nature will recognise:

“One for Sorrow Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy Five for Silver

Six for Gold Seven for a secret never to be told.”

The Death of Mrs Westaway is set out in split narrative form, it is partially focused on Hal and partially in the form of a series of diary entries from an initially unknown character.

The first diary entry is on 29th November 1994 and the person writing it is watching magpies. “Seven. Seven for a secret never to be told. Well, the secret may be right, but the rest is wide of the mark. I’ll have to tell, soon enough. There’ll be no choice.”

When I read the blurb, I wasn’t expecting to like Hal, but I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading and realised Ruth Ware had created a character the reader could easily empathise with.

Hal lives alone in the attic flat of an apartment complex named Marine View Villas, a grim and depressing place to live despite its name.

“There were no windows on the stairwell, and once she was past the first flight, it was almost pitch black. But Hal knew the steps by heart, from the broken board on the landing to the loose piece of carpet that had come untacked on the last flight, and she plodded wearily upwards thinking about supper, and bed.”

When she arrives into her flat she is greeted by numerous bills each a final demand for payment. She also greeted by an ominous note from people she owes money to. She is at her wits end trying to figure out how she is going to survive and pay her bills when she has no money.

“She had to pay the rent- that was non-negotiable. And the electricity was high on the list too. Without a fridge or lights the little flat was barely habitable. The gas…well it was November. Life without heating would be uncomfortable, but she’d survive.”

Hal is at her lowest ebb when she realises there is a letter in among her recycling. The letter in question is informing her of the death of her grandmother and informing her she named as a beneficiary in the will. She is pleasantly surprised to see the words ‘substantial estate’ but she also knows there has been a mistake as her grandparents have been dead for years.

However, when he financial situation becomes direr she realises she has no real choice but to pretend to be the Harriet Westaway named in the will.

Hal has nobody to turn to as her mother was killed in a hit and run accident a few days prior to her eighteenth birthday and around the same time she lost touch with her friends as she had nothing in common with them anymore.

“The person she was now was not the girl she would have been. The girl who had given her pocket money to the homeless, frittered away pennies in the pier, whiled away Sundays eating popcorn in front of bad films as she was gone. In her place was someone hardened in order to survive.”

Hal feels like she has no other option but to use the skills she has honed in her job as a ‘psychic’, palm reader and tarot reader to fool the people who think she is their family. She is able to read things from people without even realising until after what it is that gave her a clue. The one thing she won’t do is pretend to contact the dead and profit off the grief of others. She tells people what they need to hear not what they want to hear.

Hal sets off for the funeral of her ‘grandmother’ out of desperation. On first meeting her uncles Harding, Abel and Ezra she quickly comes to the conclusion that they have a sense of entitlement and maybe what she is planning to do isn’t so bad. Once she gets to know them though she changes her mind but its to late to go back and the family are hiding secrets of their own. Like what happened to Mrs Westaway’s daughter and why is the housekeeper Mrs Warren so openly hostile towards Hal?

The Death of Mrs Westaway is eerie and suspenseful, definitely a must-read.

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