A gothic Italian villa murder mystery - YES PLEASE!! I really enjoyed this dual-timeline thriller about two contemporary friends, Em & Chess, who visit an Italian "murder house" on vacay & dig into the past when there was much more going on at the Villa Aestas/Rosato, back when it was a haven for 60's & 70s rock stars & all the excesses that entailed. The older timeline was well-written & in the spirit of the day and the murder mystery was well-done! Recommend this one! My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, the exchange of which did not affect my opinions.

This is the story about two woman who go to Italy and end up staying in a beautiful villa where a murder once took place. Then we go back in time to learn about the murder. It was a good story that focused on the complexities of relationships. The ending felt a little rushed to me, but I enjoyed this book.

The Villa is a good novel by Rachel Hawkins, but not my favorite by her. The plot makes the reader keep track of a set of people staying at the villa in 1974, an author writing a book there in 1974 with another set of characters in that book plus a different set of current day visitors. That’s 3 sets of characters which got to be confusing for this reader.

4 stars
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin Press for the arc

I was a big fan of Reckless Girls, so naturally I was excited to be able to review this book! Rachel Hawkins really knows how to write a good mystery. It took a few chapters to become comfortable with this particular book as it is written in duel timelines as well as a few snippets from articles, books, podcasts (within the story itself). However once it was going I couldn’t put it down! I found, for me, that the ending was mildly predictable but there were a few twists I dont see coming. But overall the story was fantastic!

“The Villa” centers around an Italian villa in alternating timelines: the Summer of 1974 and the present day. In the present, Emily Sheridan, a cozy mystery writer, is depressed because after suffering a mysterious debilitating illness, her husband leaves her and tries to claim half the proceeds of her cozy mystery series in the divorce. In a financial crisis, and reeling from her recent illness (which has disappeared as suddenly as it arose) and her marriage breakup, she has writer’s block and can’t finish the latest installment in her mystery series. So when her childhood best friend, Chess Chandler, a now famous self-help author, calls suggesting Emily join her at an Italian villa for the summer, Emily decides to accept the invitation.

After a Google search of the property, Emily soon discovers that the villa is the site of a gruesome murder that occurred there in the Summer of 1974. The group that lived there that summer was invited there by Noel Gordon, a once famous musician trying to recapture his fame by staying at the villa where he hopes to compose new music for an upcoming album. He invites Pierce Sheldon, an up and coming musician, together with Pierce’s girl friend Mari Godwick and her stepsister Lara Larchmont to stay there for the summer. Rounding out the group is the mysterious Johnnie Dorchester, whose purpose there is somewhat unclear at first.

During the summer of 1974, rising tensions between Mari and Lara, the latter of whom slept with Mari’s boyfriend, and between Pierce and Johnnie, who are competing for attention from both Noel and Mari, make for an uncomfortable situation. Rumors of drug fueled orgies will long surround that infamous summer. One of the musicians there is murdered, and Johnnie Dorchester is convicted of the crime. Soon afterwards, the two women become famous: Mari for writing a horror classic involving a woman who murders her family, and Lara for recording a groundbreaking album, the songs for which were composed during her stay at the villa.

As Emily delves into the life of Mari Godwick and re-reads her bestselling novel, she begins to wonder if the secret to what happened at the villa that long ago summer are hidden within the pages of the book. And as Emily spends more time with her friend Chess, she begins to wonder if she can really trust her, or if their long friendship was all just a lie.

This is an intricately plotted novel with many themes running through it, including female empowerment, women submerging their own talents to serve their men, and betrayal from both the men in their lives and their supposed female friends. These themes are paralleled in both timelines, where strong women achieve more than their male counterparts who had been preventing them from achieving their own artistic dreams.

The phrase “I couldn’t put it down” seems like a cliche until a reader comes across a scintillating book such as “The Villa.” I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers involving strong female leads and intricate plot twists.
(Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review).

Two best friends, Jessica “Chess” and Emily, once inseparable are now in their 30’s and they kinda grew apart. Emily recently divorced needs her BFF so Chess suggests they go to Italy for the summer, they stay at Villa Aestas. As we learn from the past 1974, Villa Aestas, was known as Villa Rosato. Rented out by rock musician Noel Gordon and his group of friends. A tragic death takes place and this villa holds the secrets until Emily does some research and unearths the truth! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a gifted copy.

Wow! Fantastic! The Villa totally exceeded my expectations in every way. When I first read the premise, I thought the plot was going to be convoluted and a bit too dark for my liking, especially seeing how it was inspired by Frankenstein. However, to me, this really felt more like the perfect escape read with suspense that kept me turning the pages.

Synopsis: This story is set in Orvieto, Umbria, Italy and is told in a dual timeline / POV manner. In the present, the story follows Emily, a mystery writer who has been invited to spend the summer in Italy by her best friend Chess, a successful self-help novelist. While Emily is set to focus on the tenth book of her series, this new setting gives her inspiration to research and explore a murder that occurred in 1974 at the villa they are staying at. As Emily searches for clues left behind, the story dives into Mari’s perspective in the past and follows the events that led up to what is known as the Villa Rosato Horror.

What I loved:
-There was such a strong start to the book, and I was immediately invested
-The past and present timelines weaved together seamlessly, and I didn’t favor one narrator over another
-There were snippets of news articles and podcasts that gave you insight into the characters’ rise to fame, personal work and the mystery surrounding the Villa
-How we got to see two authors work through the writing process
-The ending could not have been more perfect

Thanks SMP for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review !! Pub date 1/3/23

I really enjoyed this at first and liked the present day characters and potential frenemies Chess and Emily. Once we got to the other plot line in the 70s I wasn’t as interested. While I enjoyed the questionable characters and the writing/book within a book I found the ending really unsatisfying.

A layered, multi-timeline mystery in which two women try to solve a long-ago murder.

Long-time best friends Chess and Emily have a complicated relationship, but when Chess invites Emily to an Italian villa for them both to write their next book, Emily is in. She's tired of feeling sad about her divorce and she's weeks behind on turning in her next novel, so not even finding out that it's a murder house plus getting a huge dose of Chess's self-help mantras keeps her from wanting to go.

In the 1960's, the Villa housed an eclectic set of artists who were all about love, drugs and rock'n'roll. It was supposed to be the perfect summer creative retreat, until one of them ended up dead. Famous singer Noel and his hanger-on Johnny arrive first, then thirty-something Pierce, invited to collaborate with Noel, and Pierce's teenage girlfriend, Mari, who he left his wife for, and Mari's stepsister, Lara, who Pierce sometimes sleeps with, arrive to round out the party. Jealousy simmers throughout the retreat, as both romantic and creative entanglements go awry.

Meanwhile, Emily discovers Mari's horror novel written about that summer and becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. When she discovers some pages of writing that Mari left behind, she thinks she may have found her next book. She becomes obsessed and drags Chess along on some of her investigations. But she soon begins to wonder if she can really trust Chess. Underneath all the girl-power, self-help advice and money, who has Chess really become?

This novel is seductive, taking its time building up the characters of the incandescent creatives who shine with the glow, passions and decadence of youth. It slowly builds to shocking twists in the last third of the book, including a surprisingly dark and buzzy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this novel.

The Villa will hook you and pull you in so quick you'll feel like Chess is your bff. Hawkins does a phenomenal job of building the story and characters. It got to the point for me that I wanted to abandon the book altogether because I hated Chess almost instantly and didn't want her to F everything up. I'm glad I continued to read, and really reflect on the saying grass isn't always greener. #ifyouknowyouknow.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a blend of gothic suspense and contemporary fiction that takes place in an Italian villa. The story revolves around Emily, who is on a trip with her best friend Chess. Back in the 1970's, a group of five creatives - musicians and writers - stayed in the villa, resulting in a murder. As Emily digs deeper into the mystery of the past, she starts to feel tension between her and Chess. Are ghosts from the past influencing the present?

Here is a gripping excerpt from Chapter 1 that introduces us to Emily and Chess:

"Somewhere around the time she started calling herself “Chess,” I realized I might actually hate my best friend.
It was the third name she’d given herself in the nearly twenty years I’d known her. When we’d met in fourth grade, she was just Jessica. Well, “Jessica C.,” since there was also “Jessica M.,” and “Jessica R.,” and then one girl who just got to be Jessica, like she’d claimed the name first, and everyone else just had to fucking deal with it. So I guess it wasn’t a surprise that by the time we were sophomores, Jessica C. had turned herself into “JC,” which eventually morphed into “Jaycee.”"

Overall, The Villa is a novel of suspense that alternates chapters between the past and the present. One highlight of this book are the behind-the-scenes moments of what a writer's process is like. I also loved the scenes parodying cozy mysteries. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that I found the chapters taking place in modern-day much more compelling than the chapters set in the past. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of suspense in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in January!

The Villa was absolutely enchanting! Hawkins wrote a story that was so well written I found myself flying through the pages, unable to put the book down, pondering what would happen next. My favorite piece of this entire story was how believable the characters were.

The writing is clear and clean, and very immersive. The book hums along at a good clip, but the pacing makes sure we're given time to breathe between plot-intensifying moments. The story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the settings was noticeable and superb. I felt absolutely transported and I'm so incredibly glad I was able to read an arc of this story

The Villa
Rachel Hawkins
St Martin’s Press
Publication: 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What if a house holds bad memories inside with the good? What does that mean for whoever lives there?

Houses remember.

The book’s setting is beautiful Orvieto, Umbria, Italy at the Villa Aestas (means summer in Latin). Emily “Em” Sheridan, author of a cozy mystery series, and her best friend, Chess Chandler, author and self-help guru, decide to spend the summer writing and recharging in the Italian villa. The Villa was previously known as the Villa Rosato Horror because of a brutal murder that took place on July 29, 1974, when Noel Gordona (rock star), Pierce Sheldon (an aspiring musician) and his girlfriend Mari Larchmont and her sister, Lara Larchmont are visiting. Also along is Johnny Dorchester, the drug dealer who travels all over with Noel Gordon and obviously supplies him with drugs.

The chapters move back and forth between current time and 1974. It starts with Em and Chase’s summer visit. They are both trying to finish books in their time at the Villa, but there are plenty of distractions and plenty of wine and Limincello. Em had googled the Villa before arriving and knew about the murderous background of the villa. While there, she finds a book called Lilith Rising (a horror story about women, power, and betrayal) that was written by Mari Larchmont in the summer of 1974. It inspires Em to dig deeper and to begin to write a nonfiction book based on the murder house. She is finding clues in Mari’s book that leads her to search for hidden manuscripts.

The second story—actually the first in 1974–centers on sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll. Relationships in the house are strained and realized which leads to a brutal murder.

There is so much more to this book, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. The one thing I will say is that Lara and Mari came to the Villa as muses and they were the ones who actually created art.

Highly recommend this book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the electronic advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.