This book had me so invested in the lives of this family and all the thread of lies that each person was trying to protect. The mystery novel is about an Heiress to one of the wealthiest North Carolina families, her life was mysterious from the start as she was kidnapped as a toddler and then as an adult is a widow four times over. Her family estate is a rarely publicly seen home in the dangerous Blue Ridge mountains that each member of the family wants as their own.

Overall this is one of the better mystery novels I have read this year, the twists and turns were satisfying even though I guessed one pretty early on in the book. This did not dissuade me from reading, it only made me more interested as to how the author would tie it all together. The Appalachian Mountain setting and the small town were well done and atmospheric. I cannot think of another book I have read set in this part of the USA and found it super interesting. It definitely aided the mystery for the novel to be set in a dangerous and remote mountain area. Some parts of the book gave me darker Evelyn Hugo vibes which then became my favorite portion of the book. I overall enjoyed how this story was told in alternating POV's, letters and newspaper clippings it told the story in a unique and engaging way. This is my first mystery book by this author and since I enjoyed my reading experience I will definitely have to check out her other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

An Engrossing Page-Turner

3.75 stars

"I had gotten away with murder, and I was glad for it."

The Heiress is a thriller about the wealthiest woman in North Carolina, her heir, and the cutthroat battle for her estate.

Ruby McTavish, the richest woman in North Carolina, died 10 years ago and left her estate to her adopted son Camden (Cam). Upon Ruby’s death, Cam fled to California and started a new life, cutting off the only family he had ever known. Forced to return, Cam, along with his wife Jules, must confront deep, dark, and demented family secrets to claim what is rightfully theirs.

There are three main POVs: Ruby’s, which is shared through letters to an unknown author, Cam’s, and Jules. Ruby’s narrative is the most compelling as she reveals her true self. Her controversial marriages and scandalous childhood are captivating. In contrast, Jules and Cam’s voices felt interchangeable. All three are hiding dirty secrets from each other.

The timeline alternates from the present to the past, which covers Ruby’s childhood and her four tumultuous marriages.

The characters are conviving, crass, and dysfunctional. They don’t shy away from controversy--they are devious and determined to win.

If you are offended by profanity, don’t read this. F*ck seems to be the characters' favorite word --one even comments on how much they enjoy using it. I wish they could have at least mixed up the choice of profanity, as it made all three voices sound similar. The characters are connected in other ways, so this was not necessary.

The Heiress is a combination of Megan Miranda's The Last to Vanish (for the setting) and Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for the letters and recounting of the many marriages of Ruby, but the writing is very different from both. I didn't love Hawkin's last book, The Villa, but there is a reference to one of the characters, which was fun.

The mystery behind the estate, Ruby’s childhood, and the surprising ways in which the characters are connected kept me glued to the pages. There are many twists and turns which culminate in a surprising showdown.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

✨ ARC review✨

What a ride! Talk about skeletons 💀 in the closet. Another wicked and suspenseful read by Rachel Hawkins. We loved The Villa so we were excited to receive The Heiress for our first advanced reader copy!🤓

Camden is left with a significant inheritance when his adopted mother, Ruby McTavish (widow x4) passes away. Camden wants no part in the inheritance and the family drama that comes with it. His wife Ruby is able to convince him to visit the mansion full of secrets and reenter the toxic web of lies and deceit🕸️🤫

Rachel Hawkins paints a gorgeous backdrop at the Ashby House. She had us wanting to wake up in the mountains for our morning cup of coffee ☕️🏔️ The letters from Ruby were our favorite part of the story and made this a very binge-able read. I will admit that we did not see the twists and turns coming. The second half of the book really picked up and we loved the cliff hanger chapter endings.

Be on the lookout for The Heiress on January 9, 2024. Thank you @ladyhawkins and @netgalley for our *FIRST* advanced reader copy!🙏🏼

Such an interesting story. I really felt it was going to go in a certain direction but I was way off. The story really wrapped up nicely at the end too!

3.5 stars rounded down. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

We meet Jules and Camden living in California living normal lives. When Camden is contacted by his family back in North Carolina everything is turned on its head. Camden’s adopted mother Ruby died years ago leaving him as her heir, but the family isn’t happy about it.

The book alternates between multiple viewpoints as well as using letters to tell the backstory. I enjoyed the way it was written, but didn’t find it particularly surprising or twisty. It was an easy to read book, but nothing to write home about.

This was my first novel by Rachel Hawkins, but I have heard good things about her books previously. I would read another, but likely choose an audiobook to see if the experience is improved by a good performance by the narrator.

I was excited to see a new Rachel Hawkins book available and while it took me a long time to get into it once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. I saw some of the twists coming but this did not take away from my enjoyment. That being said I really struggle with the rating of this between 3 and 4 stars because of how long it did take me to get into it. Ultimately I went with 4 but it is probably closer to a 3.5.

This was a very fun read, I always find Hawkins’s books to be instantly entertaining. Atmospheric and spooky, Ashby House is an amazing setting for a twisted family thriller. The format of the book was also unique and engaging. The POVs swapped between the two MCs while some chapters were in written letter format from the late heiress herself. Other snippets were framed as articles from interviews, news columns, newspapers and blogs. I would say my least favorite thing about this book would just be how completely unbelievable all the chaos is - I mean this family has a lot of murder going on. But with suspension of disbelief, it’s a fun ride with good twists and fun characters that you love to hate.

4.5- Very clever, very unique, very unexpected! I thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling in this novel as it was creative and “out of the box”. The plot unfolds via the points of view of several characters (one from beyond the grave), letters, and old news articles. While the storyline unraveled slowly, I felt that it was artfully done, revealing just enough pieces of the puzzle at a time to keep you wanting to read on without feeling bored. The author made you care what happened to characters who, theoretically, should be extremely unlikeable. I appreciated the sense of humor, particularly during Jules’ narrative and dialogue. The plot kept twisting in unexpected directions, and, just when you thought all was revealed, “but wait, there’s more!”

I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins for this free ARC digital copy.

This is Hawkins best one yet! I couldn’t put this one down, really enjoyed it! The characters were absolutely addicting. If you have enjoyed this author’s other stories, you will be rocked by this one!

Gothic setting and extreme wealth, how can you go wrong? Rachel Hawkins kept me up turning pages as the story kept ramping up to a satisfying conclusion. Twisty and suspenseful, Loved it, I can picture someone reading this from a comfy chair, late at night, cup of tea beside them, with a blizzard raging outside . Well done!

The Heiress, by Rachel Hawkins, is the type of mystery that will keep you guessing from the first page and scratching your head long after the last. Ms. Hawkins is an expert at suspenseful storytelling that never crosses the line into creepiness nor gore, and for that I am grateful. The story follows an extravagantly wealthy family in the North Carolina mountains and the strange happenings within their ancestral mansion and their lives. Throughout, and quite honestly until the last page, secrets are revealed leading the reader to think twice before trusting anyone. I highly encourage mystery fans, and non-mystery fans, to check out Ms. Hawkins and most especially The Heiress.

An intriguingly dark family mystery. Thank you for the ARC.
Murder, manipulative wealth and many, many secrets, familial obligations and guilt spread generously, all to create an insulated world where wealth controls everything. Or does it?. All these entwined together wrap up Hawkins' newest novel, a fabulous mystery that kept me reading and guessing about all the characters right until the very end!!

Ruby McTavish, an heiress, is North Carolina royalty. Her colorful life includes multiple husbands, endless conflict with her resentful relatives, and a kidnapping episode that will shape her legacy - and her relationship with her own heir (Camden) - in dramatic ways.

A thrilling story of old money, family strife, and murder, spanning multiple generations! Hawkins delivers twist after twist, even on the final page.

5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first book to read by this author, but it won’t be my last.

I absolutely loved this book! Rachel Hawkins has a way of making you feel like you know her characters.
Hang on to your seat while you follow Camden and Jules as they travel back to Camden’s childhood home after getting everything from his dead mother. Told thru both of their viewpoints and as well as letters written from ruby, camdens mother, and the heir to the McTavish fortune.
There is so much murder, suspense, and mystery.
You’ll be left in total shock when you discover what is going on, up until the last page.

A convoluted plot that dragged on and then everything happens all at once. The different storytelling from Cam’s viewpoint, to Jule’s viewpoint, to letters from Ruby, to article snippets, it’s too much. There has to be a better way to tell a story than having to rely on TELLING your readers info, instead of showing them. Also, the word “darling” was overused at a whopping 33 times. There really wasn’t one character that was the most interesting and I didn’t really feel for any of them, not even Cam. It had some predictable twists and now that I think of it… what even was the point of all the husbands deaths? Anyways, a miss for me.

This book was awesome !
I have never read another book with so many twists and turns.
Rachel Hawkins keeps you hanging until the very end to piece everything together.
Many of the characters have their own skeletons in the closet, so to speak, which eventually all comes out as you get closer to the end.
Great read and I will give this a five star rating!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of The Heiress in exchange for my honest review!

This was quite the riveting Gothic thriller to dive into! I'd expected that, having previously enjoyed Rachel Hawkins's The Villa, which also pulled me in with its own Gothic mood. For The Heiress specifically, it not only boasts a grimly lush tone and setting, but it enthralls me with its characters, particularly Ruby. Hawkins does an excellent job at fleshing her out into a complex individual who elicits a mixture of fear and sympathy from me. This is why I usually preferred the flashbacks, which is where we got the time with Ruby, over the present-day timeline, though that doesn't detract from the story we get in the present. The other characters make for an absorbing group that adds onto the morally gray meat of the narrative and displays the corruption and greed that festers within the wealthy and the powerful. And when the ending arrived, I was quite happy with how things wrapped up.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Heiress 4.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 4 stars on Goodreads. Now that I've had a good time with two of Hawkins's books, I'm looking forward to reading even more of her work.

The Heiress was my fourth Rachel Hawkins book and easily her best yet.

It was well-paced and intriguing, which made it hard to put down. I read the whole thing within a day.

It was part mystery, part gritty familial drama, with a little thriller.

While it wasn’t quite a five-star read, I’m giving it 4.5 stars. (I gave The Wife Upstairs Reckless Girls, and The Villa all four stars.)

The setting was atmospheric, and the story was full of twists, only one of which I truly guessed ahead of time.

Most of her other books had mostly unlikeable characters. This book did have those, but it also had some more likable (albeit complicatedly so) characters, which I enjoyed.

It was dark, but not in a way that left you feeling down after you turned the last page. That can be hard for an author to do, so it’s worth noting.

My biggest issue with this book was the excessive use of f*ck, especially in the first half of the book. When used well, it can have an acceptable dramatic effect. But when it’s on nearly every page, it distracts from an otherwise well-written story. Hawkins has the vocabulary to do better than this, as evidenced by the handful of words she used that I had to look up.

I’d probably have given it five stars if it weren’t for that.

Bottom Line: If you enjoyed Knives Out and The Family Game by Catherine Steadman, you’ll enjoy this dark, twisty read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was excited to check out Rachel Hawkin's The Heiress, hoping it would be comparable to my favourite of hers (Reckless Girls). However, I found it very hard to get through. It starts off very slow, and that pace continues until the final 1/4 of the book, where many ridiculous things begin to happen. It is a personal pet peeve of mine when letters are used as a way to clearly share information, instead of crafting a story that reveals the information in an engaging way. This one was a big miss for me, unfortunately!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Rachel Hawkins for this ARC and the opportunity to offer genuine feedback.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley and St Martins Press*

Rachel Hawkins knows how to write a page turner that has you guessing up until the very end. her books are unputdownable for me.

This story about a rich Appalachian heiress and black widow had me hooked the entire time. However, the ending fell a little flat to me and the twist was the first of Rachel Hawkins that I found predictable.