I have read all three of Rachel Hawkins psychological thrillers that are out, and just finished her upcoming fourth, and let me tell you... you are in for a treat! The Heiress is her best yet! I flew through it and got all tangled up in the McTavish family scandals. 

I rated her other three, The Villa, Reckless Girls, and The Wife Upstairs 4 star reads, but this one was 5 stars for me! Much like her others, it is fast-paced, twisty, and dark, but this one felt different. The story is told from two perspectives, Camden and Jules, and there are also letters from Ruby, Camden's adoptive mother and "the heiress," that tell her side of the story. It also includes magazine interviews and newspaper articles, which make it a really fun, bingeable book. It involves a mysterious kidnapping, a lot of sudden, questionable deaths, and a whole lot of family drama. 

You've got quite a while until it comes out (January 9th), but I wanted to put it on your radar so you can add it to your #tbr. 

Well done, Rachel! Many thanks to #netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the early copy! 🙌 ❤

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
5/5 🌟

This was a fabulous fast paced read that I couldn’t put it down. Hawkins expertly weaves letters from Ruby and the current story lines of her son, Cam, Jules, his wife and his cousins as they return to her home to discuss her will and assets.

Ruby’s family ruled the town of Tavistock so she should have had a charmed life. However she was the victim of a kidnapping and as an adult was five times widowed. Her letters detail all her dirty secrets and the reasons behind all her scheming.

Cam her adopted son has rejected his mothers help until her passing when he and his wife decide they must visit his inheritance including the Ashby House. They both are holding back a few truths that are exposed as we go along. Fully connected from start to finish I love how this author writes with a string the outline giving bread crumbs along the way.

4.5 escapist stars

I first met this author with her book “The Wife Upstairs” and I followed that with three more of her books, so she works for me! I enjoy how she brings her characters to life, many of them quite despicable and her writing makes for a few hours of escapist fun for me.

This book is set up with a few narrators and I like that approach, especially when the different views advance the story and don’t retread the narrative from a different perspective.

We have Jules, married for 10 years to Camden, living in Colorado (love that setting!), and working at an historical home. I enjoyed her snarky narration.

Camden is a teacher and has firmly put his past and adoptive family in North Carolina behind me. Or has he? He happens to be the sole heir to the richest family in North Carolina and now the estate and family demand his presence.

The other viewpoint is done through the letters of Ruby McTavish, and this might be my favorite one. I wish we could have met her while alive, but the letters were a terrific addition. Kidnapped as a child, Ruby had quite a life. She’s a widow times four and there’s a whole other story there.

When Jules and Camden arrived at Ashby House in North Carolina, I knew that we were in for a fun ride with this story. Filled with other shady family members and the town of Tavistock, we learn a lot about the legacy of the McTavish family.

As secrets swirled throughout the book, I started to wonder more about this family and the effects of money. Jules falls in love with the house and wants to stay, while Camden resists being pulled back in. Anything goes in this one and that includes the wild ending!

This one made for an interesting buddy read and I think I liked it the most. It must have fit my reading for an escape mode!

More family drama than thriller in this page-turner by Rachel Hawkins. Hawkins says that no classic novel inspired this work the way it has for past novels, and maybe that's what felt like it was missing for me. I wanted a little more from the characters, more twists and turns, though I did enjoy the multiple POV, the letters, and the newspaper articles throughout. Though not my favorite Hawkins, I'd still recommend it as a quick, fun read.

I really enjoyed this book written by a popular local author. This book is written in the familiar multi-perspectives, which I really enjoyed. Ruby is an heiress to a fortune and she tells her life story in a series of letters to her her estranged adopted son Camden. Camden has left his comfortable life behind to rid himself of the toxicity of the family who views him as an interloper. He has returned to Ashby House reluctantly and unknowingly at the request of his wife, who is plotting to stake her claim to the fortune that her husband chose to leave behind.
It's a definite page-turner and gave me "Evelyn Hugo" vibes since Ruby had a notorious love life with many husbands in her wake. I highly recommend this read!

This was a great, slow-build mystery. I enjoyed the morally gray characters and how almost no one was as they seemed. Another great story by Rachel Hawkins.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. Rachel Hawkins never disappoints.. the scene was said, and the prodigal son had to return back to his mothers estate to settle the past. Just when you think you knew what was happening in this book, another twist would occur and you had to reconsider what you thought was happening and who the villain was.. Ruby McTavish was a woman with many lives. Pay close attention, or you might get wrapped up in one of them..

Loved The Heiress. Kept me intrigued, a little confused and hooked.
I enjoyed the way the book alternated between a letter by Ruby being written/read and the current events.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this one!

This was such a page-turner for me! I could not put it down. Every twist and turn, big or small, was a delight. The characters are so well- drawn, I felt like I knew them (not that I would want to know most of them IRL). I loved every revelation. This is the perfect book to curl up with for an afternoon or two.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book.

4.5/5 Rachel Hawkins has done it again with a truly remarkable story. The twists and turns kept me reading and the final twist made me actually gasp out loud.

When North Carolinian heiress, Ruby McTavish, dies, she leaves her entire wealth to her adoptive son, Camden (who wants nothing to do with it). Before her death, Ruby wrote a series of letters explaining her childhood (famous Baby Ruby who was kidnapped at 3 years old) and continues to describe her marriages (and mysterious deaths) to her 4 husbands. These letters are entwined with povs from Camden and his wife, Jules. Camden and Jules are ‘summoned’ back to North Carolina to the house where he grew up. The toxic family environment quickly makes it very clear why Camden left in the first place.

Hawkins has a way of creating a slow burn while keeping the reader so engaged where putting the book down impossible. This along with the short chapters made this book a very quick read!

A huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. Hawkins has quickly become one of my favorite authors.

Whew, I just finished this thriller, and I have to admit that I’m sad it’s over! This book sucked me in, and I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in two days which is rare for me with two little ones at home.

The author did a great job of keeping the story moving but also letting you get to know the characters pretty well. I frequently find an author either tells a riveting story or has great character development, but rarely has both (especially in a book under 500 pages.) This made for a gripping and satisfying story that I truly loved! I felt the story was well done in the way it was written from a couple POVs as well as letters/articles which gave the reader a very well-rounded story. Often books written this way can become confusing and convoluted, but Hawkins kept things very clean and easy to follow.

This is my first book by Hawkins, but I will definitely be checking out her other work based on this book. And a huge thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to recommending this book to friends when it is published and available to purchase! Great job!

I enjoyed this book, the multiple timelines tied in seamlessly. I would say that this is more of a mystery book, took its time but the build up was great. Highly recommend

Another fun, twisty read from Rachel Hawkins. The story was definitely entertaining and kept me wanting to find out what was going to happen. I read a lot of thrillers, so I DID see the twist coming. Definitely did not make it any less enjoyable. Definitely recommend picking up when it publishes next January!

Thanks you NetGalley and St Martin’s press for the ARC of this book.

My favorite of this author’s work by far! I couldn’t put it down and read it cover to cover in one afternoon. Highly recommend.

This was a MASTERPIECE: I was completely invested and drawn in by the main characters in this most excellent novel.

RUBY, RUBY, RUBY! What a crackpot! I won't say too much because you truly have to go into this one blind, but she is unrepentantly focused on getting exactly what she wants out of life - and KEEPING IT!
Utterly ruthless - but charming with it.

CAMDEN, Ruby's adopted son, turned his back on all that Ruby could give him. He wanted to be that impossible thing in this materialistic world: a good, decent man. All that money and power had made selfish, abusive monsters of the remaining McTavish family - each of them working to undermine and cut each other out in the race to the honeypot that was the McTavish family inheritance.

JULES, Camden's zany, irrepressible wife was the real treasure in this story. I laughed so many times at her witty retorts to the McTavish family's sly barbs: I was rooting for her, even if you did suspect that she wasn't at all what she seemed to be...... that she, too, had SECRETS!

Well, in the end, didn't they all?

So many secrets! So many ruthless decisions and unforgivable betrayals down the years that have made Jules and Camden the people they are today. Was it Nature or Nurture? Hmmm...

As I made my way through this highly entertaining thriller, all kinds of possible scenarios teased the edge of my brain. The story is told from several points of view - which was so skillfully done that I began to look forward to the switch-overs: it was like watching a ping pong match! Just when you thought the game was over, another character stepped in with a shocking twist and lobbed the ball back into play!

Highly recommended: I was truly entertained and I miss Camden and Jules so much! I hope that the audiobook comes out soon so that I can revisit this crazy couple!

Five out of 5 glowing stars for this great read: my appreciative thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel (due out in January of 2024) in exchange for an honest review.
Well done!!!

My first of many books by Rachel Hawkins. I can’t wait to read her others!
So many twists and turns in this book. Some you picked up on right away and others you didn’t see coming!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5 stars

A few weeks ago I was at a writing retreat at a gorgeous estate in the mountains. I commented near the end of the week that I could understand how someone could forget that there are people struggling in the world if they experienced this kind of environment most of their life.

As I sat and devoured this newest novel by Rachel Hawkins (the first I’ve read by her), that is exactly what the McTavish family lives out at Ashby House, “A haunted house where the ghosts hadn’t had the courtesy to die yet.”

What a self centered, pathological, vicious family! And I could not stop turning page after page to untangle the lies and deceit (some I figured out sooner than others). This is a crazy family drama told from different perspectives including newspapers & tabloids, confessional letters from the now deceased family matriarch, and Jules and Cam who are determining their future with the house they have inherited in spite of other family members who seem like they will stop at nothing to claim this ancestral home. It’s hard to go into any detail without spoiling the ride, but if you’re looking for a good vacation read, I suggest picking up The Heiress. I read most if in a day at the beach.

While not the kind of book I usually care for, I loved the writing style so much and Hawkins can spin quite a tale. I could definitely see this made into a limited tv series.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

Cam and his wife Jules are returning to his childhood home after the passing of his adoptive mother, Ruby. Cam’s memories of Ashby House are anything but pleasant, and he has worked hard to separate himself from the family and the estate that he grew up in. He has to return to the house and is confronted with the truth of who Ruby was and what she did. Not only was she kidnapped as a child and returned a year later, but she herself is suspected of wrongdoing. Mysteries and accusations surround Ruby after the deaths of her four husbands, and no one at Ashby House can be trusted.

I have read and enjoyed all of Rachel Hawkins’s books, but this one is by far my favorite! I loved the epistolary style of this book, and how the reader learns the truth about Ruby from Ruby herself. There are so many interwoven mysteries within a single family and no character can be trusted. This is a fast paced, twisty ride that will leave you breathless until the final pages. This book gives Murdaugh family vibes with the money and power and ability to get away with murder. I loved how the book was filled with shades of gray in terms of what defines right and wrong. The final chapters are full of twists and revelations that made my jaw drop. This was a refreshingly unique thriller, not a plot that I feel like I’ve read before. I’d highly recommend to any thriller reader- I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Thank you to Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4.5⭐️

Ruby McTavish’s life was rife with intrigue and scandal. She went missing for several months as a three-year-old only to be found and returned to her wealthy parents unharmed. She grew up and married four times only to be widowed four times. Was she unlucky or was there something more sinister going on? After the loss of her last husband she decided not to marry again but adopts a little boy named Cam who, much to chagrin and indignation of her sister, nephew, and great-niece and great nephew, she decides to name as her sole heir. After her death, much to everyone’s surprise, Cam leaves the ancestral home and the money and strikes out on his own, cutting himself off from the fortune and his family. When his cousin reaches out to try to mend fences more than a decade later, Cam and his wife Jules head across the country to the McTavish estate, Ashby House. There, secrets are revealed and deceptions are brought to light.

I loved the multiple viewpoint storytelling in this book. I like how everyone thought they were so clever for unveiling each others’ secrets that they couldn’t possibly think anyone would discover their own.

Rachel Hawkins leads you through her story at her own pace and leaves enough breadcrumbs for her twists and turns to make sense without making them glaringly obvious.

Even though I didn’t actually like any of the characters, I couldn’t help but be impressed by their cunning.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair review. This review will appear on goodreads and opinions expressed are my own.
I have read four (or is it five?) Rachel Hawkins books now. I’ll be honest, I refer to them as beginner thrillers, because I am usually handing them to patrons who are looking for a thriller/mystery that isn’t gory or full of gratuitous language or triggers. That doesn’t mean they are less-than, but it’s a good way to describe the style of writing.
These books are page turners with twists and turns that keep the readers interested -with a propelling story that provides another bread crumb in the woods…making you go further.
These are my speed for sure. This is another quick read that you can figure out a tiny bit of what the ending might reveal but the fun is seeing how it all unfolds.I can’t really explain without giving spoilers, but I’ll say I read this in just a couple sittings as I always do with Hawkins, and will surely hand this one over to my patrons looking for this genre. They make great summer reads in my opinion.
4*