When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.

But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will—and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.

Well I did like this one but I didn't love it. It was more of a domestic family drama with some suspense. I always feel different when a book isn't really a thriller. I am more in for the thrill and this one didn't thrill me.

There are lots of letters in the book and I did enjoy reading those. There are also lots of secrets along with unlikable characters. I did enjoy the first half more than the second half. The second half was just too depressing and left me with an unsettling feeling that stayed with me for awhile. I did enjoy the ending along with the twists.

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you SMP for the ARC. I liked the cover but it wasn't for me. I think she has a very specific storytelling structure and writing style that resonates with a certain group of people

This book had so many twists and turns! There were so many things going on but they all tied together in the end.
I liked how Ruby's story was told in the form of a letter and we don't find out who she is writing to until the end. That was an interesting twist.
The Ruby twist was a bit predictable.
I loved the dual POV because both Cam and Jules had a story to tell. I liked how their inner darkness was explored.
It was interesting that all the main characters had an inner darkness and it's basically up to the reader to determine if it's something they were genetically predisposed to or born with, of if it was something they developed due to their upbringing.
They all had some sort of trauma in their lives.
This was overall a really good read and I would reccomend it!

The McTavish's of North Carolina are as infamous as they are rich, and none more then the heiress herself Ruby. Kidnapped as a child only to be returned almost a year later and married, then widowed four times over; Ruby is shrouded in mystery. When she dies the entirety of the inheritance goes to her adopted son, Camden, except he doesn't want it and leaves to the other side of the country to escape Ashby house and his family. 10 years later he finally comes back with his wife Jules to quickly take care of affairs. Except Ruby had plans, and even from the grave the infamous woman is the puppet master of the household. The inheritance is far more than just money, and the ties to the past keep pulling.

The Heiress is a thrilling masterpiece, don't blink or you might miss something! There were so many twists and turns, subplots feeding the larger plot and with every truth revealed another mystery presents itself. If this sounds to you like it is too convoluted, then you are as dead wrong as Ruby's four husbands! This is the type of book where you finish it and sit there absolutely stunned, you rant to your friends about it and then want to immediately pick it back up to see all of the nuances that feed into the bigger puzzle. Rachel Hawkins just might have written the perfect mystery thriller!

The story is written from multiple POVs and timelines, with letters and newspaper clippings to follow along as the past unwinds itself. Sometimes this type of formatting doesn't work and is non-cohesive, not in this case though because it perfectly brings the mystery to life from all angles and makes it very fast-paced and exciting. How such an exciting read can come from a slow burn thriller blows my mind and is just a testament to how talented the author is.

I have nothing even slightly negative to say about this book. I loved everything about it! The Heiress launched itself into my top 10 of all time and I will be singing it praises and recommending forever. I now need to go read all of Rachel Hawkins other books and I can't wait to see what she has in store for me. If you are at all intrigued by this book you need to immediately go read this wild ride of a novel.

Give me a book set in North Carolina with an unreliable narrator and lots of twists and turns, I'm in! I loved this book and was impressed by how the story wove together.

Rachel Hawkins is one of those authors that I read and I either really love or just find them ok. I absolutely adored The Wife Upstairs but found The Villa just meh. The Heiress brings some of that deep family drama that holds some dark secrets right to the light for the reader.

I adored the characters in this one and spent the better portion of the book trying to piece together whether or not I should honestly trust anyone. The flashes of Ruby POV paired with modern day offered a deeper look into the family history and was an absolute wild ride.

This was a great domestic thriller that kept me on my toes.

I really enjoyed this slow burn of a mystery. I was definitely intrigued by the synopsis and I have family that lives in North Carolina and I thought it would be a fun read.

The Heiress is about Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore who lives in the town of Tavistock, North Carolina. She is very well known in her community and is the wealthiest person in North Carolina. She has a pretty notorious background from being kidnapped as a child and then returned to her family to being a 4x widow. When Ruby finally passes she leaves her famous estate the Ashby House and her fortune to her adopted son Camden who wants nothing to do with the fortune, but his wife Jules does.

This story was told by multiple POV - Camden's, Jules and Ruby's. It was a slow burn in the beginning but once it picked up I loved it and could not wait to see what happened. I definitely got Evelyn Hugo vibes (+ mystery) which I loved. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in domestic suspense, multiple POVs, slow burn mysteries and North Carolina settings.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my second Rachel Hawkins book and while it's hard to beat The Stranger Upstairs, this one was also great. The only issue I had was the historical fiction touch as the letters look back in history. That really slowed the pace down for me and even made me put the book down. That's a personal issue though as it's weirdly hard for me to dive into anything historical fiction, even if it includes family drama. Outside of that everything else was perfect. The multiple POVs, the multiple husbands. and multiple deaths were *chefs kiss*.

I have read everything so far by Hawkins and she is truly the queen of a slow burn. Like her other novels, I love the settings she chooses for her books - this particular one had a gothic, atmospheric vibe. There are lots of twists and turns but her books are always fast and enjoyable reads for me!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for a review!

Jules and Cam have been married for 10 years and have an okay life. Still deeply in love, they live a pretty quiet life and make ends meet - even though Cam is the heir to Ruby McTavish, a wealthy socialite with four dead husbands. Since Ruby’s death 10 years ago, can has sworn off his inheritance, including the huge mountain mansion Ashby House. But when Cam’s estranged relatives contact him to help sort out the house and his inheritance, Jules convinces him to go. She immediately falls in love with Ashby House, but Cam’s complicated feelings of his upbringing and Ruby’s long dead secrets threaten to upend Jules and Cam’s relationship.

This took a me a little bit of time to get into, but once it started getting into Ruby’s sinister past it picked up. I enjoyed the southern gothic feel, and while the twists weren’t insane (I guessed both in the first few chapters) I enjoyed the ride. Rachel Hawkins is one of my go-to thriller writers because the settings/plots are always fun and the MCs aren’t squeaky clean. I enjoyed the letters from Ruby sprinkled throughout and how they played into the greater story.

If you’re a fan of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but with a thriller/mystery twist, you might want to give this one a try!

I really loved the fact the story was told from three perspectives: Jules, Cam and Ruby but the fact that Ruby’s was told from old letters and news clippings was fantastic! The setting of being in a remote mansion in the North Carolina mountains really helped to set up the dark and gothic, old money kind of setting. The string of dead husband’s and family members passing on really helped to set up the base of this mystery. It’s full of twists and turns. Some you might see coming but some.. maybe not, all the way through to the end of the story!

I will say I feel like there were some minor plot holes but overall, I had to pick up my jaw from the floor by the end of the book lol a solid mystery that I’d definitely recommend!

This is truly a game of cat and mouse with so many plot twists. When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies she is North Carolina's richest woman, and also quite notorious. So many husband, so many deaths..
After her death her son Camden wants nothing to do with his family, the home or his inheritance, but his wife Jules insists that they return to Ashby House. So many questions arise about the family members, the deaths of the husbands, and the inheritance. There are letters from Ruby telling her story. You are not sure who you can trust and what their motives are. This is about family secrets and manipulation that will keep yo guessing and turning the page.

Rachel Hawkins is back with another page-turning thriller!

Set at a historic Blue Ridge mountain estate and cast by some very unlikable characters, THE HEIRESS contains (IMO) the best type of set-up for a dark and twisty thriller.

But while THE HEIRESS shines in it's set-up, it doesn't exactly radiate in its delivery. For me, this newest from Hawkins was enjoyable enough to finish, but "basic" enough to be forgettable.

If you're a fan of Hawkins, THE HEIRESS is right in line with her others on a scale of "page-turning-ability," however for critics of this genre, I'd leave this one behind.

There's nothing as good as the rich gone bad.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced readers copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

This is my second Rachel Hawkins book that I've read, and I liked this one soo much better! It was a fun, fast-paced thriller with a couple of crazy twists that I actually didn't see coming.

This book is written from three characters' point of views - Camden, his wife Jules, and his mother Ruby (the heiress herself). After Ruby's passing, her POV is told through letters she left behind explaining the details of her life and her experiences with her four husbands that gave her the nickname of Mrs. Kill-more. This whole storyline was giving me a more gruesome version of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I do think it was a bit of an over-the-top detail to the book but I did enjoy the drama of it.

Camden, her adopted son and the sole heir to her massive estate, is now called back to his childhood home, which is something he never thought he would do. I liked Camden as a character and thought the dynamic between him and the rest of his (terrible) family really helped to build the suspense of the story. The most interesting character in my opinion was Jules, his wife who hints that she has a secret of her own that leaves the reader trying to figure it out as the story progresses. While kind of far-fetched and ridiculous at parts, I thought this book was very entertaining and I flew right through it. If you love thrillers, mysteries, and jaw-dropping family dramas, I'd pick this one up!

This was a gripping mystery that had me up past my bedtime because I couldn't put it down! I loved the past and present timelines and the multiple POVs. Quite frankly, I could have read an entire book just on Ruby's letters about the past timeline, they were so engrossing. A great read with multiple twists and a satisfying ending ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Rachel Hawkins can write a fun thriller and her latest does not disappoint. I loved the letter-writing format throughout the book and the very hate-able characters. Kept me guessing until the end.

Rachel Hawkins is hit or miss for me but this was definitely a hit. I knew there were secrets but the twisty suspense in this was even more than I saw coming. Camden's family was so unlikeable that you couldn't help but root for Camden. Even his wife was suspect. Poor guy! I definitely recommend this one as it was hard to put down.

Rachel Hawkins is an author that I know of. I have read her books before and was excited to jump right in to see what kind of mystery thriller was in my hands. Ashby House is the perfect setting. I love the grandeur of the house. It had a haunting feeling and I do believe that Ruby had never left. The characters were unique. They were all spoiled and rotten to each other. I could tell that they all had secrets and could not wait to see how they would come out.

The Heiress is not my favorite Rachel Hawkins book. There were parts that seemed a little flat as I read it. I wanted more suspense, more of the not knowing, and more mystery. While there was a lot of unknown in the story, the telling of the unknown did not have the feel that I expect from a Rachel Hawkins book.

The Heiress is an easy book to read. The story moved along quick enough and my attention was kept. I will recommend my family drama readers pick up a copy and check it out. I will be very interested to see how it reads for others.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book via NetGalley

Ruby McTavish became famous after being kidnapped as a child. She became even more famous after each of her husbands died under mysterious circumstances. After her death, her son Cam is called back to her estate by family members he hasn’t had any contact with since he decided to distance himself from them to live a modest life with his wife Jules. He wants nothing to do with the house or the money but soon realizes that his inheritance is much more than what’s written in his mother’s will.

This book is told from the three POV’s of Cam, Jules, and through letters written by Ruby. Although I enjoyed all them, this is my favorite of the three books I’ve read by Rachel Hawkins. I look forward to reading more in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

"Too many horrors to contemplate. Even for me, even now. Especially when there are still so many horrors to come."

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy of The Heiress in exchange for an honest review. All opinions that follow are my own.

The Heiress centers around Ruby McTavish, the current matriarch of the McTavish family and is also one of the most notorious women in the country. A victim of a kidnapping when she was very small and a widow four times over, Ruby reigned over the small town of Tavistock, developed by her great-great grandfather, from the family estate called Ashby House high in the mountains of North Carolina. In the messy aftermath of her death, Camden, her adoptive son, wants nothing to do with his massive inheritance. Meanwhile, his wife Jules couldn't be more excited that they have come into the house and the money. Within the house is so many secrets that your head will spin by the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I love multi-POV books because it gives the reader several glimpses into the storyline and Ms. Hawkins did a masterful job pulling all of her storylines and characters together at the end of the novel. There were so many different plot twists and secrets within this one famous family, that my head almost couldn't keep up with them all in the best way possible. The last probably 50-100 pages blew my mind in so many ways. Even though I thought through the whole book that there was something weird up with Jules, I never could've guessed her deeper connection to everything happening throughout the book. I absolutely loved Camden's relationship with Ruby as well as Ruby as a character. She was super interesting and also extremely creepy at the same time. I never quite knew where her freaky mind would take her.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller novel as well as the popular novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. 5/5 stars!