A clever, well-written thriller. I enjoyed this atmospheric story of a dysfunctional family with well-developed characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I stayed up all night, happily wrecking my already mangled sleep schedule, to finish this propulsive and absolutely diabolical page-turner of a thriller!

The Agarwal family are rich, successful and remarkably tight-knit. Patriarch Raj, fondly known to the younger generation as Papa, built up his petrochemical business from nothing, as he never hesitates to remind his children. Now on the verge of retirement after a health scare, he’s gathered his globe-trotting family here on Kilbryde, the remote Scottish island owned by his eldest daughter Myra. Ostensibly, it’s for a family holiday, but everyone knows it’s really to announce the distribution of wealth that will come from selling Papa’s company for an eye-wateringly large sum:

QUOTE
Three thousand crores. Roughly three hundred million pounds, just fifty million shy of the King’s estimated net worth. The King.

It’s a number that would have seemed completely unfathomable to me just a few years ago.

A number that still gets my heart racing.

And judging by how quickly everyone agreed to this trip, I’m not the only one. Ever since Papa announced his retirement, we’ve all been waiting for him to reveal his inheritance plan.

I let my gaze drift back to the window, to the amber sun slanting across the snow-capped Munros. Once the sale is complete, Aseem won’t have to play by Papa’s rules any more.

We won’t have to play by Papa’s rules.

We’ll finally be free.
END QUOTE

The “we” in this perspective is Zoe Agarwal, the social media influencer married to middle child and only son Aseem. It’s taken her a long time to be seen as anything but an English interloper, but now that Aseem has taken over running the company, she and her husband have finally been able to start making their own plans for the future. It’s been stifling enough for her, having to live with her in-laws in Delhi, subject to the iron rule of her fragile-seeming mother-in-law Shalini. But a few more days on the island will hopefully help her secure everything she needs for her freedom.

Myra, meanwhile, is worried about hosting her family for the first time. The Agarwals’ golden child gave up her former life in order to transform Kilbryde from an abandoned island with a haunting past to a glamorous luxury resort. Her younger sister Aisha, meanwhile, travels the world seemingly on a whim, partying it up with a string of unsuitable men and coming home only when the leash tightens.

As the getaway weekend progresses, the suspense of what Raj will decide practically forces the Agarwal family’s secrets to come to light. Disagreements turn to arguments, but that’s almost to be expected from fractious family gatherings. What none of them expects, however, is murder.

Trisha Sakhlecha writes like a house on fire – perhaps fittingly, since a house fire does play a part in this gripping narrative. I was so interested and invested in all these characters’ lives and motivations that I simply could not put the book down. A large part of that may be due to the fact that the story she’s telling is both compelling and a fresh take on the usual succession drama. The Agarwals, unlike most families riven by money, genuinely do love one another, which makes the murder mystery narrative that much more shocking. As Zoe narrates:

QUOTE
When I first met them, it was this closeness that struck me the most. The whole family seemed to move as a single organism, connected even when they weren’t together. [...] They consulted each other on everything, but what surprised me the most was the fact that not only did they know exactly what was going on in each other’s lives, they cared.

I’d never seen anything like it.

It took getting married and living with my in-laws for me to realize that the closeness I so envied cloaked a vein of darkness that ran so deep it was embedded in their DNA. My husband’s family uses love as a shield, an excuse to justify everything from their insecurity and nosiness to outright intrusion.
END QUOTE

The Inheritance explores the ways in which that familial love can take a desperately wrong turn, switching between multiple narratives to ensure that the pace never flags. This is genuinely one of the best reads I’ve enjoyed this year so far, and a must-read for anyone who enjoys propulsive crime fiction.

If you like domestic thrillers, you may enjoy this one. The story is mainly centered around the family dynamics and drama. I found it engaging enough that I wanted to finish it, but nothing memorable. Would make for a great easy-read, palate-cleanser, type of book. I enjoyed my time while reading it, just nothing spectacular.

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed reading about a rich family who is waiting for their dad to retire so they can split their inheritance. So they meet for a family celebration on one of the children's island all together again. Yet there are many secrets hiding in the siblings lives and one just might be capable for murder to get what they want. So good.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free arc of this novel.

Unfortunately, I ended up DNFing this book at 25%. I initially was interested in reading the book because of the family reunion turns into murder plotline. However, I felt that the opening lacked some tension that would have kept me reading. While there's much emphasis on the family's interaction, I wasn't getting very much "mystery," which is why I was initially interested in reading the book. Additionally, I wasn't very connected to the characters, who didn't seem overly distinct in my mind. I would've liked more distinction in their personalities to make them more personable. I'm sure those more invested in the characters would be willing to wait for the mystery to unfold.

2.5 stars

The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha is a dark thriller about a wealthy family who get together in Scotland to work out the details of what will happen with the family's wealth when the father passes away. As days go by, someone is murdered and we're brought along into the dark and twisty happenings.

I could not get into this book. I'm all for a dark, twisty family drama. I even enjoy the occasional locked-room style book (even though there have been so many of this trope lately). I love unreliable narrators. But this one did not pull me in and keep my interest at all. Really, nothing exciting happened until the last 25% of the book or so. I found SO MANY of the characters to be unlikeable - so much arrogance and greed. The family members are whiny and entitled. They don't really make me want to finish the book. It took so long for things to unravel and become slightly interesting. Finally the last quarter of the book spun things around and surprised me...even though I knew how terrible the family members were, I wasn't really expecting things to happen the way they did.

Overall, it was okay - just too slow and too many unlikeable people for me. I think if you enjoy slow burn, family drama type thrillers you will enjoy this one.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was a very well written book. I loved all of the details and descriptions of the characters and the places they were at. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming, especially the way the book ended. I thought the troublesome character was going to be Gabe but I was way off.

Locked room meets dysfunctional family. She married into a family not expecting the chaos of this truley messed up family. You have your standard controlling mother. Siblings hiding things and the father well he just wants everyone gone.
Pretty good family suspense drama. keep me entertained and reading.

I kept hearing about this book and was so happy to receive an ARC - and it did not disappoint! A dysfunctional family, a huge inheritance, and a creepy, isolated location kept the suspense super and and had me turning pages as fast as I could. I guessed the final big twist but there were so many smaller ones and a bunch of red herrings that I think it was just a lucky guess! None of the characters were likeable (at all!) but I still enjoyed it and would highly recommend. Can't wait to see what the author comes out with next! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Nothing like being stuck on an island with your toxic family!

Well-paced with a vibrant cast, this was an enjoyable read from start to end. I love how much the book explores while still being a gripping mystery brimming with secrets, tension and suspense:

- (dysfunctional) Family dynamics
- Fractured relationships
- Grief and loss of a child
- Indian upper society and culture
- Displacement and genocide

I also loved the atmospheric setting and its dark history, which really added to the vibes. The characters were not likeable and yet I couldn't stop reading. Although I found the climax rather underwhelming after all that build-up, the last chapter more than made up for it.

Yes yes yes and yes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This book was very well written and kept me wanting to comeback for more. I even bought the physical book.

A smart and cleverly written creative thriller to devour. A family comes together for a reunion in Scotland to decide on the fate of the fortune they could possibly gain as an i hesitance. However, secrets begin to be exposed. A dark, i intellectual well written thriller not to be missed.

Nothing like being stuck on an island with your toxic family!

Well-paced with a vibrant cast, this was an enjoyable read from start to end. I love how much the book explores while still being a gripping mystery brimming with secrets, tension and suspense:

- (dysfunctional) Family dynamics
- Fractured relationships
- Grief and loss of a child
- Indian upper society and culture
- Displacement and genocide

I also loved the atmospheric setting and its dark history, which really added to the vibes. The characters were not likeable and yet I couldn't stop reading. Although I found the climax rather underwhelming after all that build-up, the last chapter more than made up for it.

It was fascinating to watch the conflicts unfold and readers learn the backstories and secrets of each family member. This gave a fantastic insight into their behaviors and actions towards the other family members. I enjoyed how the author brought in threads to the plot that hinted at things to be unraveled, but I did not see the ending come. That was a wake-up call surprise.

The Inheritance lets you marinate in the characters from the first chapter. I felt the family dynamics and saw the mystery. I like layered family dramas, and this didn't disappoint. Everyone had secrets, and I waited patiently for reveals. I kept reading, and with a house full of kids competing with this book for my attention, it means something that the book got finished. 4.5!

Oh this family! They have so many issues and won’t confront any of them. But the Agarwals are headed to a remote island for a week to celebrate their parents 40th anniversary. All seems well on the surface but there’s lots of darkness beneath the surface. A very interesting and enjoyable read!

"The Inheritance" is a twisty locked-room mystery full of secrets, lies, and family drama. I devoured this book and couldn't put it down. The story is told in alternating timelines from the perspectives of Maya and Zoe. I enjoyed the dual POVs and timelines because it kept me guessing as to who was actually killed and who the perpetrator was, and the remote island setting created lots of tension and suspense. The beginning of the story was a bit slow, but it really picked up in the second half. There were some surprising and enjoyable twists, and I never saw that ending coming. Overall, this was a compelling and addictive suspense novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Argarwals have arrived on a tiny remote Scottish Island for a family reunion. Altogether there are five of them - the patriarch Raj, an Indian business tycoon, his wife Shalini and their three adult children Aseem, the son and heir with his wife Zoe, an influencer, older daughter Myra, who owns the island and the luxury retreat she is establishing, and younger daughter Aisha, a party girl who gets under everyone’s hair.

Although the reunion is a chance for Myra to show off the resort to her family, Raj also plans to use it to announce the succession plan for his company. All members of the family have secrets they are keeping from each other and the stakes are very high indeed as before it’s over someone will end up dead.

Although it starts of a little slow, but once the layers start to peel away, the tension builds to with twists and revelations to expose family dynamics in overdrive in a truly vile family! Who is murdered and who will murder them is something you’ll be trying to work out right to the end.

If you like a remote island setting and a family of unlikeable characters, this might be the book for you! The Agarwal family has lots of secrets and will do anything to keep them under wraps. While this did pick up at the end, most of it was a slow burn and I was just waiting for something to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I guess I am the outlier here, but I ended up DNFing this one. The first person narration was a huge bummer and kept ,me at arms length from the story. I wanted to keep going based on all of the praise but it was a slog and felt like work to keep picking it up and reading with disappointment.