Saltwater explores the death of Sarah Lingate - told from the perspective of her daughter, Helen, and Lorna, the family assistant. This atmospheric novel takes place in idyllic Capri at the family retreat.

While this novel was marketed as having The White Lotus vibes, which I definitely see, I struggled because of the slower pace of the novel which just couldn't quite grab on to my attention and ended up not finishing at 45%. I did really enjoy the news clippings scattered throughout the novel that tell the story of Sarah's death and thought that was a great way to tell the story in addition to Helen and Lorna's perspectives.

Thank you so much to Random House Ballantine and to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Slow burn satisfying mystery! I’m a sucker for dysfunctional wealthy families and this one hit all the marks. The setting of Capri felt immersive and lush and I enjoyed theorizing yet being surprised.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: mystery/ thriller 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This one felt like reading someone’s internal monologue. It was unique but I wanted more action

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Working class life
Coming of age/ self discovery
Mother-daughter dynamics
Atmospheric setting
Character driven stories
Emotional undertones

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The honesty in Lucy’s voice
There wasn’t a rush to get answers forcing the reader to sit in discomfort

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
The fragmented format was a little hard to follow at times
It’s more of a vibes storyline than an action storyline

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “I felt confused by love; the way it could simultaneously trap you and set you free. How it could bring people impossibly close and then push them far away. How people who loved you could leave you when you needed them most.”
★ “I want a life that is full, which means dirty and delicious. Order seems to mean emptiness, or at least it does for me. I want coffee spilled on the carpet and stew slopped across the stove … I want to learn abundance; how to have things without fear.”
★ “I was an astronaut, the room was a galaxy, and gravity pulled everything towards the biggest and brightest planet, stardust caught in her hair and the moon reflected in her bottle of beer. I would forever be in her orbit, moving towards her and pulling away while she quietly controlled the tides, anchoring me to something as the universe expanded further and further away from us.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Released: March 25, 2025

A rich family with shocking secrets. A thirty-year unsolved mysterious death.

In the beautiful setting of Capri, we follow a cast of characters through varying timelines to uncover the mysterious death of Sarah Lingate.

With a strong and promising concept, I was interested enough to keep reading on, but it was a struggle in some areas. While this is slow-burn mystery, I felt the first half of the novel to be a little bit too slow. It also took a while to adjust to the timeline jumps as it can be a bit confusing on audio.
This may be intentional as the reader isn’t meant to trust these characters, but I had a total disconnect from everyone, which made it incredibly difficult to continue even trying to sleuth around and come up with theories.

The story didn’t quite land for me the way I hoped, but worth a shot if you like a slow-burn, messy, rich family.

A good second novel to follow the authors first. Multiple POV and filled with flashbacks. Several unexpected twists. I had to know how it ended and it kept me up all night until I did

The Lingates put the fun in dysfunctional—and by fun, I mean jaw-dropping drama, shady secrets, and enough family tension to sink a yacht off the coast of Capri. 🍋💀🇮🇹
In "Saltwater," Katy Hays gives us a gorgeously twisted and witty cocktail of old money, mystery, and Mediterranean mayhem. Sounds yummy, right!

When Sarah Lingate mysteriously died in 1992, her scandal-prone family swept it under their expensive rug and ignored the rumors. Thirty years later, the past is suddenly on everyone’s radar thanks to her infamous necklace resurfacing. You can almost hear the family’s collective gasp and feel their meltdown! 🫠🔥

Helen is done being the Lingates’ well-dressed ghost child. With the help of Lorna, the family's gorgeous and invaluable assistant, she plots her escape from the clingiest family in fiction. Think "Knives Out" with a Mediterranean twist and secrets saltier than the sea air.

This book has:
✔️ a crumbling villa that practically breathes secrets
✔️ a chaotic cast that's pure eye-rolling gold
✔️ plot twists that slap harder than a limoncello hangover

I devoured this in a few days. If you're into messy families, seaside suspense, and watching the privileged self-implode, you’ll want to pack this one in your beach bag!🏖️💬

Thanks to the author and Ballantine Books/Random House Publishing for this eARC provided through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an okay thriller. The characters were mostly unlikeable people. But they were written well in order to make you dislike them. The story moved a little too slowly for my taste. The twists at the end seemed a little too improbable for me.

This would be a good beach read because it's got the thriller aspect and set in the summer and in a tropical location.

Such a twisty, turning, suspense-filled treat! This one is perfect for the summer and keeps you guessing. I’m generally not a huge fan of straight up mysteries, so I loved that it was mixed with suspense and intrigue, and loved even more that I could not guess the ending. Italy is one of my favorite places, so really enjoyed the descriptions of the settings and locale. Overall, this was an entertaining read! Thank you so much to Katy Hays, Ballantine Books, & NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-ARC.

Thank you, Ballantine Books, for the ARC copy. All views are my own. Saltwater was a fun mystery that would be great for a beach trip! I really enjoyed the Italian setting, unlikeable characters, and the premise of a decades-old mystery. The setting and plot were eerie and atmospheric, too. While I normally like dual storyline, I struggled here with the pacing. I think most readers will enjoy this book, but for me, it wasn’t the best-executed thriller. Do I want to go to Capri now? Absolutely.

So many twists! As someone who reads a lot of thrillers, everything about this book felt original and new. I loved the variety of characters and that we got to see their flaws. Every time I thought I had the ending figured out there was another twist. I’d highly recommend this one!

Very interesting book about this woman, Sarah l.I.N g a t s. S. She had a daughter named helen and her husband was named richard. Most of the.
Action of this book took place on c.A p r I. This is where the family would go every year after sarah died. They had a house there and things seem to be normal. But 30 years later, things started to unravel. They found a necklace which was Sarah's when she died. It were appeared thirty years later. This book was.
Mystery and a love story at the same time. Goes back-and-forth in time and you'll find out when Sarah started to date Richard and how they moved to l. A and the uncle Marcus and the aunt we're also involved in crazy story.. A woman disappeared as well When?
They went back to the thirtieth anniversary and she was assistant to the family.. There's a lot twist in terms in this book and it's really good and you'll see how everything connects at the end.

DNF @ 50%

I truly did not care about this. I liked but didn't love Hays debut, The Cloisters, but one of the things I thought she did well was create atmosphere, so I was excited to get that but for the summer in Capri. Unfortunately it was mostly just rich people behaving badly and that's just not something I enjoy. I thought the perspective shifts and time jumps made the plot hard to follow and the chapters ended in a way that I could tell it was meant to feel suspenseful but I never wanted to keep going. Literally at the point I quit, a body was found and I think the real mystery was going to begin unraveling but I was so bored.

This book dragged on and on. I was interested at first and then could not pick it back up because I was so bored! The final 25% it picked up again, but the ending and resolution felt so blah that it didn't really make up for anything.
The plot was a bit muddled because every single person was lying about something different and it was hard to keep the stories straight. I never really understood the purpose of Lorna's storyline.
I ultimately wanted this to be a little more shallow and see more of a peak into the lives of this uber rich family. The book didn't live up to my expectations.

This is a literary mystery. That means it's character-driven and slow-burning, two things I love. Lorna and Helen craft a plan to get what they deserve from the wealthy family that Helen grew up in. Her mother disappeared and was later found dead thirty years earlier, and Helen has been kept a virtual prisoner by the small family. But after a necklace belonging to her mother appears, Helen and Lorna concoct a plan to escape and live the lives they want.

Again, I loved Capri's characters (rich people misbehaving) and atmospheric setting. This was lots of fun.

This had a wonderful setting, the atmosphere was perfect and really carried the story. I think the characters and storytelling style were a bit of a letdown though, not bad just a little lacking.

Stunningly atmospheric setting. Loved the slow burn-slow reveal of the flashbacks. The heroine here is complicated and so is her family. I definitely couldn't put it down and I'm not really a mystery/thriller fan. This one has enough literary chops to keep me reading!

Rich people behaving badly? Always a yes from me.

This book surprised me in the best way. I was expecting scandal and secrets—and I got that—but I wasn’t ready for how layered, twisty, and atmospheric it would be. Set against the dreamy backdrop of Capri, this story delivers a tangled web of family drama, long-buried secrets, and one jaw-dropping reveal after another.

And listen—I'm not easily shocked by plot twists these days, but one of these hit so hard I had to put the book down and just stare. Total whiplash moment. Loved every second.

It’s a slow burn, especially in the first third, but stick with it—it’s worth it. There’s a lot going on: dual timelines, multiple POVs, and a steady unraveling of the truth. But it’s easy to follow, and the payoff at the end? Chef’s kiss. I'd call it more family drama with a strong mystery thread than a true thriller, but it leans suspense in a way that still feels light enough for a summer or vacation read.

Helen’s story broke my heart. She’s grown—but still trapped under her wealthy family’s thumb, living a life shaped by control and reputation management. Then there's Lorna, who’s had to claw her way through life using every tool she’s got—sometimes even her body—to survive. Watching these two women try to reclaim their lives? Powerful, messy, and deeply satisfying.

By the 30% mark, I still couldn’t fully explain what the book was about, but I knew I was hooked. It’s one of those stories where the tension simmers, then suddenly everything explodes—and you’re left picking up the pieces alongside the characters.

This was such a wild, emotional, and gripping read. I didn’t know who to trust—and that’s what made it so fun. As one character says, “We are always both people.” That about sums it up.

I love a story with great openings!

"Money is my phantom limb.
Money is metabolic, a universal part of our constitution.
Money has always made me uncomfortable, both having a lot and not enough."

What this author has done so deftly in this book is use a myriad of narrators - so many broken points of view - and each in first-person too. And each narrator seems as unreliable as the next.

Until the reader realizes they're each telling a different version of the truth.

Just brilliant storytelling. Twisty, full of red herrings and truth cached as lies.

"People like the Lingates don't let go."

What a twisty story that gives a peak into a dysfunctional elite family dynamic. The setting of this book (Capri, Italy) seems to be a character just as much as the rest of the cast and the writing made this book unputdownable. This is a great beach read!

I really wanted to love this one. It sounded like it would be a fun vacation novel featuring rich people behaving badly. And it was - sort of. It wasn't as fun as I'd hoped, but I did like it overall - mainly for the atmosphere. I think it's the kind of story that would've worked better as a movie where the scenery would've stolen the show.

I read an ARC of this book. All comments are my own.