i really enjoyed this!! a great thrilling story! i will definitely be recommending this to my friends! it was a really great read and im very thankful for this review copy.

saltwater by katy hayes

every year after her moms death the Lingates go to Capri to prove her tragic death an accident. Helen who was young at the time enlists the help of the family assistant to finally figure out what really happened.

I read the cloisters last year by this same author and the strongest part was the setting and I would say the same goes here, the characters are very eh to me as was true for the cloisters but I had a decent enough time to want to continue with saltwater

also similarly to cloisters this ran a bit too long and too slow to start at the beginning. if you don’t like rich people you probably won’t be able to look past many of the characters but I enjoyed Lorna who was just trying to lookout for herself the whole time

overall I enjoyed it. not perfect not horrible. definitely a great summer read or a fun book club pick!

thank you as always to netgalley and penguin/ballantine for the earc to review!

I was attracted to the setting in Saltwater, who can resist the Mediterranean and the Isle of Capri? While this was a bit slow to start, and maybe a tad too long, but I enjoyed the solid writing of this thriller / family drama, which is perfect for your next vacation. Looking foward to what this author may have in store for the future. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Salt Water by Katy Hays
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book 5 of 2025
Thank you @randomhouse @netgalley for this MASTERPIECE. Chefs kiss chefs kiss chefs kiss 🤌🏼 the easiest 5 stars of my life. The setting, the characters and the devilish plot are all so hot! 🥵 makes me wanna take summers in Capri wearing Anthropologie dresses at lavish events. Hays gives so much depth to characters. Lorna may be my favorite. Girl is just looking out for herself in a sea of evil people. The end may have been a little cheesy how things worked out but I would have never guessed things would end up the way they did! Although the cover screams summer read with the hot pink lettering, the colorful Italian backdrop & sexy dark haired mystery girl stepping in the water, it’s 100% a thriller with deception and vanity lurking around every turn. Can’t wait for this book to get published and Hays to get the credit she deserves for this amazing novel!

#Saltwater #NetGalley

A psychological drama that has secrets, mystery, missing people. All set in the world of the rich and elite where things like this are just the normal. A tense but enjoyable. This started out a bit slow but picked up pace and flowed well enough. I would say this is a perfect weekend read.

Saltwater is suspenseful, tense, and intriguing. Lots of surprises and twists along the way add interest even though most of the characters are shallowly developed and quite despicable. Is a quick, entertaining read set in romantic Capri.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

In 1992 Sarah Lingate was found dead outside the family home on the cliffs of Capri. The family is suspected but the death is called an accident by the authorities. Every year the family, including Sarah's daughter, Helen, return to the home. On the 30th anniversary of Sarah's death the family arrives and finds the necklace that Sarah was wearing the night she died. Helen enlists the help of family assistant Lorna to find a way to escape her family. Before this can happen Lorna disappears. This is enough for the police to reopen the the investigation into Sarah's death. Helen soon becomes aware that all of her family may be suspects in her mother's death. Her controlling father, consistently out of it aunt Naomi, her uncle Marcus, and other friends. To top it off Lorna is also not who she seemed to be.

I had a really good time reading this book. It did take a little while to get to the real meat of the story but once it got going I couldn't put it down. We follow the point of view of multiple characters throughout different timelines. Just when I thought I had things figured out there would be another twist. Most of the characters are morally gray and have their own reasons to keep secrets. The summer in Capri setting would make this the perfect beach read. I enjoyed the mystery and twists. This is my first book from Katy Hays but I would definitely be interested in reading others.

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

Take the screaming popularity of Succession and its rambunctious family of unlimited wealth and power (although here it is not as well defined), add in a gorgeous location and stir with the death 30 years previously of a family member who just so happened to have written a Pulitzer Prize winning play, and voila. Told from multiple POVs and in multiple eras, this should have been a winner. The main trouble is, I didn't feet the characters were well developed enough to be original, and despite several plot twists, could see them coming.

This is a novel different from any I have read before. At first, I found it confusing and not making any sense or connections. As I continued to read, things became clearer as to the plot and mystery. The story will grab you if you can get past the first confusing chapters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book took me for so many twists and turns - it felt like I was getting whiplash! I was not expecting the end at all and it truly had me on the edge of my seat.

When the ending / twist clicked - I put the book down and and covered my face as I let out a little groan (i guess??) - mostly of excitement because it has been an extremely long time since I read a book that I didn't see the twist coming, sometimes I feel books have too much foreshadowing that it is a dead giveaway to the plot twist at the end - but this one did a stunning job at leaving the reader, truly shocked!

This author knows how to get you hooked and for me, it did take around seven chapters, and a restart to fully get involved in the book but I will dip into that in just a bit!

A part of this book that I loved was how it was separated into two main parts, and the first part left off on a cliffhanger that made you not want to put down the second part, and really get to the bottom of this!

This book will keep you on your toes and lead you making your own theories up in your mind as to what exactly happened between the seemingly perfect family (besides the murder of course)!

When I touched on earlier, saying how it took me a minute to get into the book was simply because there was an introduction to truly so many characters that my brain wasn't computing it right away. I was reading and getting the characters confused, and it truly wasn't making any sense. I put the book down for honestly about a month and a half before I picked it up and tried to start where I left off. I realized I had to restart and so I drove to the beach around me and took a little beach read day and got everything straight in my head and I am so glad I did because this was such an enjoyable book to start off my 2025 with!

If you want a book that will leave you stunned and also make you use your mind to truly get to the bottom of everything... then this is the book for you!

Ooooo…this is good.

What is the Lingate family hiding?

Why do they come back to Capri every year?

The family goes back to make sure nothing new has been found out about Sarah's death.

Did someone kill Helen's mother, Sarah Lingate, or did she have an accident?

Helen lost her mother on the family's vacation in Capri when she was very young, and it has always been recorded as an accident, but was it?

Helen was always kept under strict guard as she grew because the family was afraid she would say something about the incident.

As they do every year, the family is back in Capri and have their assistant Lorna with them.

She and Helen had become friends, and Lorna knew all about how Helen grew up.

What is going to happen this time?

Will Lorna be under scrutiny and close watch now that she is with them? Will she be safe? She isn’t family, but does it matter?

What about the necklace Sarah wore? How could it have been found after thirty years?

And...who sent the necklace to the family at their villa?

What does all this mean?

Find out in this book that details Capri perfectly and makes you want to go there or go back.

And...find out about the secrets and lies kept by this wealthy family.

You won’t want to stop reading - and just wait for the twists. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Saltwater by Katy Hays is a captivating psychological thriller set on the picturesque island of Capri. The story centers around the mysterious death of a playwright in 1992 who married into a wealthy and privileged family. Her cause of death remains unknown—was it suicide, or was she murdered? Through dual timelines and thought-provoking themes, the novel delves into these questions, exploring whether wealth and privilege can shield people from their past indiscretions.

Although the book starts off a bit slow, it gradually builds momentum, skillfully weaving together multiple points of view and timelines. Katy Hays handles the intricate plot and numerous twists with finesse, creating a story that keeps readers guessing.

I particularly enjoyed Hays’ elegant writing style and the surprising twists and turns throughout. The international setting of Capri added an engaging layer to the narrative, offering a refreshing escape into another culture and location for this U.S.-based reader.

If you enjoy thrillers with family drama, secrets, and a richly atmospheric setting, Saltwater is worth diving into.

The beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea. A wonderful island, Capri. A wealthy family with dark secrets. Murder for nearly 30 years ago. And it all crashes together with the daughter of the victim wants answers. To start with, the plot was superb and the ending was so twisty I could never have guessed all the things going on. Readers just accept what they hear - never believe until you have proof. Mostly, it was 20% too long, and I only say this because there were chapters where nothing much happened and it felt slow and repetitive. But the writing was solid, and the characters had some spunk to them. I'd read more by the author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC. Originally I was going to give this book two stars, but the twist bumped it up in the end to three. This story was told in different timelines which I am normally ok with but it just seemed very erratic and hard to follow. It was an ok read…just not spectacular.

It took me a couple chapters to get into reading Saltwater, but once I did, I had difficulty putting it down.

Saltwater is set on the island of Capri. The novel focused on the death of a playwright in 1992 who married into a wealthy family. The cause of her death was never discovered. Did she die by suicide, or was she murdered? Does rich privilege absolve people of their indiscretions?

I enjoyed Hays’ writing style and loved the multiple points of view, dual timelines, and numerous twists.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

“Saltwater” is a mystery thriller by Katy Hays. This book started a bit slowly for me, but picked up pretty quickly. Ms. Hays’s descriptions of Capri made me feel like I was doing a great armchair visit. I wasn’t as thrilled by the Lingate family - meaning Ms. Hays did a great job describing them, but they were not good people (lovely location, horrible family). I found this book very engaging - who can be trusted? Who should be trusted? There are multiple timelines and I found myself getting confused a few times, but if multiple twists are your thing, this may be a book for you to pick up.

Lorna is the assistant for Uber rich Marcus Lindgate, His family is generationally rich after a shady deal his ancestor made to obtain land over an oil field years ago. She is invited to go on a family trip with them, their annual family trip to honor a lost family member and popular playwright, Sarah, who died on the island mysteriously 30 years ago.

Joining Marcus and his wife, Naomi, are Richard, Sarah’s husband and Marcus’s brother, and Richard’s daughter Helen and her long term boyfriend Freddy. Lorna struggles with embracing the trip but also being embarrassed and disgusted by the behavior of the rich.

She has developed a friendship with Helen prior to her work with Marcus and finds to be among the only person bearable, and Freddy who Lorna knows from a previous, drug induced life that they are both keeping from Helen.

Lorna has gone missing and we get the POV from Lorna up to 36 hours before she goes missing. We also get POV from present day Helen, and multiple other characters from the past with a look into Sarah’s death.

This family has always told lies as the truth and Helen is tired of it. She’s been monitored her whole life, allowed no freedom and is looking for an escape out. She can’t work, barely got to attend college, is given money on an allowance basis, and has a driver take her everywhere, monitoring everything. She wants to know the truth about her mother and she wants the money she is owed that’s been stolen and managed for her.

This ebook was excellent to read, had some of my favorite themes with rich privilege, missing person mystery, mysterious death and dark family secrets. I loved the different POVs and trying to guess who was truthful and going to come out on top. Lots of twists and turns! Would read more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 3/24/25.

4.5/5 rounded up

This thriller took me a while to get into, but once I did I was hooked in ways I didn’t see coming. Lovely Hays beautiful writing style, there were a few twists too many, but all and all a great read.

US pub date: 3/25/25
Genre: thriller (dual timeline)
Quick summary: Helen was 3 when her mother Sarah was found dead on the island of Capri. 30 years later, the family reunites and Helen realizes she may only have one chance to find out the truth.

Will I ever tire of reading dual timeline thrillers? Probably not :) I needed this armchair trip to Capri once winter hit, and I think readers will also enjoy it on the beach this summer! There was plenty of drama and suspense in the story, and I didn't see most of the twists coming. If you enjoy rich people behaving badly, give this one a try!

Thank you to Ballantine Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just don't think Katy Hays is for me, it was fine but not memorable. I found it hard to connect with any of the characters, and was never really drawn into the story