Saltwater was a fun summer mystery. Lately I've seen several publisher blurbs describing a book as "a cross between White Lotus and Ripley" but this one really was a cross between White Lotus and Ripley. The characters were engaging and the lives of the rich in Capri is always fun reading. And there were enough twists to keep me reading. It was hard to put down.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.
What a great book, my favorite this year so far, I loved it!
It's the family saga of the ultra rich who have come to Capri, where they spend a week each year.
The youngest of them is trying to get away from them, but needs money. She and her uncle's administrative assistant hatch a plan to leave with quite a large amount of it, but it doesn't quite work.out.
The family is hiding so many lies, secrets and apparent murders it's hard to fathom ... and they will do anything to keep them buried.
The answers to the questions as well as the ending are
fabulous and such a surprise, wow, I loved it!

As someone who doesn't really like a dual timeline, this one didn't seem to bother me. I felt engaged the whole time reading. Some of the characters were insufferable but I had a feeling that they would be based on the books description.

Thank you, NetGalley for this eARC! The cover of the book was what sold me. I knew I was headed to a beach vacation and thought this would be the perfect beachside mystery to read. I was correct!

“Saltwater” follows a few different character perspectives throughout the novel, but the most important are, Helen and Lorna. Helen’s family is rich and vacation on Capri every summer which is odd considering her mother died on the very same island and trip 30 years prior. Lorna is Helen’s friend who now works for the family. Both Helen and Lorna want the same thing freedom from this family and the money to secure that freedom. This means uncovering family secrets including what really happened to Helen’s mother Sarah.

Overall, this was a fun mystery to read. I know other reviewers mentioned the jumping timelines were confusing, but I enjoyed them. These characters have very few, if any, redeeming qualities which made it hard to root for any of them. The setting of Capri was lovely. I felt like I was there. This was a solid 4-star read for me till the very end. I was surprised by twist which I liked and thinking back I see the clues. However, I don’t think it was fully believable, especially after the 2nd part of the twist. I think most readers will enjoy this mystery though!

Oh my goodness. What a spiraling, twisting, serpentine adventure. The money. The deceit. The hate…This book had it all, and more! One minute I think I know what’s going on and BAM, Katy Hays blows that right out of the water. If you’re looking to get sucked into family drama, murder, and more plot twists than you can count - This is it! My favorite read this summer, by far!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was really good. The two mysteries converged well, and there were a lot of good twists. Something felt a little off, I’m not totally sure what, but it was still really good!

This book was an absolute gem. I never knew where it was going, and it kept me at the edge of my seat.

I was absolutely transported by this novel. I could hear the water lapping the cliffs in Capri: the blue water, salt air, taste the cocktails…
Loved the story. It did jump a lot between timelines and povs, but I did not mind.
It’s a rich people doing bad things kind of tale and some people love it some people hate it. Overall, I thought the wrong was great and loved the story. I really wish that the play Saltwater was included in the book to read. Could have been juicy.

It is definitely salty! I have to give major kudos to the author. I read a lot of suspense/thriller books, but this one got me. I really feel like I should have seen it coming, but there were - not one - but two delicious twists that I never anticipated. Well done!

The story moves from 1992 to the present day in the life of the Lingate family on the island of Capri. They are an old-money family with brothers Richard and Marcus at the helm. Richard’s wife Sarah was found dead at the bottom of the cliffs of the island in 1992. The death was ruled an accident, but none of the locals believe that.

In the current day, Sarah’s daughter Helen has arrived on the island with the entire family and her friend, Lorna, who is her uncle’s assistant. All Helen wants is to leave the iron grip of the Lingates, and she has enlisted Lorna to help. But the entire time, the family is haunted by the past.
When Lorna disappears, old suspicions are reignited.

The book is incredibly well-written, and the transition from past tense to present is seamless. I thought the characters were very diverse and perfectly defined. Helen was an easy person to love and sympathize with. I felt immersed in the beauty of the island, her descriptions were precise without being overdone. Again, I didn’t see the ending coming and I appreciate that very much. I’ll be reading more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing- Ballentine for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I just couldn't get into this one. It was hard to keep the characters straight. The writing style is great, but the storyline was just a little convoluted for me.

****8/20/24**** Finished this up on a recent trip and really liked it. You get a rich family, deep psychological drama/mystery, layer upon layer of secrets and family drama - all set in sparkling exotic Capris. I didn't see the finish coming at all. A little darker than I might have liked, but very good. 4+ stars and thank you, NetGalley!

**** 8/4/24 **** Thank you, NetGalley, for a pre-release ARC of Saltwater to read and review. This is a mystery/thriller set in beautiful Capri, Italy, that I've just dived into. Well-written with a female protagonist working for a wealthy family, but she has also secretly befriended the daughter in the family who referred her for the job. It is hard to tell who the allies are vs. foes, although clearly the girl's father and his brother look like the bad guys. But what about the daughter's boyfriend? And what really happened to the girl's mother so many years ago??? I'm only 20% in so I'll have to report back, but very good so far! Fellow netgalley reviewers - request this one - not due for publishing until 3/25/25.

Family dynamics. Even the wealthy have difficult family dynamics. Helen Lingate was raised in the comfort of her wealthy family. The family was very close-knit, insular even. In 1992, Helen's mother, Sarah, died after falling off the cliffs near the family vacation home. The police had suspects but no one was ever convicted of the murder. On the 30th anniversary of Sarah's death, the family returns to the lovely retreat at Capri. Joining the family are Helen's boyfriend, Freddy, and Uncle Marcus's assistant, Lorna. During dinner on the first night on Capri, a box arrives addressed to Helen. Inside the box is the necklace that her mother was said to be wearing when she fell to her death. The appearance of this necklace triggers the unraveling of Helen's father, Richard, her uncle, and her aunt who were all present when her mother died. The necklace had never been recovered, its sudden re-appearance dredges up everyone's actions that fateful night.

Saltwater is a mystery and a psychological thriller. Katy Hays takes readers on a journey that will confuse and surprise them. Each member of the group on Capri has secrets and over time many of them are revealed. It is how the secrets fit together that offers surprises in this story. Needless to say, don't take anything at face value. Katy Hays shows the complicated nature of families and how secret-keeping is only one aspect of families. I did anticipate a couple of surprises in the book but the ending demonstrated Hays's ability to keep the twists and turns coming. Hays is an imaginative author who places herself firmly in the ranks of psychological thriller authors.

This book is officially one of my favorite reads I have ever consumed in my entire life. The writing style draws you in immediately. The beautiful setting where this novel takes place seems so peaceful and so stunning, while such horrible things are happening. You never know who's watching...

This novel is about Sarah Lingate's tragic death in 1992 and the annual return of her family to the scene, desperate to prove it was an accident.

Where the story really pulled me in is the discovery of Sarah's necklace on the thirtieth anniversary of her death, which acts as a catalyst for the unraveling of long-buried truths, shattering the façade of the Lingates' family bond. The suspense builds as Helen, Sarah's daughter, builds a relationship with Lorna Moreno, a family assistant, in a desperate bid for freedom from her suffocating family. But as Lorna's mysterious disappearance adds a fresh layer of tension, the story plunges into a thrilling investigation that threatens to expose everyone on Capri that fateful night.

While I don’t usually like when a story jumps around from past to present, Hays skillfully interweaves both, slowly unraveling a web of intrigue that keeps the reader on edge until the very last page.

Overall, the atmospheric setting makes this novel stand out for me. The island of Capri, with its cliffs and villas, becomes almost a character, reflecting the isolation and danger permeating the Lingates' lives. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love novels with richly detailed settings.

It's a slow burn, but it is done so well.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved loved the cloisters so I knew I would want to request this book. I loved it, all the descriptions of capri and just how it sounded like heaven was amazing and then the mystery of it all was amazing.

Saltwater by Katy Hays is the story of the Lingate family, and the death that haunts them. In the early 90s, when she was just a toddler, Helen Lingate’s mother plunged off a cliff in Capri. This story is the one that comes to define the wealthy family, and they mark the anniversary yearly with a pilgrimage to Italy. Joining them this year is Lorna, an assistant of Helen’s uncle who has become friendly with her. When a box is sent anonymously to the Lingates’s that contains the necklace Helen’s mother was wearing when she died, things deteriorate quickly and new questions emerge. When Lorna disappears, Helen’s doubts about her family go into overdrive and she wonders what they are hiding about the present, and the past.

Told in alternating points of view, first from Helen and Lorna, and eventually adding in many of the POVs of the other characters, the story twists and turns, slowly chipping away at the core mysteries.

I loved this book. From the way new clues gradually unfurled to the questions that emerge with every revelation, to the glittering scenery in Capri, it was so well plotted and deftly written. I wholeheartedly recommend you pick up a copy of Saltwater and dive into the Lingate’s scandalous world.

I received this free advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

I loved Saltwater, the sophomore novel by Katy Hays, author of The Cloisters. The story is set in fabulous Capri, summer home of the rich and decadent. There are multiple timelines, primarily switching between the present and a summer years ago, when Sarah Lingate disappeared, and then her body washed up on the island’s shore. Her family, including her husband, his brother and sister-in-law, and her now-grown daughter, Helen, still vacation on Capri every summer. They are an odd bunch, even for the ultra-rich, due to their tight control over everything, especially the life of Helen. The story is told from the viewpoints of multiple narrators, capturing the various facets of the family and their associates, and how they dealt with Sarah’s death and moved on from it, when new information comes to light. I loved the way in which the tale unfolded and how each character learned what really happened. Hays has the ability to make you feel very uncomfortable about these characters and their actions—and I mean that in the best possible way. The twists are outstanding, and this book is destined to become a summer classic. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Absolutely loved this! I started and finished it in just over 24 hours because I couldn’t put it down. I thought I had things figured out but I was wrong. Very suspenseful and well written minus a few typos here and there.

With its glitz and glamour, the island of Capri is the perfect setting for a murder mystery centered around a wealthy dysfunctional family. I really enjoyed the setting and could picture the gorgeous blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the steps leading up to the villas! Katy Hays is a great writer and the pacing moved along nicely, and I enjoyed the multiple POVs in the past and present. I did find myself struggling to connect with the main characters, some of whom seemed a bit flat. There were a few tiny errors in the Italian, which I am sure will be corrected in the final. (Also, I've actually never read The Cloisters and plan to check it out.)

It's a slow burn thriller that you'll think you've figured out...until you're wrong. There are characters you'll love to hate, ones you're rooting for, but no one you can trust - the best kind of mix for a great thriller. The setting plays a huge role and just like the characters, it's moneyed and unknowable with a dark underside.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC before publication! All opinions are my own.