The Death Of Mrs. Westaway

by Ruth Ware

Publishers Weekly In this tense, twisty modern gothic set in England from bestseller Ware (The Lying Game), Harriet "Hal" Westaway receives a letter stating that her grandmother, Hester Westaway, is dead, and that Hal is a beneficiary of her will. Hal knows there's been a mistake-her grandmother was named Marion Westaway and died two decades earlier-but the 21-year-old orphan owes a lot of money to some dangerous people, feels comfortable stealing a small sum from wealthy strangers, and decides to use the skills she's honed as a fortune teller on Brighton's West Pier to scam some quick cash. But when she arrives at the crumbling family estate in Cornwall, neither the inheritance nor the Westaways are what she expects. Moreover, she begins to suspect that her invitation was no accident. Is Hal playing the Westaways, or is she somebody's pawn? Evocative prose, artfully shaded characters, and a creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere keep the pages of this explosive family drama turning. Agent: Eve White, Eve White Literary (U.K.). (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Book list *Starred Review* Hal hasn't had it easy in the three years since her mother died. She's dropped out of school and taken over her mother's tarot booth on Brighton Pier, but there was never much to be made from that. Now interest on the money from a loan shark has grown to an impossible amount, and he's threatening to break her bones. So when a letter arrives on creamy stationery from a lawyer in Penzance saying she's an heir to her grandmother's fortune, Hal goes to claim it, even though she knows he has the wrong person. Yet once at Trepassen House, things take an odd turn; a photograph shows she does have connections to the family. Finding the truth, however, turns into a very dangerous enterprise indeed. Ware, who, with a run of acclaimed thrillers, including The Lying Game (2017), has established herself as one of today's most popular suspense writers, twists the knife quite expertly here. Her clues tease readers, making them think they know what will happen next, and they do up to a point. The labyrinth Ware has devised here is much more winding than expected, with reveals even on the final pages. The plotting is not completely seamless, but that is more than made up for by a clever heroine and an atmospheric setting, accented by wisps of meaning that drift from the tarot cards.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2018 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Library Journal Harriet "Hal" Westaway is barely holding it together. After her mother's death, Hal took over her fortune-telling stall on the Brighton Pier. But a loan she received at a particularly low point has come due, and the men out to collect on it don't care that she doesn't have the money; their threats have Hal looking over her shoulder and fearing for her safety. So when a letter arrives informing her that she's a beneficiary in her grandmother's will-a letter she knows is a mistake: her grandparents have been dead for years-Hal puts her people-reading skills to good use to try to get the money and the loan sharks off her back. But everything at Trepassen House seems deeply off, from the inexplicably hostile elderly housekeeper to the strange relationships among her "uncles" to the room where she sleeps only locking from the outside. And then there are the unexpected terms of the will.. Ware's fourth novel (after The Lying Game) is her best yet, with steadily increasing tension, a complicated twisty mystery, and a sharp, sympathetic heroine who's up to the challenge of solving it. Verdict Recommend to fans of the author and readers who love immersing themselves in well-crafted, gothic-tinged suspense. [See Prepub Alert, 11/6/17; a May LibraryReads Pick.-Ed.]-Stephanie Klose, Library Journal © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.