Publisher: St. Martins Press
Release Date: January 9, 2024
Many thanks to St. Martins Press for an arc of this title.
5 Shocking, Bleeding Hearts
Review:
THE HEIRESS is a deliciously wicked, bone chilling, highly addictive gothic suspense thriller masterfully crafted by author Rachel Hawkins. The story is utterly captivating, meticulously plotted and nigh on impossible to put down. Clear your schedule for this one, and above all else, remember it's not over until it's over.
THE HEIRESS centers around the infamous McTavish family, a rich, prestigious, multi-generational family living in Ashby House high in the Blue Ridge Mountains reigning over the town of Tavistock, North Carolina. At the heart of the family is the now deceased, notorious Ruby McTavish, the larger-than-life matriarch who rules the estate and the town in life and death. Once suspected of having murdered four husbands, sharp witted, beautiful Ruby has been surrounded by dark secrets, gossip, and suspense her entire life, starting when she was kidnapped as a toddler from the forest surrounding Ashby House only to be discovered eight months later residing with a family in a nearby town and returned home. Over the years, Ruby ignored the rumors and innuendos that persisted, relishing in the fame, power and protection the family wealth afforded her. Having remained childless, she eventually adopted a son, Cam who was shocked and dismayed to learn he inherited everything including the ominous house and nine figure income upon her death. Turning his back on his inheritance and aunt and cousins who have a lifetime right to reside in the mansion, Cam escaped to Colorado choosing to spend the next ten years etching out a living teaching while truly happy with his wife Jude. It's only under extreme duress that he returns to Ashby House after his uncle's death to settle affairs of the house and family once and for all. While Jude is immediately smitten with the house and obvious wealth that is rightfully theirs, Cam struggles to hold it together as the dark secrets and skeletons he left behind when he fled the premises are waiting, and it's clear they aren't finished with him yet. The story that unfolds is insanely intense, mysterious, sinister and absolutely riveting.
THE HEIRESS is hands down one of the best domestic/gothic thrillers I've read in some time, skillfully intertwining two timelines together over generations to tell a story of greed, entitlement, power, love and hate. Alternating chapters and timelines are brought together with Ruby's letters affording readers access to the appalling true story of the life of the scandalous widow. The story is narrated from three points of view - that of Cam and Jude in the present and Ruby in the past via chilling, remorseless letters left behind telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the sordid truth. Her story is stupefying, heartbreaking and outrageous. Hawkins has an amazing gift for creating empathy for characters with questionable actions by allowing readers to get a peek at the motivations driving them. Be prepared to be shocked when character's scandalous actions and secrets surface clueing readers into their malevolent intent while setting a tone dripping with malice and bad vibes. Unfolding at a fast pace, the story is driven by the unsettling, highly atmospheric setting of a house with secrets and skeletons hidden within its claustrophobic walls, leading readers to wonder if anyone will survive.
Rachel Hawkins has penned what I believe to be her finest work yet in THE HEIRESS. Meticulously plotted with brilliant characterizations, this story never stops shocking readers even in the final pages when you think you've finally learned the whole ugly truth only to realize this author isn't quite finished astounding you yet. From the first page to the last, THE HEIRESS is a stunning, gripping tale of suspense that ranks among my favorite reads of 2023 thus far. Highly recommended to fans of domestic and/or gothic suspense thrillers. Do not miss this one!
Synopsis:
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.
But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.
Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.
Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.
But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
My introduction to Hannah Morrissey's taut, descriptive prose was in HELLO, TRANSCRIBER, the first book in the Black Harbor series. WHEN I'M DEAD is book three, and I'm delighted to say the author's raised her game to yet another level rendering a gripping, highly atmospheric story sure to keep readers up late burning through pages. Strap in for this one, and I advise you to leave the lights on!
WHEN I'M DEAD is a gripping, domestic crime story concentrated around a family in crisis. Rowan, the town medical examiner, and husband Axel, a homicide detective, have demanding professions that command their attention at a moment's notice much to the chagrin and resentment of their moody teenage daughter Chloe. When her parents are called away in the middle of her performance in the school play, they leave Chloe with another thoughtless, impulsive apology and instructions to get a ride home with their neighbor. Heartbroken and in tears over them choosing work over her yet again, Chloe chooses to walk home alone in the dark not realizing her parents are investigating the brutal murder of one of Chloe's friends. Rowan arrives home later expecting to find her daughter asleep, but Chloe is nowhere to be found. It's apparent she never made it home. Someone is murdering teenagers . . . is Chloe a victim? Rowan recalls her daughter's last words to her as they left her crying in the theatre - "you'll love me more when I'm dead." A premonition or warning? They have one dead girl and another missing and as readers soon learn, Rowan has dark secrets of her own. Has her past come calling?
Dark, gritty and highly visual, WHEN I'M DEAD unfolds through multiple points of view via alternating chapters which are riveting. The narrators include Rowan, Axel and Libby, the next-door neighbor's socially awkward daughter who is bullied at school. Morrissey sets the perfect spooky scene with Halloween approaching, haunted houses, and falling blood red leaves adding to a dark tone of malice suffocating a fading, rundown town many people dream of escaping one day. The pace escalates steadily as accusations surface about Chloe and her friends implicating their involvement in some unsavory activities, leaving her parents shell shocked and wondering if they ever knew their daughter at all. The author does an excellent job keeping readers off-kilter by shifting focus to several red herrings as the list of suspects is ever changing. The characters are complex and believable, having little trouble earning readers' empathy with their increasing anxiety and desperation. Morrissey is proving to be an expert at creating highly atmospheric scenes that threaten to swallow characters and readers up as they maneuver all the dark twists and turns on the way to the shocking climatic ending. I'll admit to having the killer on my radar but was never one hundred percent sure until the big reveal.
WHEN I'M DEAD is a well-crafted, heart pounding thriller sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats. The author's ability to strand characters and readers in super creepy, haunting scenes sets off warning bells that increase as the story progresses. Fans of highly atmospheric crime thrillers are going to love this one.