By Rachel Hawkins

This one started a little slowly for me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, plus I was worried by the early hints that the two likable protagonists might turn out to be not so likable after all. As it turned out, they do have secrets from each other and the reader that don’t put them in the best light, but even in the face of a few doubts that came and went throughout the novel, even to the very end, I never really stopped rooting for them. Possibly because their antagonists proved to be so vile, but also because Cam seemed like such a good person, and Jules was such a force to be reckoned with in her support of Cam.

It’s hard to review a thriller/mystery the way I usually do because it can’t usually be done without spoilers. I will say that this was very smart and very entertaining. I was really in the palm of the author’s hand once Jules and Cam finally arrived at Ashby House and the action really got going. When I read one of these types of books, part of the enjoyment is trying to guess the reveals and the twists while the author is trying to throw you off and misdirect you. I did guess correctly that two aspects would come back into play as important factors but not in the way I thought they would (but in hindsight, should have guessed.) The reveals were clever and surprising and there weren’t just one, two, or three. There were at least eleven by my count! And they were all “Whoa!” worthy.

I really liked the use of 3 points of view to tell the story. Cam is the adopted son of the late Ruby McTavish, “The Heiress.” He hasn’t been back home in 10 years, since her death. He has turned his back on wealth and privilege (lots of wealth and privilege) to scratch out a living in Colorado as a school teacher. His part of the story is told in the conventional first person. Jules is his wife of 10 years whom he met there. Her perspective is also told in first person, but often breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the reader.
“So, I guess I have some explaining to do, huh? I know, I know. It looks bad….Second act plot twist, your heroine is actually a potential villain.
The third perspective is told in the letters Ruby wrote shortly before her death to someone she refers to as “My darling”. They are confessional. She tells the truth about how her 4 husbands met their demise as well as other secrets, filling the reader in on her back story and motivations. I started to like her. She was frank and funny. Then things changed. The author kept me turning the pages by ending each of these “chapters” on a cliffhanger before going to another narrator or the objective point of view of a clip from an old newspaper or magazine article on the milestones in the lives of the famous and powerful family.

The book barrels to an exciting climax before we get two remaining letters and an epilogue that reveal more secrets and answer more questions. It ends as well as I could expect such a book to end. It was satisfying. This was a clever and entertaining novel that I recommend without reservation to readers who like mysteries or thrillers with strong gothic overtones along the lines of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review. This book will be published January 9, 2024.