Rachel Hawkins has a knack for writing books that are impossible to put down, and this one is no exception!

This is quite possibly my favorite Hawkins book to date. It is dark and twisty and clever and chock-full of secrets. It kept me engaged and interested and just when I thought I had everything figured out, the story pulled the rug right out from under me. And let me tell you, I love it when that happens! Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I really enjoyed this one!

When she was 3, Ruby McTavish was kidnapped and returned to her family 8 months later. As one of the wealthiest women in the Carolinas, upon her passing she left everything to her adopted son, Camdem. Camdem wants nothing to do with what’s left of the McTavish family and has spent the past decade putting as much distance between himself and where he grew up. When he’s summoned back to take care of the family estate, he opens up old wounds and may finally have the answers he’s long sought.

Alternating between Cam’s POV, his wife Jule’s POV, and letters from Ruby; this was an entertaining thriller filled with unlikable characters, secrets, and backstabbing. I wasn’t entirely sure at first how much I liked the alternating POVs but I ended up really enjoying the way all three played together. Ruby was by far my favorite character, and had all the attributes of ‘black widow’ but I found her to be brilliant and a women ahead of her time.

I primarily listened to this one, and the audiobook narration was fantastic. Each of the narrators truly captured the unique personality of the characters, and Ruby’s narration is exactly how I would have imagined her to sound. Personally, I’m a big fan of multiple narrators when it comes to audiobooks.

While The Heiress might well be my favorite Rachel Hawkins book so far, it ended up as a 4-star read for me. This is an entertaining, fast paced thriller, and if you enjoy twisted family dramas or even shows such as Succession, then you’ll certainly enjoy this book!


The Heiress comes out January 9, 2023. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my advanced copies in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

When I first started reading THE HEIRESS, I was immediately hooked. I finished reading it in about a day because it was such a compulsive read. At first, I was worried that there would be too much happening, but instead, I felt that the author did a fantastic job weaving everything together. Even though I was able to guess some of the twists, I found myself surprised often. Honestly, I feel like if you love domestic thrillers with a hint of murder, mayhem, unreliable characters, and generational wealth, this is the book for you.

The novel is told through three POVs: Camden, Jules, and Ruby. Ruby, married four times and each ending in the death of a husband, her adopted son, Camden, and his wife, Jules. These characters make for a enthralling read. Each character's POV is engaging and interesting. Usually with books that have multiple POVs, I find myself caring less about one of them. This wasn't the case here. The author's ability to tell this story this way, and to do it well, really made this one of my favorite thriller reads.

And, as a good thriller requires, the ending and the twists and turns BEFORE the ending were fabulous. Again, I guessed some of these, but some I wasn't expecting and I felt that they made sense. To someone that reads a significant amount of books like me, it can be hard to truly surprise me. But it did and I honestly thought the way that these twists were interwoven, through the multiple POVs and the story itself, were worth it.

Overall, I really liked this book and I feel it is a must read for those that like this author and family centered thrillers.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

To begin - the audio production of this book was excellent. The rotating cast of voices used suited the characters and really added to the story as a whole. I would recommend it.

I also really enjoyed the novel itself. I feel like the comparisons to Evelyn Hugo will be inevitable - a rich woman who has many husbands throughout her life - but this is a darker version with the twists that Hawkins is known for.

I think the plot is cleverly executed, unfolding in layers the further you progress. If I have any criticism, it's that the story almost felt too fast. I think more could have been added to really build towards the ending.

If the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo had an evil twin…. It would be this book and I mean that as the biggest compliment. This book was so fun and so twisty!! Also, I loved the writing style so much and the flow of the book was just very fitting.

I have nothing bad to say about this book!

I could not put this down! I really loved "The Wife Upstairs," so I was excited to dive in to this one. This was a really fun thriller to work my way through. Lots of fun!

Have you ever read a book and felt like you read it before? That's how I felt reading this. The best parts of the book were told in Ruby's pov, but those chapters are very reminiscent of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The rest of the book was very convoluted and slow.

"I had gotten away with murder, and I was glad for it."

Oh man this book 😮‍💨 I listened to the whole thing in one day while packing/cleaning my apartment and I was obsessed. It follows a man and his wife as he returns home after the death of his incredibly wealthy mother.

Read if you like:
👨‍👩‍👧‍👧family drama
💚THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO
💵wealthy family secrets
😇😈flawed main characters
📝past perspectives from letters
🌀twistsssss

⚠️ PSA: this book isn’t really a thriller in my mind. It’s more of a drama with elements of mystery and twists. I felt this way about Hawkin’s other book THE VILLA as well. Just go into it with this mindset and get ready to be immersed in Ruby McTavish’s world.

I devoured this book!!! The story grabbed me from the start: this rich child disappears while on a picnic, and is found months later in a family in Alabama. Her name is Ruby McTavish and she lives in the Ashby House in Tavistock, North Carolina. Ruby is a mysterious, notorious, and scandalous creature and this book will take for a fun ride full of twists and turns, getting to understand her and discover all her secrets, and witness the ugliness money can bring in a family. The McTavish family is ready to destroy one another in order to get the House.

The story is written in multiple POVs: Camden (Ruby's adopted son), Jules (Cam's wife), and Ruby herself in epistolary format. There is also a narrator here and there, news clippings,.. just overall very intriguing to alternate from one to the other.

The mysteries kept me on.my toes, I could not put this book down, it's insane! I enjoyed what Rachel Hawkins did with the colors red/ruby and green/emerald. At times it gave me The Only One Left vibes, which I read this past summer and also loved.

Great execution overall! This book is going to be a hit, no doubt!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

3.5 stars
This was a twisty, rich people behaving badly story with some mysterious happenings thrown in too. I enjoy the accessibility of Rachel Hawkins’ writing- she always hooks me in quickly with her books! In “The Heiress”; everyone’s personalities come across clearly. I enjoyed how well orchestrated the plot/character developments were along the way. I don’t want to spoil anything as this is one to jump right into without reading too many advance details.
Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

I found this book very interesting, but not quite up my alley. It ended up being more average for me at 3 stars .I still really enjoyed most parts of it and most of the twists got me! I’m always excited to see what else Rachel Hawkins comes up with.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Complicated murder mystery thriller set in the mountains of South Carolina. A young man who wants nothing to do with his inherited wealth and ancestral home returns to set things to rest. The adopted child of the four time widowed wealthiest woman of the state, Cam and his wife return to a deceitful and immoral family, but they both have their own deceits.

You won't want to put this book down! Great twists, a great mystery, and lots of secrets. The multiple perspectives helps keep the story plot moving. Expect the unexpected as you read this book.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St.Martin’s for allowing me to give my honest review.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Rachel Hawkins and it certainly did not disappoint! I could not put it down at all!! I loved how full of twists and secrets were involved within the plot, I felt like I was in the middle of a soap opera!!! I don’t know why but reading about wealthy dysfunctional families is such a guilty pleasure for me!! I personally wouldn’t describe this as a thriller but more as a suspense novel !!

I am always a sucker for a fiction novel that is set in opulence and wealth that leads to death and this author has mastered telling a really thrilling story and captivating her audience from beginning to end. Without giving too much away, I will say there are twists that are unexpected, lies that take you by surprise, and an ending I didn’t expect.

I love how this story is told too. I enjoyed the letter and the different timelines. It kept the flow of the story interesting because I didn’t know what was around the corner. This author for sure has another hit on her hands. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC

You might want to take notes on this one! In fact, I was flipping back to be sure I had the characters and connections straight at the end!

In the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina lives the very wealthy McTavish Family. Ruby McTavish is the matriarch with quite the past. She went missing as a small child and was found living with a nearby poor family and returned to her family at the McTavish mansion. She grew up being taunted by her sister Nelle and feeling isolated in her own family. So of course she married young..... four times! She had four husbands who all died. Throughout the book she writes letters to her only son she adopted telling him her true story she has never told to anyone. But her son Cam, happily married and living a simple life in Colorado wants nothing to do with the McTavishes in North Carolina. Until .... Cam and his wife Jules return to the family home.

A wonderful twist at the end of this book that was well-narrated and well-written that kept me pushing to figure out more of what was really going on. Great book to pick up and read, but you won't want to put it down!

My thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillian Audio for advanced copies of this e-book and audiobook.

I enjoyed this book! I love thrillers that have to do with rich people drama, plus all of the twists kept me interested the whole time. I did feel that the beginning was a bit slow, but once I got to the parts where Ruby was describing each husband's death, I was hooked. I also didn't see the ending coming with Jules. I originally thought that she was just in it for all of the money, and didn't love Cam. Also, the characters of Nelle, Ben, and Libby were written in a way that made me hate them so much! Overall, I would recommend this one to anyone who loves rich people drama and thrillers.

I was super excited to see a new book by Rachel Hawkins but this one was just ok for me. I was looking for a thriller but this is more of a family drama. There was a fair amount of mystery though with the letters, secrets and lies. The ending was unexpected and caught me off guard. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

Rachel Hawkins is definitely becoming one of my favorite authors! The Heiress is about Ruby McTavish, who was infamous for many reasons - she was from a very wealthy family, she was kidnapped as a child but found soon after, and she had four husbands who all mysteriously died. Now in present day, her adopted son, Cam, and his wife, Jules, have returned back to North Carolina to settle family history.

I really enjoyed this one! It was less twisty and turny/less overall suspenseful than The Villa, but I didn’t mind! The letters from Ruby interspersed throughout gave me Taylor Jenkins Reid vibes in the best way. Hawkins also did a great job layering in clues so that the twists at the end make sense and work. I didn’t want to put it down!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy in exchange for an honest review.