I really loved the construct of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. Each of the three main characters; Ruby, Camden, & Jules, move the story forward by speaking directly to the reader within their own chapters. It's also a dual timeline story as we hear Ruby's history and how that affects the current time. The Appalachian Mountains setting provides the perfect mix of small town and chilly, foreboding atmosphere. This is my favorite book so far from this author.

Wow! I haven’t read a thriller that was this engrossing and entertaining in quite some time! This is potentially Rachel Hawkins’s best book so far. It started out establishing who was who, with enough information to get the story started, and leaving the reader with plenty of questions and intrigue. Then intersperses letters from the deceased with shifting POV between the currently alive characters. You think you know what happened but do you? The book and plot are perfectly paced to build the suspense while not rushing or drawing it out too long. And I didn’t see the ending coming, but it was well worth the wait.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is a compellingly disturbing domestic thriller loaded with unexpected delectable bends and tongue-gnawing tension. My stomach was in knots in the best way possible.

Unabashedly direct Ruby McTavish was the obscenely wealthy owner of Ashby House and multiple properties. But after her death her son Cam is in turmoil about his inheritance. He had left home for many reasons and returning is anything but fulfilling. Jules, his wife of ten years, is curious about his background and encourages him to at least care for the mansion. The household is a motley mix of allies and enemies with layer upon layer of secrets. And then there are the Darnells. Mysterious deaths enter the picture, too.

The dark and suspenseful aspects are stunning but the superfluous bad language is distracting. Otherwise there is so much to love.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing novel.

🤯 MIND BLOWING MONDAY 🤯 featuring “The Heiress” by Rachel Hawkins!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Ruby McTavish has had a notorious past and reputation like NO OTHER … and she is not only filthy rich, but also a victim of being kidnapped as a child and a widow 4 times over. The child kidnapping never fully added up and each husband died due to mysterious circumstances … what is the truth behind her story??

When Ruby passes away and leaves her legacy to her adopted son Camden, he wants literally NOTHING to do with the money and all of the strings attached to being a McTavish. Camden never felt like he truly “belonged” and his family members always made sure to make him feel like an outsider.

However, ten years after Ruby’s death, an Uncle passes, and Camden is summoned to return back home to deal with some family business. As soon as he walks through the door of Ashby House, Camden is pulled back into a dark and twisted time in his life that he fled from. The secrets, lies and deception run deep within the family bloodline … what else will Cam discover??

Rachel Hawkins, you have done it again! Bravo on yet another dark and twisted thriller that drew me in from the very beginning and left me desperate for more! Thank you kindly to @ladyhawkins @stmartinspress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on January 9, 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Ah this was sooooooo good! I listened to it in a day. There was just so much happening ALL.THE.TIME. The characters were forever shedding new light on a situation. The multiple perspectives of Ruby, Jules, and Cam made everything so easy to get into. I absolutely loved it.

The Heiress is a dark slow burn with many twists and turns. I really enjoyed it. The characters were well fleshed out with many flaws. I never knew who to trust and who was unreliable. It is a slow burn that drops little twists along the way. I loved that it was told in multiple pov. I love getting to see the story from different viewpoints.

Publication January 9 2024

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an digital arc.

Ruby Mclavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmor was known to be North Carolina's richest woman. When she was little she was kidnapped and lived with another family. She was returned to her family months later. Then when she was older she was married and widowed four times. We learn all about the deaths of these husbands throughout the book. 

After Ruby passes her entire inheritance goes to her adopted son Camden. Camden wants nothing to do with the money or the family so he moves to Colorado to get far away from that life. One day his cousin contacts him about the passing of their uncle. His wife Jules thinks it would be a good idea to go back to the Ashby house to be with the family, and for her to finally get to know the family and see this side of her husband. 
The story really takes off once they get to the Ashby house and we meet all the family members. While we are in the present time, we are also getting to read the letters that Ruby wrote. I absolutely loved reading Ruby’s letters and hearing about her life and all of her past husbands. I loved her attitude!

Anytime I thought I had figured the ending out another twist came into play. It is a great story about a dysfunctional family with many hidden secrets. The story is also told through multiple POVs.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5* I have read all of Rachel Hawkins adult mystery books and I can say as I read more I think she is getting better. They are always a quick read with interesting plots! This book felt like a mix between the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo mixed with Riley Sager’s the only one left (two books I loved btw)

My thoughts on the one are mixed. I really loved the way she crafted this story. The family drama was just fantastic. The setting was something I just loved, a rich big fancy house is the perfect place for this story. I loved getting to see camden interact (fight) with his family & in contrast seeing Jules want so desperately to be involved/a part of the family is the plot I was wanting. I liked the slow reveals that ruby told throughout her letters. The confessions of what happened to her husbands were just silly & fun. I was not expecting her to go there!

Here’s where I fall short with my love. Rachel Hawkins sucked me in! With everything going on, multiple timelines, ruby’s husbands, seeing how Camden fit into the family, the kidnapped baby story, everything was SO interesting! AND THEN. The big reveal. I’m not even kidding I was like are. you. serious. No ma’am. How are you gonna build up this fantastic story with so much going on to that?? I felt like she had this great idea and just didn’t know how to end it, or how to wrap Jules into the story so her motives made since. Idk I just did not enjoy how it ended.

I will continue to give Rachel Hawkins another chance bc I think she’s almost there! I’m hoping her next book will really hit & pull off the ending I so desperately want from her!

My ranking of Rachel Hawkins thrillers:
1. The villa
2. The heiress
3. Reckless girls
4. The wife upstairs

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins grabbed my attention from the first page. I thought the characters were very interesting, as well as the "universe" the author created. By universe I'm referring to the house, the town, the lore, and the characters. It's so easy to imagine it all. This story is expertly told from multiple points of view, and it kept me guessing all the way to the end.

Rachel Hawkins has done it again. With The Heiress she has given her readers a delectable tale of secrets, deceptions, greed, murder, alienation, compelling characters, non-stop twists that you won’t see coming and so much more. This is the tale of Ruby McTavish, deceased for ten years, but oddly, still in control of those whose lives she touched either directly or indirectly.

Deftly weaving past with present, the chapters are narrated by Ruby(via previously written letters) as well as her adopted son Camden and his wife Jules - creating a mesmerizing tour de force of gothic atmosphere that will draw you in from the very first sentence and keep you reading long after your weary body has indicated that you need some sleep.

For those literary gourmets who have not previously enjoyed the suspenseful psychological treats served up by Rachel Hawkins, The Heiress is a banquet for your grey cells that you won’t want to pass up.

Thoughts:
Ruby has lived an eventful and interesting life. As a little girl she was kidnapped then months later found. She is one of the most wealthiest women that lives in a big estate
Called The Ashby House. After her death she left everything to her adopted son Camden who wants nothing to do with this dysfunctional family and moves away.
But ten years later he’s called back to The Ashby House and family secrets start coming out. This is a mystery that you think you know where it’s going but nope you’re wrong. I’ve read most of Rachel Hawkins books and this one is at the top.
Thank you @netgalley

I have yet to be disappointed by a book from this author! When Netgalley reached out to offer me a copy, I jumped at the chance to read her latest.

The Heiress brings together a family full of mortally grey characters who you just love to hate. Everyone is out for themselves and their pursuit of riches is absolutely ruthless. Throw in short chapters, perfect cliff hangers to keep you turning pages and a seriously great twist and you have another solid thriller from Rachel Hawkins. Loved it!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for this free ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I cannot get enough of Rachel Hawkins and her perfectly characterized novels 🤌🏼 this was another near perfect read - funny, weirdly sweet, twisty, and of course, jaw dropping. I loved Ruby so much - she’s creepy, girly and somehow relatable even amongst her chaos. This is a must read. At 256 pages, it’s short, sweet and packs a punch.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC! I’m a big fan of Rachel’s thrillers and The Heiress might be my new favorite by her. This was a twisty and fast paced read that I couldn’t put down! I loved the historical fiction feel and the setting in NC (where I live!).

There were some great plot twists and a few I didn’t see coming at all! I also loved the use of letters and newspapers articles throughout the book.

The Heiress
By Rachel Hawkins

This is an interesting book. The heiress of the title is one Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, very rich, many times married…and maybe not herself!!

This story involves the McTavish clan: Ruby, her sister Nelle, Nelle's grandkids, Ben and Libby, and Ruby's adopted son, Camden. This would be enough of a saga, but wait! There's more. The story includes a child kidnapping; a child returned by the Darnell family (a whole other story); various deaths under questionable circumstances; and Camden's wife, Jules, who also has some mysterious provenance.

This is a cleverly done story. I would be interested to see how Ms. Hawkins manages to top this one!

🔀 Twisty
💸 extreme wealth
👩‍👦Multi-generational family drama

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars for @ladyhawkins upcoming novel! Thank you @netgalley for an ARC of this great book.

Camden McTavish, adopted son of notorious Ruby McTavish, famous for her disappearance in toddlerhood and again in the wake of four dead husbands in adulthood, returns to his family estate with his wife Jules to once and for all deal with his inheritance. Nobody is who you think they are in this fast paced, twisty suspense novel.

🔀 Just when you think you have things figured out, Hawkins throws another curve ball

💸 I personally enjoy the extreme wealth trope, and with the fast paced nature and frequent twists, it does not feel stale here

👩‍👦 There are multiple perspectives, Camden and Jules in the present and Ruby’s letters that take us through past events. I love the back and forth and that none of them are reliable narrators.

This was a fun one! Absolutely worth the read!

Loved this book, I think my favorite I’ve read this year! I mainly read thrillers and sometimes they can all have a familiar vibe. I didn’t feel this way with this book. Multiple viewpoints made the book flow in a way where I was still wondering what happened but also getting answers to my questions all throughout. This book makes me want to visit a house like Ashby. Also bonus points for the ending, loved it.

Another twisty novel from Rachel Hawkins! The Heiress is strong in character flaws, secrets, and suspense.

While some things were predictable, getting to the reveal was a fun ride. This story is told in alternating POVs and also includes some other fun writings in letters and articles.

My only small complaint, and this is totally personal preference because character driven stories aren’t my favorite, is that in the middle this started to slow a bit in pace and I felt like nothing was happening. That did quickly change at the end though.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, the author and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book.

Camden ran far away from his inheritance and the family home of his adopted mother, leaving North Carolina for California. He is married, living in Colorado, and in love with his wife. He won't look back. Until his family asks him to come home to sort things out, his wife encourages him to return for closure. What could go wrong?

This is a crazy book full of unlikeable characters and lots of twists. I think it's my favorite book that Rachel Hawkins has written to date. You should read this one.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is just the read I needed, one that would grab me in the first chapter and keep me flipping pages to the very end.

Ruby McTavish is one complicated character. The action moves around throughout the narrative, but it always seems to circle back to her. Welcome to Ashby House, her 15-bedroom mansion. The writing and descriptions are superb; and the tension builds as we creep along through the hallways of this creepy old manor house. There’s even a portrait that looms down at visitors. The author doesn’t say this, but I just know that the eyes move and follow visitors as they walk.

This book has the feel of a gothic mystery with whispers and rumors, scheming and lying. Don’t miss this one.