Book Review: The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

The Heiress is a gothic suspense thriller by Rachel Hawkins, author of the New York Times bestseller The Wife Upstairs. The story follows the McTavish family, a wealthy and powerful clan living in Ashby House, a remote estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

When Ruby McTavish, the heiress to the family fortune, dies, her distant relative, Cam, and his wife, Jules, are called back to Ashby House to settle her estate. But as they arrive, they soon realize that there is more to Ruby's death than meets the eye.

Ruby was a controversial figure, known for her eccentric behavior and her four marriages. She was also the victim of a kidnapping as a child, and the rumors surrounding her disappearance have never been fully resolved.

As Cam and Jules investigate Ruby's death, they uncover a web of secrets and lies that has been plaguing the McTavish family for generations. They also find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a killer who is determined to keep the truth hidden.

The Heiress is a well-written and suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Hawkins does a masterful job of creating a dark and atmospheric setting, and her characters are complex and well-developed.

The novel is also full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end. I was particularly impressed with the way Hawkins ties up all the loose ends in the final chapters.

Overall, I highly recommend The Heiress to fans of gothic suspense thrillers. It's a dark, twisty, and addictive read that you won't be able to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of Rachel Hawkins’ latest, The Heiress!

This is my favorite of Hawkins’ recent work - her best since The Wife Upstairs for sure! Cam is called home to his family estate to deal with some things after the death of a family member. He hasn’t been home and 10 years, and would like to keep it that way, but his wife, Jules, seems to have other interests. This book was a page turner, and a quick read. I did guess one small twist, but didn’t feel like it ruined anything. Ultimately this book is a interesting examination of “good” and “bad” people.

4 stars!

If Evelyn Hugo was a Southern heiress living in a gothic mansion, that would be The Heiress. Full of secrets, family betrayal, and intrigue, this book leaves you questioning what makes a good or bad person and the bonds between blood and found family. I especially loved the fourth wall asides from one of the narrators! This was an interesting way of having them comment on what’s happening in the story and bringing the reader close in, entrusting you with secrets that make you feel part of the family. This book has claimed its spot as my favorite thriller of Hawkins’ and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next!

Thank you Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the gifted ARC.

The Heiress felt much different than Hawkins' other books. Sometimes that doesn't work, but she knocked it out of the park! The mix of different perspectives in the present, letters from the past, and news articles created a detailed picture and it works. It wasn't as twisty as I was expecting, but had enough reveals and solid storyline that I wasn't bothered by it.

This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and I'm so glad I waited to read until October, which is the only time I will allow myself to read any sort of thriller or suspenseful book, and this was both. There were many twists and turns and so much family drama weaved in. The dual timeline was well done and usually I'm not a fan, but it worked. After reading this, I know the Wife Upstairs has been on my TBR forever and I will have to move it up now being acquainted with RH's work!

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (what a name!) is South Carolina's richest woman and -- after surviving a kidnapping as a child and leaving a quartet of dead husbands in her wake -- the most notorious. When Ruby dies, her adopted son and heir, Cameron, wants nothing to do with the fortune or the extended family (who would VERY MUCH like the money for themselves).

I LOVED this book. Secrets, family drama, lies, more secrets, and all of the twists and turns you could ever want. Rachel Hawkins is one of my auto-read favorites, and this is her best yet!

Camden McTavish is a seemingly normal guy who works as an English teacher in Colorado and is happily married to his wife Jules. Cam receives an email from his estranged cousin Ben summoning him back to his family home in North Carolina. Soon after, Cam and Jules pack their bags and head to North Carolina.

But to Jules's surprise, Cam tells her that they are not headed to just any home, but to a sprawling mansion in the Blue Ridge Mountains called Ashby House. Can tells Jules more about his adopted mother Ruby who was a wealthy heiress who not only was a widow 4 times over and the victim of a kidnapping as a toddler but the fact that she also left her 9 figure fortune to him but Cam refuses to touch the money.

As soon as they arrive at Ashby House Jules falls in love and feels that her husband deserves the house and fortune left to him. But obtaining his deserved inheritance won't be easy. Residing in Ashby House are Cam’s great aunt Nelle and two cousins who feel they deserve the inheritance and will do anything to get it.

This book was well written with alot of twists and turns and great character development. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Heiress as it kept me intrigued to the end.
I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
****

Rachel Hawkins loves a good mystery but this one is definitely not her best. There were a few obvious twists that you could see coming but a couple were surprises. It’s a quick read but the pace never got past an easy gallop. It felt like someone telling a story about their family history without a ton of character development. Camden and Jules obviously had secrets of their own to reveal, as they broke the fourth wall by talking to the reader. A fun read.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins being published by St.martins press Jan 2024! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book early. I found it interesting and very engrossing therefore it was a quick read! I’ve read others by this author so it’s no surprise I was interested in reading her new book.
Woooo weeeee was this a doozy of a book, lots of twists and turns with me constantly guessing how this one would turn out. This story was spun around truth and lies, family dynamics and greed, all those things some of us yearn for in a good book. Thanks again for the opportunity to read this early! 4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Camden McTavish is a seemingly normal guy who works as an English teacher in Colorado and is happily married to his wife Jules. Cam receives an email from his estranged cousin Ben summoning him back to his family home in North Carolina. Soon after, Cam and Jules pack their bags and head to North Carolina.

But to Jules's surprise, Cam tells her that they are not headed to just any home, but to a sprawling mansion in the Blue Ridge Mountains called Ashby House. Can tells Jules more about his adopted mother Ruby who was a wealthy heiress who not only was a widow 4 times over and the victim of a kidnapping as a toddler but the fact that she also left her 9 figure fortune to him but Cam refuses to touch the money.

As soon as they arrive at Ashby House Jules falls in love and feels that her husband deserves the house and fortune left to him. But obtaining his deserved inheritance won't be easy. Residing in Ashby House are Cam’s great aunt Nelle and two cousins who feel they deserve the inheritance and will do anything to get it.

The Heiress is a fast and entertaining read and in my opinion, has been the author's best work yet.
This family drama is full of morally grey characters who are full of secrets and backstabbing behaviors. The ending is filled with multiple plot twists that kept and overall I enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins will be available on January 9, 2024. Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

This was a really good and surprising thriller/family drama. There were a lot of unexpected twists. I liked how alternated between Ruby's letters explaining the past and the present day. You will not want to put this book down! Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

This book was AHHMAZING! I honestly loved the slow burn building of suspense and not knowing exactly what everyone’s secrets were until the very end! This was actually a really quick clever little read!

Wow.
I’ve read a few Rachel Hawkins before and while they weren’t my particular brand, I could get behind them over all. But Wow. This one is fantastic, the twists were twisty, the plot was devious, and the characters were sinful….it really was an excellent book.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, I can’t wait to read the next Rachel Hawkins book.

Another Rachel Hawkins home run!

This was fantastic. The premise gave me Evelyn Hugo vibes but obviously very different and MUCH darker. I loved the idea of the unlucky baby Ruby…the kidnapping, the husbands all dying, the house on the mountain and the awful family.

Rich people behaving badly is truly one of my favorite genres to read and this one was a true SMASHING success of a book. I think this may be my new Hawkins favorite, edging out The Wife Upstairs. I found the story to be very well paced, the characters all super suspect, the twists and plot turns so well done.

I love how Hawkins writing style feels more elevated and mature and I cannot wait for her next book to come out!

I was really excited to read this book because I LOVED "The Wife Upstairs". I didn't feel that this one was as good. Here's what I did like. I loved the letter aspect and reading Ruby's confessions to Cam. I feel like I really got to know her character through the letters. I really liked the way all of the characters developed as the story flipped back and forth from things that happened in the past to now. I did feel myself getting a little lost at times with a few of the connections. I was sometimes confused about what was current and what was in the past and felt myself rereading pages at times. I loved how everything came together in the end but was not blown out of the water with the story. I don't want to post any spoilers.... but I will say there were a few great connections and twists that I didn't expect. I would absolutely give this story a 3.5 if 1/2 stars were allowed.

That was a wild ride.

While I hated every single character in this book, it captured my attention and kept me turning pages until the stunning conclusion because of all the twists ad turns within the story. I had to find out what was going to happen next.

It also says something about the author when they make you have strong emotions about characters, and I definitely had strong emotions about these. Hawkins just keeps getting better and better with every book.

Thank you for the arc NetGalley! This book was different and in a gothic type way.

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.

If you want to know more, The Heiress comes out the beginning of 2024! I definitely recommend it!

Not awful but also nothing that hadn’t been done before and done better. The characters were just there, the twists were predictable, the plot wasn’t unique… Just fine if you want a “shitty rich family has secrets and fights over inheritance” thriller, I guess.

With so many twists and turns it’s like it’s own amusement park! Im a big fan of Rachel Hawkins and this new one is fabulous. I loved it even more than The Villa. Jules and Camden leave Colorado to head back to the Carolinas to deal with the McTavish family estate after years trying to avoid the aftermath of Ruby’s death. As old family money often does, the secrets and betrayal run deep and no one is as they seem! If you’re a fan of Rachel’s other books then definitely check this one out!! Thanks so much to Rachel, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc!

A solid 3 Stars from me! I enjoyed The Heiress and found Ruby MacTavish to be such a fascinating character. I do wish I would have gotten a bit more backstory on each of her husbands to really understand her character development over the years, but that part was pretty glossed over. My favorite character was definitely Jules.

The twists kept me on edge, and I was genuinely surprised by at least 1 of them. I think this was really strong from Hawkins, and I enjoyed this more than some of her more recent novels like The Villa and Reckless Girls.