This is my first book by the author and I did not enjoy reading. The characters are unlikable with one being manipulative and just plain an unlikable person. I tried to finish this book but I couldn’t get past 40% I skimmed to the end so I could see who the killer definitely wasn’t surprised. Now take my scattered review with a grain of salt just because it want for me doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. I will read this author again as her writing is engaging

This is my 4th book by Rachel Hawkins and it won't be my last. I really like her writing style. She creates interesting characters with depth and a little darkness (well, sometimes a lot of darkness).

The story flips back in forth between present (husband and wife Camden and Jules) and the past (Ruby who is Camden's adopted mom). I actually found I liked Ruby's storyline the best and wold have loved a whole book based solely on her story. Her story is told in the form of letters which also added a little extra something to the story.

I docked a point because the overall storyline was a little too easy to figure out. There were a few surprises along the way but not many.

The overall storyline is full of mystery, family drama, excessive wealth and plenty of suspense.

***Advanced copy obtained from St Martin's Press via Netgalley***

I felt like this book was one of this authors best.

This is an interesting suspense novel. None of the main characters are not what you would call honest or forthcoming. They all have secrets, and a hidden agenda.

The pace and plotting were both quite good, and this was definitely a page turner. Great beach read!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and I can completely see why everyone loves this author so much! Unfortunately, this was just a middle of the road thriller to me. I was super interested in the letters that were sprinkled throughout the story and it was cool how it all lined up with what was happening in the main story. I think this mostly fell flatly for me because I guessed the plot twist that happens in the last chapter or two in the very beginning. I loved the family dynamic even though I hated every single one of the characters and I thought it was interesting that they all had so much personality without having very much page time.

Grab food and beverages of your choice and settle in somewhere cozy, because Rachel Hawkins’ latest book, The Heiress, is a read-in-a-day soapy psychological thriller! If you like a dash of rich people behaving badly (and perhaps getting some comeuppance if they behave really badly), this is your next read!

About the Book | The Heiress

Ruby McTavish is an heiress

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (nee Ruby McTavish) is North Carolina’s richest and most notorious resident. Her death reignites the gossip that has surrounded Ruby McTavish for decades. Born into generations of wealth, Ruby lived out her life at her ancestral estate, Ashby House. At the age of three, Ruby was kidnapped. Eight months later, the kidnapper was caught, and Ruby was returned safely to her parents.

As Ruby came of age, she attracted quite a few men with her beauty, wealth, and alluring personality. Thus began the first of four marriages, all of which end in the tragic death of her husbands. Ruby was not officially suspected in any of the deaths. Still, that doesn’t stop the town from gossiping. A Four-time widow is a rarity, after all…

After the death of her fourth husband, Ruby adopted a child out of foster care named Camden. Her father had left her Ashby House and his substantial wealth when he passed on. Upon Ruby’s death, she shocks and infuriates her sister Nelle and Nelle’s grandchildren by bequeathing the entire estate to Camden.

Camden McTavish is a reluctant heir

Ten years after his mother’s death, Camden has fully turned away from everything to do with the McTavishes. He still owns Ashby House, but allows Nelle and her grandchildren to live there. He still has the money, but he hasn’t touched a cent of it. He married a woman named Jules and the two live a humble but happy life in Colorado.

When Camden’s uncle dies, his cousin Ben reaches out and asks him to return home finally. When Cam and Jules arrive, it’s clear why Cam left in the first place. There is something rotten about the McTavishes and the house is full of secrets. But Jules has another reason for coming with Cam… she wants that house and the money that Camden inherited. They deserve a good life, more than any of his family members.

But soon Jules begins to understand the twisted games Ruby McTavish played. Was there truth to the rumors that circulated after her kidnapping as a child? Were the four dead husbands a coincidence? And why did she adopt Camden in the first place?

Review | The Heiress

Grab your popcorn—this book is like a good, televised mystery-drama with a dash of suspense, only better. Told in alternating views, the present day part of the story is narrated by Camden and his wife Jules. The other perspective are letters written by Ruby and detailing the scandalous truth of her past, coming clean for the first time after her death (and in epistolary form).

For the first half of the book I was much more invested in Ruby’s storyline. She’s truly an all-time great character. Privileged, witty, intelligent, and a little bit villainous. Despite the things Ruby tells us through her letters, I still was on her side. Was I intended to be? Most definitely not! She reveals several nasty secrets she has kept hidden. But at the same time, there was something so compelling about her. And somehow the members of her family were significantly worse (though perhaps our view of them is colored by Ruby’s narration).

In the present storyline, Jules is the opening narrator, not Camden. She tells us the story of how they met and what their life is like. She knows Camden doesn’t want anything to do with his family. He is clearly holding some secrets back, but we learn that Jules doesn’t really like to discuss her own past. Jules ends her first chapter telling us she wants us to know their story because she truly loves Camden. This should instantly make you wonder about her. I know it made me wonder about her! Jules is a complicated character and by the second half you’ll learn a lot more about her secrets!

Camden is a more subtle character in the first half. He holds his cards close to his chest, even from the reader. He is the lone family member who isn’t biologically a McTavish, and that is constantly displayed as Hawkins contrasts Camden’s pure, unselfish nature with the other McTavish’s greed and manipulation. You’ll want to know why Camden is so turned off by his family that he won’t even use a cent of the money he inherited to help him in life. And don’t worry—you’ll find out why. It’s much juicier than expected, too!

There are a few mysteries that fascinated me throughout, and they largely center around Ruby. The first and least interesting (which I already mentioned) surrounds what caused Camden to leave his family and inheritance around the time of Ruby’s death. The second and more interesting mystery surrounds Ruby’s kidnapping when she was a child. The whole series of events are puzzling, and early on in her letters Ruby spills more information about it that had my brain whirling. Someone was convicted for it, and he confessed. Still, there are rumors that swirl around the kidnapping and return and Ruby herself questions what really happened.

The third mystery is about Ruby’s four husbands. It’s strange to be a four-time widow. People in town talk about it behind closed doors. Every single death had an explanation that couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Ruby—she wasn’t even there for most of them. Still, it seems strange, doesn’t it? Don’t worry—Ruby reveals the truth behind all four of her marriages in her letters. They go chronologically so you’ll learn about her marriage to Duke first, and then continue to the others.

This mystery was the most fun one. Ruby’s letters have a wry humor to them that absolutely tickled me. I could picture them in her transatlantic accent, calling everyone “dahhhling”. And Ruby doesn’t hold back—she not only tells us what happened with each marriage, but also her thoughts on it and her justifications. I was absolutely tickled by Ruby! Her letters continue to the very end of the book and I couldn’t wait for the next one.

The other McTavish’s are less prominent characters, but they are critical to the story nonetheless. We hear more about Nelle than see her, though Camden muses early in the book that Nelle’s unpleasantness may be in part because she knows she was conceived to replace Ruby, who then showed back up and took the spotlight again. Nelle is in every way the spare, and that was clear when their father died and left everything to Ruby. Ben and Libby (Nelle’s grandchildren) are deeply unpleasant, especially Libby. Don’t worry, you’ll learn plenty about them and their tactics, too!

I wish I could spoil some things in this review, but it is so fun to read this book with fresh eyes and an open mind, so I will hold them to myself. Expect to be shocked and sometimes horrified. Expect to question your moral judgment at times when you find yourself siding with some devious characters. And hold all of your judgments about what is really going on with the McTavish family and Ashby House until the end!

Suspenseful, salacious, and wickedly clever, The Heiress is another outstanding book by Rachel Hawkins!

3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own

Rachel Hawkins is one of those authors that I am always eagerly anticipating their next novel. The Heiress provides me with two of my guilty pleasures- inherited estates and characters with lots of secrets.

When married couple Cam and Jules are called to Cam's adoptive families estate, the atmosphere of the novel increasingly becomes suffocating and I wondered if anyone would make it out alive. This book was hard to put down and I ended up gulping it all down in a matter of hours. Although I saw a few revelations on the horizon, I still closed this book with a smirk on my face.

Worth the hype!




Publication Date 09/01/24
Goodreads Review 23/02/24

This Alabama author will forever be one of my favorite thriller writers! I could not put this one down! I loved the old school vibes here too!

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Multiple POV, chaotic families, letters, gothic atmosphere

Wow. This pulled me in the whole time. I had no idea where it was going. It's so addictive. I gasped so many times. I read this from start to finish quickly. I highly recommend it!

The best family drama I’ve read in along time. Remarkably wild! I don’t know what it says about me that I loved Ruby, but she made me laugh!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy! This was my first Rachel Hawkins read. I really enjoyed it. The beginning was a little of a slow burn for me but by mid point it really started to pick up. I was hooked. I thought the characters were complex and interesting. I liked the use of descriptive language when talking about Ashby House and Tavistock,NC. I did not see the ending coming. I was surprised when all the puzzle pieces started coming together. I’d be interested in reading any future continuations (if applicable). I’d give it a 4 star rating.

<b>There should be some kind of warning when your life is about to change forever. </b>

The Heiress is another great addition to the collection of Rachel Hawkins slow burning mystery thrillers. I’m going to say this story is like if the song “The Last Great American Dynasty” by Taylor Swift was a mystery thriller set in the mountains of North Carolina, laced with twisted secrets, and the main characters weren’t as prepared for the money and all that comes with it.

I love Rachel Hawkins' books. They are incredibly gripping from the beginning and keep you hooked until the end. I loved the plot of this book. I think her books just keep getting better and better.

Thank you to all who told me to read this. From the first few pages, I was mesmerized by this tricky and seductive story with so many levels and variations of truth. Simply stated, this is the story Ruby, an heiress. Was she truly the kidnapped little girl returned to the family a year later? What about the deaths of all four of her husbands? Why doesn't her heir, Camden, want anything to do with his inheritance or anyone in the family? You may think you know at several points in the story, but you would be wrong.

Ruby McTavish, kidnapped as a little girl, then found safe and sound living with a family grieving the death of their own child. Upon Ruby's death she left a string of dead husbands, a dysfunctional family, a large fortune and an adoptive son who wants nothing to do with anything McTavish.
When her son Camden is called back to the family Home, secrets start to unravel.
It seems everyone in Ashby house has a secret.

I really enjoyed this book, the writing and story grabbed me immediately, the kind of book you think about reading when you're not reading, the kind of book you count down the minutes till you can pick it back up again.
So why not 5 stars?
I found the ending clunky, the epilogue was wordy, yet quite vague.
And not having clear cut answers to some questions just put me off.

All in all this was a great read, a solid 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this. It gave me such Evelyn Hugo vibes. I love a story where you’re never really sure who you can trust and everyone is a little bit bad, a little bit (or a lot) morally grey. I loved that there were several plot- twists and reveals and that there were so many ways this could have gone. The pacing in this was perfect and I loved the addition of the letters, I felt that like that added a bit of realness and relatability to the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to others.

Fantastic! My favorite Rachel Hawkins so far!
This is a twisty, edge of your seat story, I could not put down.
You follow a few different POV’s one being Ruby, the heiress to “old money” fortune, you follow all the tragedies that have occurred through her life. You also follow her adopted son Cam, and his wife Jules. Every storyline kept me interested and I couldn’t wait to see how it all unfolded. I wound definitely recommend this!

Another engaging thriller from Hawkins, this one is really wonderfully structured. Hard to review without spoilers but this may be Hawkins best thriller yet. Great prospect for adaptation for film.

Oh, for the LOVE of Money!

What would you do to get your hands on an inheritance? Rachel Hawkins shares the lengths that one family is willing to go in order to lay claim to 'family' money in her latest novel, The Heiress. So many secrets, twists, turns, and LIES that unfold between the pages, I was unable to put the book down once I started it! I loved the plot, the setting, and the characters, so much so that I found myself either vehemently hating or passionately sympathetic to each of them. Hawkins has written a bit of everything into this novel, from drama, suspense, and romance to greed, murder, passion, all from a southern gothic, dysfunctional family, point-of-view (well, three povs to be exact). If you like smouldering, yet pervasively sinister thrillers, I would definitely recommend this book!

Ok. Wow. This was such an engrossing thriller! But I was not expecting that twist at the very end. As the words played out, my mouth dropped open. I reread it to make sure I got it right. Rachel Hawkins, I love your writing & you struck gold with The Heiress like Ruth with her McTavish wealth! And I just LOVED RUTH! Her letters were the best part!

Thank you, Rachel Hawkins, St Martins Press, & Netgalley for my copy! All opinions are my own.

This really cemented Rachel Hawkins as an auto-buy author for me. The twists and turns are always so fun. And while I did guess one of the major twists for this story, it was written in such a way that I honestly can't tell if I guessed it exactly or if Rachel just did that good of a job leading me there. Aside from being twisty though, another thing I love about Hawkins' books is that none of them are similar.
The characters are almost all unlikeable but also so intriguing that you still have that "I have to know what happens" feeling for all of them. Rachel also always does an excellent job of wrapping things up and there are never any gaping plot holes that just eat at me later on.
The Heiress has a lot going on with the dual narrating, unreliable narrators, the multiple timelines, and the articles and letters supplementing the stories. It all ties together in a very well-done true crime type of way though.
I'd say this is a medium paced thrilleresque drama. If you like Riley Sager or other books from Hawkins, you will likely love this one. It also has a very Rachel Hawkins hook to it where you can't stop thinking about it when you take a break, so you end up reading it super-fast to see what happens next.