3.5 stars

This was a really quick read that kept me on the edge of my seat! I figured out most of the twists somehow so maybe that took the shine off a bit but it was still a very much enjoyed read.

This was a compulsive sly readable thriller with massive wealth, muster and intrigue.

Told partially in letters from deceased heiress Ruby McTavish its really engaging to keep reading what the heiress will confess next. The other POV’s included are Cam the adopted son of Ruby and heir to the McTavish fortune and his wife Jules: who are both also keeping secrets.

This novel takes you on a twisty path brimming with foreshadowing of what’s to come. I will say that at times it’s a bit predictable but that doesn’t take away from the fun of reading it.

4 stars
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest feedback!

If you’re from North Carolina, you’re very familiar with the name Ruby McTavish. Not only is she one of the wealthiest women in the state, she was also the victim of a kidnapping as a child, AND has four ex-husbands that died under very unusual circumstances.

When Ruby suddenly dies, she leaves her estate and entire fortune to her adopted son Camden. He wants nothing to do with the inheritance and moves across the country to get away from his family’s notoriety.

A decade passes and Camden and his wife are summoned back to the family estate when his uncle passes away. They are met by Cam’s estranged family who live on the property and don’t exactly hide their feelings towards the son that inherited everything and then deserted his family.

There are so many questions left unanswered that this trip back home might just bring to light - who really was Ruby McTavish? What happened to all of her husbands? Was something nefarious going on as a child that might have resulted in her kidnapping? And lastly, why does Camden refuse to take the money and the property from his mother?

I really enjoyed the way that this book was written, with the different character POVs, old news articles about their family, and the tell-all letters from Ruby, it created an intriguing and fast paced mystery that I was dying to figure out! Unfortunately I did see about 90% of the plot twists before they happened so I wasn’t exactly thrilled but I still did enjoy reading it nevertheless.

Solid 4 Stars
A quick and fun thriller with lots of twists and really great characters!

Wow! and Wow again!
The MacTavishes are quite the family!
Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (4 time widow) is the matriarch. She knows what she wants and knows how to get it too! Kidnapped at the young age of three, her life had been one mixed with intrigue and heartbreak.

Ruby McTavish is one of the richest women in North Carolina.
Upon her passing she left the family home Ashby House and her fortune to her adopted son, Camden, much to the ire of the rest of the family.

Camden and his wife Jules live a simple life in Colorado. Camden wants nothing to do with the family, the house, or the fortune. However, Camden returns to Ashby House to wrap up the will and attend to the maintenance of the house. Once Camden reenters the gates, he is sucked back into the menacing world of Ashby House.
In his return visit the history of both Ruby and Camden are revealed and we fully realize why Camden wants to stay far away from this family of vipers.

The novel takes us on a tumultuous journey of love, wealth, and family, but what sets it apart is the unique approach of presenting the protagonist Ruby's life through her letters.
Ruby slowly reveals her secrets in life and the lies she has told the world.

It makes the reader wonder, it is nature or nurture that propels a person?
Is everyone who they seem to be? No.
Does everyone have secrets? Oh yes, and plenty of them!

There’s nothing like a death to bring out the worst in a family!
And just when you think you have it all figured out, the plot takes a surprising twist at the end!

This was an addictive read and one that kept me so engrossed in the story that hours passed as if they were minutes.

Thanks Rachel Hawkins, @stmartinspress, and NetGalley for a gifted Arc of this enticing tale.
All opinions are my own.

Rachel Hawkins has a knack for the modern gothic thriller, her new novel The Heiress continuing in the tradition of her previous books The Villa and The Wife Upstairs. The Heiress follows Cam and Jules, heirs to the Ashby Estate after the death of Cam’s adoptive mother, Ruby. Notorious for the mysterious deaths of her four husbands, and her past as “Baby Ruby,” who went missing for a period as a toddler, Ruby’s remaining family and estate leave Cam and Jules in an eerie and precarious position as they come to claim what is rightfully theirs.

The story is told through the present tense from the perspectives of both Cam and Jules, as letters from Ruby to her adopted son preceding her death, and as newspaper and journal clippings. If you enjoy multiple timelines and perspectives, gothic settings, and family drama, you will enjoy The Heiress.

Thanks to St. Martin’s, the author, and NetGalley for the free gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Heiress is a twisted family drama thriller that has multiple POVs of a super rich and dysfunctional family with past letters woven into the story for an added layer of suspense.

This is not your normal suspenseful thriller - and has more of a creepy slow-burn storyline with different puzzle pieces put together as the book goes on.

This was a page-turner, but not super fast-paced - you just want to see where the the weird and creepy story goes.

Book Review

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such a great book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.

I love Rachel’s writing and this book is written through letters and conversations with the reader. It made for a very interesting perspective.

In this story, Camden finds himself returning to the chaos of his home town and his inheritance. This time he’s not alone. His wife is with him and Camden is hopeful that her presence changes Ashby House for him. However, Ashby House has other plans.

This is a story of lies and betrayal that is a page turner from the first chapter. Highly recommended!

This is the second ARC I’ve received from St. Martin’s Press for a Rachel Hawkins book. I’m so thankful to be able to read and review books!

Thank you @netgalley, @stmartinspress, and @ladyhawkins! It was an honor to review this book!

I love Rachel Hawkins writing. I think her thriller books are hit or miss for me at least. Sometimes I think they are more mystery than anything. This one I don't think was her best in my personal opinion. It was good but not amazing. I would read more from this author though.

Rachel Hawkins just keeps getting better and better! I thought The Villa was her strongest novel to date, but then this little baby came along!

If you like terrible characters that you love to hate, look no further than the McTavishes. These people are TERRIBLE, which made for one very entertaining story. I absolutely love how she layers in emails, text messages, newspaper articles, and letters into the novel to make the story even better. There were some smaller twists in there that I didn't see coming, but I totally followed where she was going with the ending, so it wasn't too big of a shock. Still, it was a fast paced story I fully enjoyed!

I gave this one 4/5 stars.

rachel hawkins does it again! she's still one of my favorite authors in any genre."I had gotten away with murder, and I was glad for it."

Sadly, I think this was my least favorite Rachel Hawkins book. I didn’t dislike it - but I also didn’t enjoy it as much as her two previous books. I just didn’t have quite enough brain space to keep track of who was who and how everyone was related (this could definitely be a me issue). I wouldn’t recommend using this book as background noise; you’ll get lost and frustrated very quickly (as me how much rewinding I had to do)! The ending also wasn’t my favorite. This twist was just a bit much. That being said, I’ll still look forward to the author’s next book and definitely request it!

This book was incredible. I’m going to need a little time to process everything I just read but wow. There were times I was a little confused with all the characters but everything clicks at the end. I saw some things coming but definitely not everything. What a solid psychological thriller! 5 stars from me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review and opinion.

This is by far my favorite book by this author. The dark secrets and scandal had me shook! I loved the dual timeline and the backstory really helped develop the plot. I binged this in a day and a half and couldn't get it out of my head for weeks after.

The Heiress is set on a North Carolina estate that's always felt claustrophobic to Cam. But his adoptive mother Ruby, an infamous character and four-time widow, was determined for him to inherit the McTavish riches. As the truths of Ruby's past become clear to the reader, additional layers of unexpected secrets begin to unfurl.

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's North Carolina's richest woman--and its most infamous.

Ruby was the victim of a childhood kidnapping that turned the community of Tavistock on its head, and since then her power has grown--as has her list of dead husbands (four). She reigns high in the Blue Ridge Mountains, on her lavish estate.

But her adopted son Camden is living in Colorado with his wife in a modest rental home, teaching school, and firmly determined to reject his sizeable inheritance along with the McTavish family--who are still living in the mansion--and anything to do with Ruby.

After Ruby's death, strange murmurings about her past begin to surface, and Cam is forced to face questions about inheritance, legacy, and family ties that reach beyond the grave.

The story is told partially through illuminating letters from Ruby laying out the unflinching facts of her past actions. When Cam returns to North Carolina to sort out the mansion's repairs, tensions run high with his cold aunt and two outrageously behaved cousins. And it becomes clear to the reader that his estranged family and Cam's beloved wife Jules aren't the only ones keeping secrets--Cam himself has been hiding some essential truths as well.

As in the other Hawkins novels I've read, the story's relationships, hidden truths, and setting feel like the main elements; character development isn't a crucial part of the story's progression. Yet I felt I was enough a part of the characters' inner circle to feel a twinge of betrayal when they revealed their secrets to readers--even if they did not always come clean to each other.

The Heiress has a satisfying ending that also retains some of the story's intrigue among the main characters.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Hawkins is also the author of The Villa, Reckless Girls, and The Wife Upstairs.

The McTavish family are very prominent and have been ruling their town of Tavistock for as long as people can remember. When Ruby McTavish dies, she leaves a mark on the state of North Carolina as not only the richest woman, but also one of the most notorious. You see, she was the victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and has been a window four times over. When she passed she left Ashby House and her entire estate to her adopted son Camden, who surprisingly wants little to do with any of it. Ten years later, another family tragedy brings Camden and his wife, Jules, back to North Carolina - and this time they may be “home” for good. But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. Everyone seems to have something to hide. They quickly learn that they may have more questions than answers and that familial connections transcend death.


Rachel Hawkins has been a bit hit or miss for me - I loved The Wife Upstairs, but didn’t care for Reckless Girls or The Villa, so I went into this one a bit hesitant but with an open mind. This book was a bit of a slow burn, but I loved the atmospheric nature of this one and thought each of the characters were so well developed. Ruby’s letters throughout the book were well placed and I enjoyed getting snippets of information that “clicked” everything together through them. I got really excited when it was time for another letter or news article! The twists were clever and added to the intricate plot! If you’re looking for a family drama with a good suspense element to it, be sure to pick this one up!

I was looking forward to reading this, as it was the first one I've read by this author. I was really intrigued by the idea of an older heiress having secrets that were discovered after her death and the estate seemed very mysterious. I did enjoy learning more about each of the characters, including Ruby. I honestly was a little disappointed by the overall plot, due to not feeling very surprised by the "twists" that were revealed. Some of them seemed a bit obvious, but some just didn't seem to add to the story, in my opinion. I think the plot had a lot of potential and the building up of the characters was interesting, but overall this was not a book I loved.

“You can put miles and mountains between you and home, but eventually home will call you back.”
Domestic thrillers are quickly becoming my go-to for the genre. In The Heiress, we have three main characters: Ruby, the deceased heiress, Cam, her beloved adopted son, and Jules, his wife. In reading, we find more and more about the affairs of the MacTavish family, more specifically: Cam’s aunt and cousins’ hatred for Cam being Ruby’s heir. The multiple POVs, along with multiple timelines is what really make this book. The reader is immediately captivated by Ruby and the fact that she is a widow four times over. However, her innocence is immediately questioned, and the ride is fantastic. We also come to learn that Cam and Jules are also hiding some secrets and as the truth begins to unfold, you can’t help but read faster and faster. Overall, this was a solid way to end my 2023 reading year and I think will be one any thriller reader would love.

Best Hawkins book yet! This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I have added all her other works to my TBR. I could not stop myself from reading this book it had my attention the whole time! I am a sucker for a fast paced story and boy did this one deliver!

I love the way that the author used 3 different points of view to tell this story so that we got a peek into all of the characters and their own voices.

This story is about a woman named Ruby McTavish and when she dies her adopted son Camden inherits the family mansion where he grew up and her huge fortune. He didn't want anything to do with any of it until his wife came along. They head back to the house and boy does the story unravel. Just how many secrets did Ruby McTavish leave behind?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves family drama, secrets, and the like!

Thank you to Netgalley, The Author, and the Publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An entertaining mystery that will keep you guessing. Things are not as they seem, and this makes the story of a wealthy 4-time widow who leaves it all to her adopted son, a page-turner. The present-day story of this son, returning with his wife to the mansion where he grew up, is interspersed with flashbacks in the form of letters from his mother that tell her story. The characters were fascinating and the story moves quickly. It's a book that truly deserves the "unputdownable" adjective that I normally loathe! A worthy read!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for proving an advance review copy of this book. My review is based on the audiobook version, but also includes input from my mother, who read the e-book. My opinions are my own.