I was totally thrown off by the twist in this book. I was not expecting the events to unfold the way they did, which makes this a winner in my book. This is my second favorite Hawkins book behind Reckless Girls.



I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

4.5 stars

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is a psychological thriller about a man who reluctantly returns to his ancestral home.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin’s Press  (and in particular Marissa Sangiacomo  for sending me a widget), and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Camden McTavish returns to Ashby House in the Blue Ridge mountains with his wife of ten years, Jules.  Even though he owns the estate, and the money that goes with it, Cam has never wanted it, or anything to do with his remaining relatives.  When his adoptive mother Ruby died, she left a rather complicated legacy.  He may own everything, but he wants nothing to do with it, or his "family".

Ruby was rather famous.  She was kidnapped when she was only three, and found a year later.  She was married and widowed four times, and had a rather strange reputation for one of North Carolina's richest women.

Ruby's younger sister Nelle, and Cam's cousins Libby and Ben still live in the mansion....and they are not a family that Cam wants to re-unite with.  They have never accepted Cam, and were mortified when he inherited everything.

Jules, however, can hardly contain her excitement at the thought of moving to this fabulous estate, and Cam wants to please his wife....if only for a few weeks while he finishes some repairs.  Jules, however, has other plans.

Even in death, Ruby is still pulling the strings.


My Opinions:
The story is about secrets, lies, and manipulation, but overall, it is about family.  Yes, a rather dysfunctional and strange family, but a family.  I wouldn't want any part of them.

Told from different perspectives, including that of Cam and Jules, it is also told through news articles and letters.  This was done quite well, and although the "truths" came slowly, it made the plot more interesting.  There were a number of twists, most of which I was expecting, but they were good!

I absolutely loved the characters, flaws and all.  Ruby, even from the grave (no this is not a ghost story), was the most intriguing woman!  The house itself became a character.

It was also a fairly fast read, although I'm not sure that it was the pace, but more the fact that I really wanted to know what happened before, and what the future held.

Bottom line...I loved it!

The Heiress is filled with suspense and family drama. Rachel Hawkins is an author to add to your auto buy list. I highly recommend her books.

Thanks to St,. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This is another solid book by the author of The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls.. I was drawn into the story immediately and it kept me on edge throughout. I'll definitely read more by Rachel Hawkins in the future!

What a tangled web of lies, scandals, and rich b*tches! My first Rachel Hawkins book and boy was this good!!!

I absolutely devoured The Heiress. I thought it was the perfect mix of family drama, scandals, betrayals, mixed with a great gothic mansion setting, and a historical fiction vibe with a mystery plot. It sounds like a lot and it is, but it is cleverly plotted!

I loved the letters from Ruby and thought it was a fun touch. This has something for everyone in it! A love story (well, kinda, at least learning about her husbands....), historical fiction vibes with the chapters in the past, and then of course plenty of family drama.

There is twists and turns a plenty, with one very clever detail that is making me round this to 5 stars!

The Heiress is a stunning book about complicated family relationships. Cam and his wife Jules return to his childhood home that inherited 10 years ago, along with the family fortune, when his adopted mother died. The house is full of secrets, lies, and “family” that hates Cam got the money when he’s not even a McTavish by blood.

This story kept me enthralled the entire time and I could not put the book down! I loved the different POVs from Jules, Cam, and Ruby’s letters. I will definitely be reading more of Rachel Hawkins’ books.

When North Carolina’s richest woman dies, she leaves everything to her adopted son Cam. Cam rejects the inheritance and his family and settles down in Colorado to live a normal life as an English teacher, which is where he met his wife Jules. Ten years later, Cam and Jules find themselves at the door of Ashby House, where Cam’s aunt and cousins still reside. Everyone at Ashby House has secrets, including Ruby, and danger lurks around the corner as the long-buried secrets begin to surface.

I am a huge Rachel Hawkins fan, but The Heiress was by far her best book to date! I was completely sucked in, and I loved the use of the letters to take us between the past and present day.

The pacing of this book was excellent! I felt like we got just enough breadcrumbs to keep me on the edge of my seat but not so many that the twists were spoiled too early.

It’s not easy to balance three points of view, especially when one of those POVs is deceased during most of the book’s plot. Rachel did an excellent job letting us inside Cam and Jules’ heads and revealing Ruby’s personality and history through her letters. I thought all the characters were so interesting and dynamic, and the cast was exactly what I look for in an engaging thriller/mystery - eccentric and secretive.

Many of Rachel’s books have been inspired by a specific work or person, but this one is a love letter to gothic fiction. As one of my favorite genres, it was so fun to see so many of the staples of gothic fiction - big creepy mansion, twisted family, spooky portrait, hidden letters, and mysterious deaths.

I LOVED this book and I can’t wait to re-read it on audio. It was twisty and a little dark, and it kept me guessing until the end.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Fantastic! Loved this book from start to finish! Take a dysfunctional family, a stately old family manor, and a murderous matriach, and you've got a fast-paced, heart pounding thriller with lots of fun characters and twists and turns galore! This book did not disappoint from the minute I opened it until the jaw-dropping ending. This is the type of book you want to pick up on a snowy winter day - because you won't be able to put it down! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

Out of the couple books by Rachel Hawkins this one was my least favorite.. I felt like it was very slow and did not actually have me hooked and captivated until the last 25% of the book. I also feel like there were things that could have and should have been talked about more in the book.

Now the last 25% of the book I didn’t want to put it down. There was a plot twist that I did not see coming! All in all it was a good read I just wish it would have got my attention from the very beginning. 3.5 ⭐️

🖼️THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins🖼️

📆PUB DATE: Out Now!
➡️Swipe for synopsis
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Audio
Read if you like:
🖼️Gothic Mystery

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Multiple POV

This was a solid mystery from Rachel Hawkins, but after reading some amazing thrillers this month, I was a little bit underwhelmed overall. This book is not a thriller, there wasn’t anything super twisty or shocking but there was a good mystery plot at the center that kept me reading.

This book follows Camden and Jules, a married couple who travel back to Camden’s notorious childhood home to sort out inheritance with remaining family members. It reminded me slightly of Knives Out where each character has major flaws and you’re not sure who to trust. I guessed most of the twists but still enjoyed the overall story, just not enough to give it more than 3 stars. I still recommend trying this if you enjoyed the author’s previous books or like a gothic mystery!

Thank you @stmartinspress for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! It’s out now🫶

Rachel Hawkins never disappoints.. She has done it again with her newest book "The Heiress" There are lots of juicy twists in this story of a family and money. Lots of shady characters that make you scratch you head... I was turning pages to get to the bottom of this family mystery. As stated before..be sure to read this one...it will keep you interested for hours.

This was a very atmospheric read. I enjoyed the multiple POV's. I typically enjoy any book involving a family who is not really who they seem. I loved the way she revealed each of the family members secrets. I read this book so quickly and definitely cant wait to read more of Rachel Hawkins books.

The twists and turns with a little mystery had me binging this book quickly. As layers are peeled back about each character the story grows, as does the mystery. This is my favorite by this author so far!

Oooh, this one was a good one! If there’s one thing I highly enjoy, it is rich people drama and this one had some and more! The novel is split by Jules and Camden’s POV, Ruby’s letters and media articles that slowly start piecing together a puzzle that is all types of messed up. The story begins with Camden having to return to his family home and relive his past, while stringing along Jules, his wife. There, he will encounter his family members that will do anything to get their hands on his inheritance. Also, his grandma, Ruby, has a backstory that will blow your mind.

Now, while I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller, I gave it 4 stars since there were some elements in it that I found predictable but others that surprised me, including the epilogue and the last secrets it revealed. While it was pretty engaging, there were parts where I’d get lost in the family tree and drama and the who’s who (especially in the beginning).

Overall, a really fun and twisted read that you can devour in a few hours (like I did!).

This was a fun read. A suspenseful inheritance drama that's set in North Carolina. It features a 3-year-old girl who was kidnapped, four dead husbands, and lots of family secrets. This book sucked me in. So good! The audiobook was outstanding.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. And to Macmillan Audio for the ALC

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

Ruby is what you might call a black widow - married and widowed four times she has earned some suspicious glances and unsavory nicknames. However, she's also a McTavish, of the North Carolina McTavishes, and that comes with a level of opulence that means the occasional scandal can be, well, overlooked. When you combine all this with the fact that she's also the one and only Baby Ruby, stolen from her family and rescued from a poor Alabama family nearly a year later, one might say that she has lived through enough tragedy for anyone to turn a blind eye if something tragic but questionable happens around poor Ruby anymore.

The Heiress is the story of Ruby, her adopted son Camden, the McTavish family home (Ashby House), and the level of wealth that seems to blend boredom and insanity in its family members. As Camden tries to find his place amongst the McTavish family as its heir, but not a McTavish by blood, family secrets pour from the walls of Ashby like blood from a wound. And frankly, it seems like that's how Ruby would have liked it.

Thank you to NG, Rachel Hawkins, and St. Martin's Press for access to an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having grown up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I felt teleported into Ashby House. I was fully invested in everyone’s story & the absolute chaos that piled up with every turn of the page. The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is my new favorite book!

Rachel Hawkins once again grabs your attention from the opening pages and does not let go to the end. When his adoptive mother Ruby died ten years ago Cam McTavish left Tavistock, NC and never looked back. He had been left millions that he never touched and Ashby House that he never wanted to see again. After the death of his uncle, he is contacted by his cousin Ben, asking him to return home to settle the estate. His wife Jule is anxious to see where he grew up and convinces him to go. Everyone in the McTavish family has secrets and when Cam and Julie arrive he faces the same resentment that he endured as he grew up.

Ruby became famous for her kidnapping and eventual recovery as a child. She was later in the news for her marriage and the tragic loss of four husbands. In letters written by Ruby shortly before her death she tells her own story and explains how she received a reputation as a black widow. A shooting, an electrocution, drowning and a poisoning will keep you reading as her husbands fall one after another. As you meet the surviving McTavishes it is no wonder why Cam had to get away. Even Jule, the one person to offer him love and support, is hiding a connection to Ruby. Hawkins’ characters and pacing provide a true page turner. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for my review

The Heiress

I always enjoy Rachel Hawkins thrillers and this was no exception. This reads more like a family drama of rich people behaving badly with some murder on the side, but I could not stop reading. Lots of twists and turns and one of my favorites of hers right behind The Wife Upstairs. Loved how it all came together. I enjoyed the multi perspectives of Ruby, Camden and Jules. Definitely a fast paced read. 4.5 ⭐️

When Camden returns to Ashby House with his wife Jules he does so reluctantly-he knows what Ashby house does to people. This is where I was totally lost-I was expecting more a gothic thriller with the "house" more involved. Yes it's a beautiful mansion with a colorful history but I never got the sense of the house "twisting" it's occupants. The different storylines are confusing, I didn't understand the need to tell me there's a second act plot twist or ironic foreshadowing. I did enjoy the letters from Ruby McTavish as her past is disclosed. the book would have been better if it focused solely on this aspect of the story. It was a quick at times engaging story and I am sure others will enjoy it. It just wasn't for me. Thank you to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a free copy- I am leaving this review voluntarily.