This was a rather interesting book, I love how it is told in different perspectives. Some of the twists were easy to come by, but it did not take anything away from the book for me. Seeing what family will do to keep what is theirs in the family, it gives you such a bumpy ride. Especially when it comes to Ruby. She was truly something else. Jules was alright, but Cam....that poor guy. I do not know what I would do if I was in that boat. This is my first time reading a Rachel Hawkins book, and this book made me want to read more from her.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is my favorite book by her so far. It mixes cozy mystery with darker themesThe story features complex characters, secrets, and lies, all told through a mix of past and present narratives, including letters and newspaper articles. The main characters are Jules and Camden, but the standout is Ruby McTavish Callahan, the heiress, who is dead yet steals the show. Ruby was incredibly wealthy, became famous as a child after being kidnapped, and had four husbands who all died. She shares her story through letters, adding a layer of mystery.

In terms of the plot, it revolves around uncovering family secrets and catching up on Ruby’s story, told in her unique style. I loved the book’s atmosphere. It has an old-fashioned mystery vibe, with exaggerated characters except for Jules and Camden, who feel more grounded. The story features lots of backstabbing and has a gothic feel, set in Ashby House, a decaying mansion surrounded by forest and cliffs. The over-the-top elements are engaging, and the reveals and secrets are perfectly timed. Hawkins maintains tension by surprising readers with twists.

In conclusion, I have no criticisms. I loved this book from start to finish. It has plenty of twists and a satisfying ending. If you’re looking for something dark or brutal, this isn’t it, but I highly recommend it for a captivating tale of secrets and lies.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this excellent book!

Twists and turns galore in this family drama mystery! This book was told from multiple points of view. I was fully engrossed and did not see the ending coming!

This was a fun and atmospheric read. When I first picked this one up it was a “right book, wrong time” situation and boy am I glad I decided to pick it up again. The Heiress is a domestic thriller full of scandal and secrets. I love a thriller about wealthy families, and this did not disappoint. This is Rachel Hawkins at her finest!

We read this for book club last month and it was liked by everyone. It was an easy read but had good mystery and kept everyone engaged. Great story!

The Heiress is a back-stabbing, dysfunctional family drama wrapped in Southern Gothic.

Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore’s life was unlike others. She was kidnapped and returned as a child, widowed four times, and earned the title “Mrs. Kill-more,” the wealthiest woman in North Carolina. The story presents questions and answers to the rumors following Ruby’s childhood disappearance, what happened to her four husbands’ mysterious circumstantial deaths, and why she adopted her son, Camden.

It has been ten years since the complicated legacy and matriarch of Ashby House died. Her estate passed down to her adopted son, Camden, who, upon her death, fled across the country and started a new life, wanting nothing to do with Ashby House or the McTavish clan. Now, summoned back to Ashby House with his wife, Jules, he must confront deep, dark, dysfunctional family secrets to claim what is rightfully theirs.

The fast-paced tale unfolds from the alternating perspectives of Camden, Jules, and Ruby through a series of tell-all letters, along with articles and clippings from various magazines and newspapers throughout Ruby’s life. Alternating from the present to the past, the stories unfold inner secrets and raise more questions about the infamous heiress's life.

The McTavish estate, Ashby House, sets the creepy mood with Ruby’s portrait hung at the top of the stairs, always watching over the house full of family members. The remaining McTavish family members live in this magnificent home in the tiny town of Tavistock. The estate is set back from the rest of the world high in the Blue Ridge mountains with “no shortage of natural beauty” breath-taking views, sprawling grounds, and woods with hiking trails, leaving the McTavishes in a world belonging to them gripped by their estate. Ashby House holds the secrets, and “if [the] family can’t bring you home, maybe the house can” to keep the family and their secrets close.

After Cam and Jules arrive at Ashby House, they realize the complicated inheritance that bonds this family and stretches beyond the grave. Ruby narrates her story through letters when she is elderly, to an unknown recipient. The letters unfold her life’s story and what transpired during her four controversial marriages and scandalous childhood. “Family is a complicated word,” and the reader questions what makes a family. Cam and Jules also carry secrets from each other, adding to the complication of understanding their character's motives.

The Heiress is an entertaining read with its short chapters. Ruby’s narrative was more captivating than Cam’s and Jules’s perspectives. Finally, towards the end, Jules’ and Cam’s voices are less interchangeable, highlighting all the secrets kept from each other—the unfolding of the narrative, the secrets, and the back-stabbing add to the enjoyment. However, I didn’t find the story as suspenseful as anticipated with a thriller.

“I had gotten away with murder, and I was glad for it.”

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins, for an eARC of this copy. Publication date: January 9, 2024. @stmartinspress @NetGalley

This was an enjoyable read. The storyline jumped through time in between POVs from Cam, Jules and Ruby. I mostly enjoyed Ruby’s POV as it was told from letters from the past. It kind of gave me “The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo” vibes as she wrote about her unsettling past with her ex-husbands and their mysterious deaths. I live for an untrustworthy, murderous MC. She was the reason I kept turning the pages of this book.

However, when we jumped to the POV of Came and Jules, I realized I didn’t care much for them. I only kept reading to hopefully gain more insight on Ruby’s life. She made this book and I didn’t enjoy the parts where she wasn’t involved. However, this was a book that I did enjoy since I did love “The Heiress” herself.

I had to DNF this one after getting a quarter of the way through. I didn’t find it enjoyable and found it hard to connect with the narrator.

I very much enjoyed my time reading this book! It was overall fun and twisty and kept me sucked in from beginning to end! This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and I’ll definitely be adding more from her to my TBR!

The different timelines and POVs in this book kept me in total suspense from beginning to end. I loved all of the family drama involved and the house where most of the story took place really set a creepy atmosphere. Overall this book was so well thought out. As each piece of the puzzle began to click for me, I had to take a second to appreciate the reveal and how brilliantly it fit into the story.

Highly recommend this one to anyone who thrives on a dysfunctional family - if you’re missing Dynasty, this one is for you! The creepy vibes make it a perfect fall read that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page!

When Camden was adopted by an incredibly wealthy widow, he would have never thought that upon her death he would inherit her fortune even after abandoning the family many years prior. The only catch to gaining his inheritance? Returning to Ashby House to face his family alongside his wife, who he’s been desperate to protect from them.

And there was this darkness that seemed to cling to me, a past that people only ever spoke about in whispers. A suspicion, even inside my own heart, that I had been placed in the wrong life, living out a role written for someone else.

Ruby McTavish death left her family in limbo. Her adopted son Camden whom she left her estate to moved far away to Colorado to avoid the toxity of his family. However, 10 years later, a wife and a pull to come back home to the house that has haunted him, he hopes to have some closure and maybe a way out.

The narration is done in 3 voices- letters from Ruby- you don't know who they are addressed to but you assume to her son. Camden who in my opinion has been the victim of mind games. He is sorting thru his mother's letters and to be done with this family. Jewel, Camden's wife who is a big question mark. Why is her voice so important? You will find out in the surprising end.

Needless to say, the narration was done well. It kept me engaged has the onion was being peeled back in Ruby's crazy life and how it affected everyone around her including Jewel. Satisfying read.

A special thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I enjoyed this book more than the Wife Upstairs by the same author. It was enjoyable, however, I feel like it suffers from being very predictable and forgetable. I think new readers to thrillers novels will enjoy it, but it does not stick out in the genre to me. Thank you for the copy to review for my bookstore!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I’m sitting here trying to put together my thoughts about this book, and honestly I don’t have many. I was pretty unimpressed. I didn’t care for any of the characters, I wasn’t surprised by any of the plot twists, and I was left feeling unsatisfied when the book ended. Understanding who’s who of the family members also took a little while because it seemed a bit unclear.

I prefer and would recommend other thrillers and authors over this one. I feel the author writes better romance than thrillers. This is probably my last favorite book of hers so far.

Oh my goodness! This book is a brilliantly smart and extremely addictive read that you won't be able to put down. With unexpected twists and heart-throbbing pacing, it draws you into a captivating mystery set within the claustrophobic Ashby House. The secrets hidden behind its closed doors, along with its notorious and heartless inhabitants, add to the intrigue. And let's not forget Ruby McTavish, also known as "Lady Kill-more," whose unreliable, sarcastic, and intimidating personality seals the deal.
Expect the unexpected as you dive into this gripping read. It will keep you on your toes, and you'll find yourself wanting to devour it in one sitting, even if it means staying up all night.

A mysterious and wealthy family feuds over wealth and secrets in this book. Nothing is really new or surprising but it is a perfectly adequate thriller for a rainy afternoon. Jules manipulates her husband Cam into returning to his toxic family to claim the inheritance left by his adopted mother, in an isolated mansion in the mountains.

This book was fine. I found it an easy read, but it just wasn't compelling whatsoever. There was no urgency and I just felt like it was a low energy thriller, if that makes any sense. I also didn't feel attached to any of the characters and felt their personalities could've been more developed.

I don't read many thrillers and I enjoyed this one. I wanted to expand my genres and this was a great way to do that. I love to read characters based in North Carolina. The book was a good pace and I really got into the story.

I really love Rachel Hawkins' books. The twists and turns throughout the book kept me on my toes. I loved that it was dual POV with Camden and Jules and then letters written by Ruby for another perspective. I can't wait to read her next book now that she's an auto buy author.

This is the first rachel hawkins novel I’ve read, and im now a fan. this story was full of surprises and twists. Told from the view of Cam and his wife Jules and Ruby, who passed away years before, the story weaves a great mystery of who they all really are under the surface and the secrets they kept. It’s a suspense novel, and it definitely fits the genre. Family secrets and the pressure from the family definitely make this book as good as it is. im going to have to get my hands on more of these books if they are all like this.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

This was the best twisty story I've read in a while, and my favorite from Hawkins yet! SO many domestic secrets surrounding the legacy of a family, and I never really know but had so many ideas of what COULD happen. Loved it! 5 stars!

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins is an interesting thriller that features family drama, gothic mansions, and multiple points of view. I’m a big fan of all of those things, so I devoured this story in just a couple of days.

It’s a little confusing at first because the story is told in multiple points of view.

First, there’s Ruby. She passed away recently and has left her home and all of her fortune to her adopted son Cam. This makes him prey to the rest of her money hungry family, who all want a piece of the family fortune.

Cam is a school teacher in Colorado who isn’t exactly thrilled to have to go home to sort through this mess. But with his wife Jules by his side, he’s convinced that he’ll be able to get in, do what he needs to do, and get out. Sounds simple, right?

But Jules has secrets of her own. And as she gets a glimpse into what Cam’s life could have been, she realizes that a life with money might be what she’s wanted all along. As the truth comes out about the McTavish clan, she finds herself having to deal with way more than she bargained for.

I will say that while I really enjoyed the idea of this book, I didn’t exactly love the execution. A lot of authors fall into the trap of writing in multiple points of view. This can sometimes be a good thing, because it helps to create a well rounded story.

However, it also limits the amount of intel you get. A book can only be so long and when the narration is shared between so many people, you just get a basic look at what’s going on. And that’s disappointing when you have such a complicated and meaty story.

I felt like Ruby chapters were long and drawn out. Every couple of chapters she shares stories from her life that led her to the life she eventually had. And while they are interesting, they were drawn out. I wish the author had just gotten to the point. Because there is a LOT to unpack with the living members of the family.

But with that being said, overall I found it to be a fun thriller. Part of the reason why I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo so much is because I love a woman with a complicated past, and Ruby McTavish certainly fit the bill.

If you’re looking for a serious thriller novel, this might not be the book for you. But if you’ve enjoyed Rachel Hawkins other books and want to curl up with a family mystery, definitely check this one out.

Thank you to Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!