I went into The Inheritance with false expectations, and thus, was left with a disappointed feeling at the conclusion. The blurb read to me like a locked room mystery. A family has gathered on a remote Scottish island and someone will end up dead. The setting, the atmosphere, it sounded like my kind of book. What it turned out to be was a fraught family drama.

The Argawals are a rich Indian family and the father is thinking of retiring. How will the inheritance be divided between his three children. On the surface this family looks flashy perfect. Underneath they are severely dysfunctional.

The first ninety percent of this book was family drama, and it was interesting enough, just not what I had expected. Then in the final pages there is a murder, but the conclusion was a big no for me.

SPOILER ALERT
I don't usually do spoilers on reviews, but I can't really write this one without saying how appalling I found the ending. In the final frames, time has passed, they've brushed a murder under the carpet and framed someone else, and I'm supposed to care whether Myra is finally going to be a mother? Or what happened to any of the rest of these horrible people?

The author's note softened me a little. I was going to rate this 2, and I'll give it a 3. Her premise was interesting. There were horrors during the pandemic in India (and elsewhere), where people were not allowed to see their dying loved ones, where people thoughtlessly infected others, and where people would do anything to get their loved ones the help they need. So the premise, how far would you go for your family, is an interesting one, but in the case of this story, my conscience would definitely win out.

I suppose it was interesting in that it provoked such a strong reaction from me. However, I felt it took way too long to get to the action at the end, and then it was disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I can see why others might enjoy this, with its twist at the end. It just wasn't for me.

Whoo boy, this is a real friggin' moody book. I was anticipating a locked room mystery, and I guess it fits that bill in the end, but it's really a lot more about the super dysfunctional family dynamics. I was intrigued, once I worked out all the family members and their various situations/motives, but I wasn't enjoying any of them. I was rooting for Zoe to extricate her husband from the family, but also wishing for her to just walk the fuck away from them. I got a little tired of the many red herrings in so many chapters that turned out to be overly dramatic set-ups that led nowhere. Then ending, though - it is not unexpected, but it still packs a punch. I can appreciate the craftsmanship of the writing and plotting here, but the darkness of the book is not my cup of tea.

The Inheritance is a slow burn thriller full of Indian culture, dysfunction and guilt, filial duty, and an absolutely insane pace in the last quarter of the novel.

The majority of the novel is spent on the family dynamics, but the twist is a delicious payoff.

I really liked the writing style of this book! and the plot kept me interested! Would recommend to anyone looking for a quick read

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story moved kind of slow for awhile but really sped up and came to a head at the end. I think the slowness was necessary to make you feel a certain way about the characters in order for the ending to completely shock you. Some parts seemed to be a little inconsistent l, but overall a pretty good story.

3.5 rounded up

Great read! First read from this author. This book makes me want to read more from this author. Kept my attention and interest until the end.

A clever, well-written thriller. I enjoyed this atmospheric story of a dysfunctional family with well-developed characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I stayed up all night, happily wrecking my already mangled sleep schedule, to finish this propulsive and absolutely diabolical page-turner of a thriller!

The Agarwal family are rich, successful and remarkably tight-knit. Patriarch Raj, fondly known to the younger generation as Papa, built up his petrochemical business from nothing, as he never hesitates to remind his children. Now on the verge of retirement after a health scare, he’s gathered his globe-trotting family here on Kilbryde, the remote Scottish island owned by his eldest daughter Myra. Ostensibly, it’s for a family holiday, but everyone knows it’s really to announce the distribution of wealth that will come from selling Papa’s company for an eye-wateringly large sum:

QUOTE
Three thousand crores. Roughly three hundred million pounds, just fifty million shy of the King’s estimated net worth. The King.

It’s a number that would have seemed completely unfathomable to me just a few years ago.

A number that still gets my heart racing.

And judging by how quickly everyone agreed to this trip, I’m not the only one. Ever since Papa announced his retirement, we’ve all been waiting for him to reveal his inheritance plan.

I let my gaze drift back to the window, to the amber sun slanting across the snow-capped Munros. Once the sale is complete, Aseem won’t have to play by Papa’s rules any more.

We won’t have to play by Papa’s rules.

We’ll finally be free.
END QUOTE

The “we” in this perspective is Zoe Agarwal, the social media influencer married to middle child and only son Aseem. It’s taken her a long time to be seen as anything but an English interloper, but now that Aseem has taken over running the company, she and her husband have finally been able to start making their own plans for the future. It’s been stifling enough for her, having to live with her in-laws in Delhi, subject to the iron rule of her fragile-seeming mother-in-law Shalini. But a few more days on the island will hopefully help her secure everything she needs for her freedom.

Myra, meanwhile, is worried about hosting her family for the first time. The Agarwals’ golden child gave up her former life in order to transform Kilbryde from an abandoned island with a haunting past to a glamorous luxury resort. Her younger sister Aisha, meanwhile, travels the world seemingly on a whim, partying it up with a string of unsuitable men and coming home only when the leash tightens.

As the getaway weekend progresses, the suspense of what Raj will decide practically forces the Agarwal family’s secrets to come to light. Disagreements turn to arguments, but that’s almost to be expected from fractious family gatherings. What none of them expects, however, is murder.

Trisha Sakhlecha writes like a house on fire – perhaps fittingly, since a house fire does play a part in this gripping narrative. I was so interested and invested in all these characters’ lives and motivations that I simply could not put the book down. A large part of that may be due to the fact that the story she’s telling is both compelling and a fresh take on the usual succession drama. The Agarwals, unlike most families riven by money, genuinely do love one another, which makes the murder mystery narrative that much more shocking. As Zoe narrates:

QUOTE
When I first met them, it was this closeness that struck me the most. The whole family seemed to move as a single organism, connected even when they weren’t together. [...] They consulted each other on everything, but what surprised me the most was the fact that not only did they know exactly what was going on in each other’s lives, they cared.

I’d never seen anything like it.

It took getting married and living with my in-laws for me to realize that the closeness I so envied cloaked a vein of darkness that ran so deep it was embedded in their DNA. My husband’s family uses love as a shield, an excuse to justify everything from their insecurity and nosiness to outright intrusion.
END QUOTE

The Inheritance explores the ways in which that familial love can take a desperately wrong turn, switching between multiple narratives to ensure that the pace never flags. This is genuinely one of the best reads I’ve enjoyed this year so far, and a must-read for anyone who enjoys propulsive crime fiction.

If you like domestic thrillers, you may enjoy this one. The story is mainly centered around the family dynamics and drama. I found it engaging enough that I wanted to finish it, but nothing memorable. Would make for a great easy-read, palate-cleanser, type of book. I enjoyed my time while reading it, just nothing spectacular.

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed reading about a rich family who is waiting for their dad to retire so they can split their inheritance. So they meet for a family celebration on one of the children's island all together again. Yet there are many secrets hiding in the siblings lives and one just might be capable for murder to get what they want. So good.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free arc of this novel.

Unfortunately, I ended up DNFing this book at 25%. I initially was interested in reading the book because of the family reunion turns into murder plotline. However, I felt that the opening lacked some tension that would have kept me reading. While there's much emphasis on the family's interaction, I wasn't getting very much "mystery," which is why I was initially interested in reading the book. Additionally, I wasn't very connected to the characters, who didn't seem overly distinct in my mind. I would've liked more distinction in their personalities to make them more personable. I'm sure those more invested in the characters would be willing to wait for the mystery to unfold.

2.5 stars

The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha is a dark thriller about a wealthy family who get together in Scotland to work out the details of what will happen with the family's wealth when the father passes away. As days go by, someone is murdered and we're brought along into the dark and twisty happenings.

I could not get into this book. I'm all for a dark, twisty family drama. I even enjoy the occasional locked-room style book (even though there have been so many of this trope lately). I love unreliable narrators. But this one did not pull me in and keep my interest at all. Really, nothing exciting happened until the last 25% of the book or so. I found SO MANY of the characters to be unlikeable - so much arrogance and greed. The family members are whiny and entitled. They don't really make me want to finish the book. It took so long for things to unravel and become slightly interesting. Finally the last quarter of the book spun things around and surprised me...even though I knew how terrible the family members were, I wasn't really expecting things to happen the way they did.

Overall, it was okay - just too slow and too many unlikeable people for me. I think if you enjoy slow burn, family drama type thrillers you will enjoy this one.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was a very well written book. I loved all of the details and descriptions of the characters and the places they were at. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming, especially the way the book ended. I thought the troublesome character was going to be Gabe but I was way off.

Locked room meets dysfunctional family. She married into a family not expecting the chaos of this truley messed up family. You have your standard controlling mother. Siblings hiding things and the father well he just wants everyone gone.
Pretty good family suspense drama. keep me entertained and reading.

I kept hearing about this book and was so happy to receive an ARC - and it did not disappoint! A dysfunctional family, a huge inheritance, and a creepy, isolated location kept the suspense super and and had me turning pages as fast as I could. I guessed the final big twist but there were so many smaller ones and a bunch of red herrings that I think it was just a lucky guess! None of the characters were likeable (at all!) but I still enjoyed it and would highly recommend. Can't wait to see what the author comes out with next! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Nothing like being stuck on an island with your toxic family!

Well-paced with a vibrant cast, this was an enjoyable read from start to end. I love how much the book explores while still being a gripping mystery brimming with secrets, tension and suspense:

- (dysfunctional) Family dynamics
- Fractured relationships
- Grief and loss of a child
- Indian upper society and culture
- Displacement and genocide

I also loved the atmospheric setting and its dark history, which really added to the vibes. The characters were not likeable and yet I couldn't stop reading. Although I found the climax rather underwhelming after all that build-up, the last chapter more than made up for it.

Yes yes yes and yes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This book was very well written and kept me wanting to comeback for more. I even bought the physical book.

A smart and cleverly written creative thriller to devour. A family comes together for a reunion in Scotland to decide on the fate of the fortune they could possibly gain as an i hesitance. However, secrets begin to be exposed. A dark, i intellectual well written thriller not to be missed.

Nothing like being stuck on an island with your toxic family!

Well-paced with a vibrant cast, this was an enjoyable read from start to end. I love how much the book explores while still being a gripping mystery brimming with secrets, tension and suspense:

- (dysfunctional) Family dynamics
- Fractured relationships
- Grief and loss of a child
- Indian upper society and culture
- Displacement and genocide

I also loved the atmospheric setting and its dark history, which really added to the vibes. The characters were not likeable and yet I couldn't stop reading. Although I found the climax rather underwhelming after all that build-up, the last chapter more than made up for it.

It was fascinating to watch the conflicts unfold and readers learn the backstories and secrets of each family member. This gave a fantastic insight into their behaviors and actions towards the other family members. I enjoyed how the author brought in threads to the plot that hinted at things to be unraveled, but I did not see the ending come. That was a wake-up call surprise.