Sarah Lingate died below the cliffs of Capri in 1992, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter Helen. The death was ruled accidental, and the family continued to gather on Capri every year. On the thirtieth anniversary of Sarah’s death, the Lingates arrive and find the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died. Helen uses the opportunity to investigate her paranoid family with the help fo the family assistant Lorna Moreno. When Lorna disappears and the investigation into Sarah’s death is reopened, Helen is faced with the uncomfortable truth that everyone who was on Capri thirty years ago is a suspect and even Lorna might not be who she seems. Secrets are now coming to light, and it's unlikely that everyone will leave the island alive.

The story has different parts, with different timelines meeting to inform the reader. There's Lorna's POV prior to her disappearance, complete with countdown, Helen's POV, and we occasionally get a glimpse of Sarah prior to her death. Money isn't all it's cracked up to be; Helen for years was controlled, isolated, monitored, and expressly told what she was allowed to do in order to keep her family name and legacy clean. Even her boyfriend is vetted ahead of time and presented to her. The trust fund her mother set up in order to protect her with an independent income was kept from her and raided, making her wholly dependent on the family. She met Lorna and introduced her to her uncle, and her uncle invited Lorna along on a whim; even this friendship gets folded into family affairs.

Helen's caught in this trap, and the people around her aren't nice to each other or to people they consider lesser. Asking about the past doesn't yield answers until the second half of the book when we finally discover the secrets her parents have kept. Even then, when we see what everyone is capable of and what they have done, we still get shocked at the end with other POV chapters. People aren't what they seem to be, and the final chapters truly bear that out.

Rich setting and lots of fun twists and turns. Really enjoyed the multi pov here! Would read more from this author.

Saltwater by Katy Hays was a good mystery riddled with family drama and tension! I felt the setting and overall atmosphere within the novel was excellently written. I felt like I could truly picture the surroundings, the beauty and danger of the island of Capri. The Cliffhangers had be on the edge of my seat throughout the novel and I was constantly questioning what happened? And what is there to come?

This book does feature multiple timelines, and I have to be honest that I am not the biggest fan of multi-timeline stories. That being said, I do feel like it did add to the story as it keeps you on your toes as you try to unravel the story and mystery. I would describe this as a slow burn, but once the twists began to be revealed I was hooked to every line! The plot is tense and mysterious. I was questioning everything and everyone! I did not see the ending coming at all and I thought the overall conclusion of the story was fantastic!

I definitely didn’t see the ending coming, I kept thinking I figured it out but I was so wrong! But even so, I feel like I wasn’t super invested in the story or any of the characters. I was initially sucked into the secrets, deception & lies of the Lingate family and thought it was going to be a captivating fast-paced read all the way through. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me & started dragging about half way through.

There were a lot of different POVS & flashback chapters, which usually I love, but in this case I didn’t really feel like it added much to the story. While this was not my favorite, I’d still say it was a solid 3 star thriller overall!

Money, lies, drugs, deceit, murders.. this book has it all! Saltwater follows a wealthy family that will stop at nothing to keep their name and reputation "clean," even if it means lying, cheating, and murdering. This book is everything you would expect from a scandalous, manipulative family that doesn't care who they step on to make their way to the top.
I really enjoyed this book. It is very compelling and consumed me from the very beginning. I loved the amount of secrets and how the intensity of them kept building as the story progressed. At some point, however, I did feel like the author was doing too much. The revelation towards the end felt over the top and unbelievable. I found myself having to stop and look around for the camera, because what?! Lol. Aside from that, this book is a great read! It is messy, and if you love rich folk family drama, you'd definitely love this one!
Thank you NetGalley, Ballantine, and Katy Hays for this ARC!

With a gorgeous cover and promise of murderous intrigue in an exotic locale, I was excited to dive deep into Saltwater.

The foundation of the novel is told through alternating points of view of the women in the novel However, the timelines and the information parsed out in each chapter is all over the place and I had a difficult time keeping track of what everyone was up to and when. Relationships between characters were confusing, especially when it came to Lorna and others were barely explained, but the reader was just supposed to accept them. While I overall enjoyed the thriller/mystery plot and was able to only guess at part of it by the 40% mark, I did not particularly care for any of the characters and I had trouble accepting the fact that so many of them were able to commit such heinous crimes. In essence, I think the author overplayed the "rich people are evil" card to almost an absurd point.

I think better editing as to the chapter/timeline placement and a bit more polish explaining Lorna's relationship with everyone would have made this a truly enjoyable thriller. For me, though it was entertaining, it was a bit too frustrating trying to piece details together that should not have required such effort.

Recommended for fans of rich family dramas with unreliable narrators.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Katy Hays for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This ended being a dnf for me. I tried multiple attempts to get into it, but if never peaked my interest enough to want to continue.

I loved the suspense of this book, the secrets glittering under the surface that threaten the family is so intense!

You know those really popular, seem to be everywhere books? A few years ago, that books was Hays’s The Cloisters… but I never read it. 😬 it’s on my never-ending TBR list, but I didn’t get to it before I was sent a copy of her sophomore novel, Saltwater.

This felt a lot like The White Lotus (maybe because I was watching the show concurrently). Saltwater takes place in two periods of time, the present and the 1990s. It’s the story of a wealthy family and a wife who dies under suspicious circumstances. Now, her daughter returns to Capri with questions about her death and her family’s involvement.

This is very twisty and fast paced. As more things were revealed, I really couldn’t discern where it was headed, and it kept me guessing until the very last page. Thoroughly enjoyed and recommend if you’re a White Lotus fan!

Enjoyed this one quite a bit. The cover makes it seem like its some fun summery book, but in all reality its a complex thriller or suspense. I figured it (spoiler) went back to Naomi being jealous because Marcus wanted to be a dad and she couldn't give that to him. In no way is it right to cheat, but I assume that's why he was having affairs with Sarah and Lorna. Helen being so oblivious to what's going on even though she's kind of locked away??? Like why wasn't she watching everyone like Naomi??? Especially because she knew her mom was murdered and someone had sent the faux necklace?? I don't know. I liked it but at some points in the first half it dragged for me a bit.

Beneath the surface of wealth and tradition lies a secret that refuses to stay buried.

In the summer of 1992, Sarah Lingate’s life ended at the jagged edge of Capri’s cliffs, her three-year-old daughter left motherless, and her powerful in-laws cloaked in rumors. The official story? A tragic fall. The whispers? Far more sinister.

For thirty years, the Lingate family has returned to their seaside estate like clockwork—an annual pilgrimage to silence speculation and uphold appearances. But this year, the past breaks its silence. Waiting for them at the villa is the very necklace Sarah wore on the night she died—an elegant reminder that someone else remembers. Someone who wants the truth uncovered.

A slow-burn mystery woven with opulence, grief, and generational secrets.

Highly recommend this mysterious read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC Copy!

I do not usually read a lot of mystery/thriller but when this book was suggested to me by the publisher I decided it could be a nice pallet cleanser so I picked it up and I am so glad that I did. I was sucked into this world so fast, seeing the way the 'old money' interacts with others while being inside and also on the outside at the same time was so intriguing. Multiple twists that I did not see coming definitely keep me enthralled in the different mysteries that are presented thought the book.

I throughly enjoyed the many twists and turns of this novel. I initially had some confusion in keeping up with the different timelines but pretty sure this is my issue not the authors. I was able to get it straight and enjoyed the pace of the novel and then thought that the different timelines enhanced the understanding of the story. What an ending! I totally didn’t see it coming! I love when an author can do this for me. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone and would purchase as a gift for my reader friends!

I love a good rich people mystery/thriller. This is a book about a family that returns to Capri, Italy every year after one of their own is found dead - Sarah Lingate.
I will be honest, this story was.a bit hard to follow with all the characters involved and the different timelines. I found myself dozing off through parts of it as it was hard to keep track of everyone in the different timelines.
It felt slow throughout until the ending and then you got hit with a huge plot twist - one of the reasons I love mystery/thrillers. All in all, a sold 3 star read.
Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the advanced reader copy.

Murder Mystery? Check.

Atmospheric setting? Check.

Twists and turns? Check.

Dysfunctional family drama? Check.

Secrets and lies? Check.

Morally gray characters? Check.

Mutiple POVs? Check.

Suspense and cliffhangers that make you wanna keep turning the page? Check.

Sound like something you wanna read? Of course you do and you should!! Be warned that this is more of a slow burn but when this comes to a boil OH BOY will it be worth the wait.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks for the arc goes to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group; Ballantine Books. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Italy
Spice Level: Sex on page
Language: Plenty of cussing

SALTWATER is swimming with monied people, fame, and dirt.

I think this book will especially appeal to readers who love drama and suspense. It's something of a slow burn with an atmospheric vibe set in Italy—the ultra-wealthy are really something to behold. I wasn't really rooting for any of the characters, but get ready for some twists!

Happy reading!

I can see this book becoming a really great beach read for 2025 not only with the cover, but with the story and how addictive it is to know what is actually going on.

However, I do think I needed to be edited down at least 50 pages. Thankfully the two twists at the end that I in no way saw coming made up for some slower, repetitive parts in the beginning.

Also, there are a LOT of characters to remember and if you listen to the audio like I did, you will find yourself going back for a bit at first until you have all the characters straight.

3.5/5

So rarely do I read mysteries/thrillers/suspense novels, and maybe I ought to more often, because this one was so much fun! Though I may have caught on to some of the twists, I didn't catch on to all of them (and there were an awful lot), and this book kept me hooked!

The Lingate family takes a yearly trip to Italy, even though 30 years ago, one of their own died in an unsolved murder case. Their daughter is tired of the family's closed-off, ridiculous lifestyle, and makes friends with her uncle's assistants. And then everything tumbles after that.

It was a super fun read, especially if you want a little escapism in the form of a vacation in Italy and living among the high-profile elite.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for the e-ARC!

I have tried to read this and even tried listedning on audio but it is not my cup of tea. Thank you for the opportunity to review but I will not be moving forward with this one.

Thirty years ago, Sarah Lingate's body was found at the bottom of the cliffs outside the home her husband's family was renting on the island of Capri. While her husband, Richard, was suspected of killing her (and many people still think he did), the official ruling was eventually suicide. Her three year old daughter, Helen, was their home in L.A. when it happened. Now thirty-three but still living under her family's thumb, Helen arrives on Capri with her boyfriend, father, aunt and uncle, and her uncle's assistant, Lorna. What could have been a lovely vacation on an idyllic island starts to unravel when the necklace Helen's mother was wearing the night she died -but was never recovered- arrives by mail with a letter demanding that the family pay $10 million to keep the sender quiet about what they know about the night Sarah died. Everyone on the island seems to be keeping a secret, some more shocking than others. Atmospheric and suspenseful, this story is told from multiple points of view and alternates between 1992 and 2022 (present day). It's a slow burn that picks up its pace as the story progresses, and there is more than one stunning twist before you reach the end.