This was like the perfect summer mystery and it had so many plot twists I genuinely did not see coming. I throughly enjoyed this book. If you love slow burn mysteries you should definitely pick this book up, it was fun.

Who doesn’t love reading about rich family mystery and drama. Intriguing from the very first page. This family drama keeps unfolding and the twists and turns keep coming. I was shocked the whole last quarter of the book but loved the outcome.

Saltwater is an interesting thriller full of family drama. I thought that the setting of Italy and how the author described it was wonderful. But overall the book was a little too slow paced for me. I did enjoy all of the twists at the end of the book though!
Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

This atmospheric book went well with my beach trip this week. My location looked a little different than the beautiful Mediterranean. This intense cat and mouse thriller is told through several POVs. In 1992, Sarah Lingate was found dead below the cliffs of their vacation home in Capri. Ruled an accident, the town's people and some close acquaintances beg to differ, but no one goes against the Lingates. Richard Lingate was left to take care of his 3 year old daughter Helen. He had been seen arguing with Sarah at a dinner party over her playwrights she loves to write. With him and his brother Marcus's power, they can manipulate the truth. Their greed and deceit changes a situation to benefit them. The controlling entitlement of this family 30 years after Sarah's death, still rings loud in the ears of many even their daughter. Helen is guarded and protected from the outside and unable to speak with anyone about her mother's death.
The Lingates return yearly to Capri for Sarah's death anniversary. Helen is able to spend time with Lorna, uncle Marcus's assistant. Lorna's efforts to retrieve information about Sarah's death for Helen is suspicious. The necklace Sarah was wearing when she died appears in a box gifted to the Lingates from an anonymous person. Will this information prove to be deadly when Helen and Lorna plot a multi-million plan for them to get away? When Lorna goes missing, you know not to trust anyone.
Outstanding job by this author. I loved the tension, characterization and setting as I visualized each.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

-Rich people behaving badly and using privilege as both shield and sword? Check.
-Complicated family dynamics (including a decades-old unsolved murder)? Check.
-Sunny Capri setting that makes you want to don a pair of Audrey Hepburn sunglasses and charter a yacht? Check.
-Slow-burn suspense with dual timelines and multiple POVs? Check.

I loved Katy Hays’ debut, THE CLOISTERS, and was so excited to get an ARC of her sophomore novel. While I liked it, I didn’t love it - I had a difficult time with the cast of unlikeable characters, the slowness of the mystery, and the dual timeline was a little confusing.

I still think this will be a hot book of the summer and that there will be plenty of love for it - definitely give it a chance if you like family drama, gorgeous seaside settings, and slower-paced mysteries.

Pub Date: 3/25/25
Review Published: 3/23/25
eARC provided at no cost by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for a good mystery novel, especially one with rich people and their dark secrets. The premise of the novel is excellent: the mysterious death of the wealthy Lingate family. It's old money power at its finest.

The multiple timelines and POVs were a little confusing and complicated to follow. The pacing dragged in some places, but by the time the twist came, I wasn't that surprised. I'm very partial though, because when it comes to mysteries, I like them fast-paced and HIGH STAKES. This one was just a tad slower than my preference.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It wasn't a terrible book, it just wasn't for me.

I wish I loved this. I truly do. The setting is spectacular and the writing gorgeous. Katy Hays transported me to Capri with her beautiful words. Unfortunately, she lost me once I got there.

This is a tale of rich people behaving badly. Not only are their actions awful; they are awful. Every single one of them. The Lingates are obscenely wealthy and obnoxiously obtuse. Years ago, Sarah Lingate disappeared and was discovered dead on the rocky cliffs of Capri. Suicide or murder? The question remains a mystery.

Fast forward to the present day and another woman associated with the Lingates disappears. Here’s where it got messy. The constant switching from then to now to almost now was hard to follow, especially for a burn this slow. There was an overload of minute details to keep track of and it all got to be too much work for this to be a fun thriller. By the time I got to the final twist (WTH?), I was simply glad it was over.

Fans of atmospheric thrillers may find this more enjoyable than I did. Ms. Hays is a talented writer. She got me to fall in love with Capri and detest every member of the Lingate clan. Perhaps that was her goal. If so, well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

🛥️ Book Review 🛥️

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

Publication: March 25, 2025

Rating: Not for me

I’m so bummed because the synopsis seemed promising. What didn’t work for me was how Lorna and Helen sounded the same in each chapter. I found it hard to fully connect. This led to the book feeling a lot slower for me as a reader.

For fans of:
🛥️ First person POV
💰 Dual POV
🛥️ Dual timeline
💰 Rich family
🛥️ Slow mystery
💰 Dysfunctional family

✨ What to read next ✨
🌺 Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

Saltwater was just okay for me—right down the middle.

The prose was gorgeous and captivating but there are too many threads to keep ahold of, which is difficult enough for a thriller but nearly impossible when it's a slowburn. Having to keep track of every little thing got exhausting very quickly and it didn't help that I felt like the characters were also quite one-dimensional and stereotypical which made it difficult to want to pay attention to what was going on with them.

Saltwater is comp'd to The White Lotus, which is one of my favorite shows ever. I think this book shines because, like I said, it is well-written, and I believe The White Lotus is extraordinarily well-written as well. And while this indeed twists and turns like the show, it doesn't have that same bite to it, that same thing that propels you to keep watching or, in this case, keep reading. The atmosphere was spectacular and so was the subtleties of the family drama interwoven throughout, but it just wasn't engaging for me and I almost wished I hadn't been drawn to this book due to the comp because I could have given it a fair shot. I think if you want to pick this one up, do yourself a favor and view it as something completely independent of that show and you might enjoy it significantly more!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

3 ⭐️s
🚨 Pub Date: 03/25/25

The prose was very lovely. I read this in spurts due to other obligations . I wished I had read straight thru to make sure I kept track of each of the characters and their arcs. Good mystery but a bit of a slow burn. Loved this setting of Capri as I have been there. The island is a character in itself. Greate reveal at the end.

This book did not hold my interest from the very beginning. It’s convoluted and hard to follow at times. I felt nothing but annoyance towards the characters, and we only seemed to get to know them on a superficial level. Additionally, I believe there wasn't a satisfactory explanation for many of the characters’ motivations.

I should have skipped this book, especially since I didn’t enjoy *The Cloisters* and should have known better. Ultimately, it took until about 70% of the way through for anything significant to happen, and by the end, I felt overwhelmed by the numerous twists. In my opinion, the twists at the end were excessive.

<I>Saltwater</I> by Katy Hays starts with an interesting premise: a rich family, a death potentially covered up, and an annual vacation to the spot where it happened. I would say the writing was fine, but the characters were all so unlikeable and the pacing was off for me. And I could never really remember which character's perspective I was in. It was easier with the older timeline, but honestly I think there were just too many perspectives, especially towards the end. Also, the pacing was not great for me. The perspectives didn't end on a cliffhanger that would make me want to immediately turn to read the next one or get back to someone else's perspective. It was just ok and I'll explain my thoughts about the ending in more detail behind a spoiler warning. Overall, I would say there was definitely a twist and I don't regret reading this, but I wouldn't ever pick it up again.

<spoiler>The ending. How likely is it that two women, who don't know each other, both decide to fake their deaths in order to be free from the Lingates? Or did they know more about each other than we, as the reader, are lead to believe? It's kind of giving me <I>The Last Mrs. Parrish</> vibes here. I think it would have been more impactful if Lorna had actually died, instead of killing a party girl in her bid to get away from the Lingates. With Sarah, it made sense to me that she would use the opportunity provided to her by the unfortunate accident of Renata's similarities and Naomi's drunken/high state of mind. In the same breath though, how could you do that to two children? Was Ciro ever even told what happened to his birth mother? I get that he played along, but how, especially as a teenager, was he so accepting of Sarah literally stepping into the place of his mother? I just don't buy it.</spoiler>

Saltwater by Katy Hays
Mystery thriller
3 ⭐️

➡️ Swipe for synopsis

I requested this thriller from NetGalley after loving The Cloisters, also by Katy Hays. This one was unfortunately a bit of a let down for me.

The good: The atmosphere and family drama were 10/10. This was, if nothing else, a love letter to Capri. There is nothing about this family including the daughter/main character, the mysteriously deceased mother, the father, the uncle, the aunt, the friend, the boyfriend(s) that I liked…but in readers world this is considered a good thing 😉

The bad: I usually like dual/multi timeline or dual POV, but this version felt like a little too much work for the reader for some reason. Instead of speeding the story up I felt the opposite effect. We had “1992,” “now,” and “n hours before the disappearance,” in addition to our FMC’s POV, her friend, Sarah, housekeeper…it was a lot.

The ugly: usually a thriller that I say “I never saw the twist/ending coming” is a great praise. However: I never saw THIS twist/ending coming because, to me, it was so far from believable.

I know a bunch of you have also read this, and I am dying to know if I’m alone in these thoughts so I’m off to read more reviews from all of you! 🫣

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for the free eARC in exchange for my review.

This book was a ride. I really enjoyed the multiple POV's and various time points. I think this really allowed for the reader to see so many aspects of the mystery while also ending the book not knowing everything. I enjoyed this much more than The Cloisters, and I felt very intrigued seeing the inside of this dysfunctional elite family doing whatever they could to retain their status. Overall not necessarily a "thrilling" mystery, however an enjoyable read for anyone who enjoys stories about dysfunctional families and the 1%.

This book is full of family drama, mystery, unlikable characters, and a dash of suspense. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. It kept me curious and I did not see the ending coming. Definitely an enjoyable read

This riveting novel by Kay Hays is set in alternative timeline and viewpoints. While it does take a bit to understand the characters, it is absolutely worth the wait. Most of the story is set on the beautiful island of Capri where the Lingate family vacation yearly.
Helen is attempting to make sense of her family and the untimely death of her mother when she was three years old. Though ruled accidental thirty years ago, a cloud of suspicion remains.
Be warned- this novel picks up steam in the last third or so. I found myself unable to put it down. This is recommended for anyone who enjoys a messy family drama with a bit of mystery in the mix.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

I wasn't sure at the beginning whether I was going to like this as it was many points of view as well as many flashbacks. But every time the voice became Helen's, I enjoyed it more. Plus, most of the action takes place on the Isle of Capri, which was lovely. Books about ultra rich people can sometimes be annoying, but the way some characters, such as Lorna, presented the people she worked with was interesting.
The morals of almost everyone in this book were questionable, and their reactions to murder and their lack of guilt were annoying.
However, the several twists at the end redeemed the whole book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of Saltwater by Katy Hays.

Rich people behaving badly is usually a topic I avoid, but the setting really took the cake here in Saltwater and had a slight White Lotus feel. I think this will be a popular one for readers of domestic thrillers.

I liked the three narrators, the setting, and the ending, but the middle was a tad drawn out and boring. The story was also missing something for me, but I still enjoyed it.

3.5 stars

The Lingate Family—old money that vacations in Capri every year, despite it being the setting for Sarah Lingate’s death in 1992. Helen, daughter of Sarah and Richard Lingate, is stifled by her closed life as a member of the Lingates. Lorna is assistant to Marcus Lingate. They gather in Capri with wives and boyfriends and are shocked by the arrival of a distinctive necklace Sarah was wearing the night of her death (murder?).

This is a twisty novel that I think is a definite improvement from the author’s previous novel. I enjoyed the Italian setting & some of the twists were great. A solid summer thriller read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this ARC.