This is a slow burn of family drama in a rich family. Sarah Lingate is found dead in 1992 in Capri leaving behind her 3 year old daughter, Helen. While her death was ruled suicide others seem to disagree. The family returns to the same rented villa in Capri on the thirtieth anniversay of Sarah's death. This is where Helen and her best friend Lorna plot their escape from the family. That is until Lorna disappears which in returns reopens the investigation to Sarah's death. Old secrets come to light and the ending has some shocking twists.

Pub Date March 25, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and the author for the invite of this ARC in exchange for my review

Saltwater is a soapy mystery about a wealthy family who will go to any length to keep up appearances. I really enjoyed the dual narratives. Getting little snippets from characters’ past was a fun way to handle reveals. I think the last 25% seemed a little bogged down with exposition which stalled some of the momentum that had been building. Overall though, a solid murder mystery with enough intrigue to keep you reading. Thanks to Ballantine Books/Random House for the ARC through NetGallery.

This book gives you a beautiful sense of place on the island of Capri. I'm ready to go! The descriptions and imagery were spot on and allowed the reader to really step into the story.

This intense family drama is full of death, secrets, money, past history and more drama. No real likable characters, but it didn't stop me from binging this well thought out plot. The amount of bread crumbs was perfection, leading you to an ending that was satisfying and a real thrill to read. There was a point in the book where I felt like all the secrets were "out", but lo and behold, there was a lot more to the story and it was such a fun read.

An easy one for me to recommend for readers who enjoy rich people behaving badly and getting away with more than they should.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the advance e-copy of this book.

This will make a perfect beach read!! Multiple disappearances and multiple timelines in the atmosphere of Capri. The story started a bit slow but ended really well. I wasn't super surprised by the ending, but it was still an overall enjoyable read. Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC and I will recommend to anyone looking for a good summer mystery.

Absolutely love the cover, its what made me look into the book. Started out slow and took a while for me to get into. Good beach summer read if you can get interested.

I loved the setting and the story’s concept, but it just moved along too slowly. The narrative got a bit tedious, too. I guess this one just wasn’t for me.

This book had a slow start as the author was worldbuilding, but the last third of the book had lots of twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I highly recommend this book. Just have patience to get through the first 2/3 of the book.

thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book for my honest opinion

This book has all the ingredients for a perfect thriller - beautiful setting in Capri, rich family, suspicious deaths, etc. But I really slogged through it. I didn’t mind the constant change in storytelling from current to past and character to character but it just didn’t keep me engrossed. Even with all the plot twists and unexpected turns it never hooked me in. It didn’t help that I disliked almost all of the characters. I found the ending to be a bit unbelievable as well. I can see where many people would enjoy this but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The setting of Capri is what drew me into this twisty novel. Although the large cast of characters lost me a bit and the mystery centered on the necklace sometimes felt contrived, this was a fun read for fans of the rich-people-behaving-badly genre. If you're waiting for the next season of White Lotus, this book might fill the void.

Too slow moving for me personally. Loved the setting in Capri. I did enjoy the final twist, but it felt like it took a lot to get there. I also felt like Lorna’s POV was a little underdeveloped and I would’ve loved to learn more about her. Thank you for the ARC!

The number of unexpected twists and turns in this book will blow your mind! We start this story learning a bit about the mysterious death of Sarah Lingate as the family travels back to the place she died (as they have every year). There are a number of POVs throughout the book, each weaving a varying perspective of what happened 30 years prior along with the haunting troubles that the Lingate family currently face. Everyone in the family holds a dark secret – which will have you wondering who can be trusted and what really happened? Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing – Ballantine for the eARC.

This was a pretty good entry for my “rich people problems” shelf. I loved the setting, it was very vivid, and I liked seeing the different POVs and time periods. I guessed the big twist right before it happened and it worked for me but the second twist…idk it seems a bit convenient that literally the exact same thing happened twice unless [redacted] knew what happened and did it on purpose. I wasn’t particularly rooting for any of the characters though; that’s not a requirement for me to enjoy a book but it did make my reaction at the end be like…okay? Sure? Idk It wasn’t SUPER gripping, but I had a fun time.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

If you liked her first book, The Cloisters, I think this one is better. The writing is good and very readable, and I think this author really excels at capturing the sense of place and atmosphere. Capri is described in a way that really draws you in and feels very specific. There were some points where I felt frustrated with the plot, with a lot of convenient coincidences and twists that didn't feel necessary to me. However if you like an over the top twisty read, they might work for you!

This novel brings readers along through the web of generational lies and manipulations by a family with wealth and power. The reader will be captivated by the timeline counting down to certain events as shown in the titles of each chapter making you race through to find out what happens next. Can’t wait to recommend this to fellow drama readers.

Thank you NetGalley for this free advance copy on exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this one and was intrigued at the premise - a murder from 30 years ago that still haunts a wealthy, powerful family, an island setting (Capri, Italy), and lots of twists and turns.

However, this book fell flat for me. I didn’t like any of the characters and felt like I never truly got to know them. They all felt superficial and two dimensional. Also, holy annoying internal dialogue! My god, the internal machinations and constant thoughts of the main character made my eyes roll into the back of my head! And the ridiculous twists and turns were so insane and completely unrealistic that by the end, I was so over it. I feel like this book could have been great - the overall concept and setting were good - but the execution just wasn’t there.

I was thrilled to receive a copy of this ARC, as I really enjoyed The Cloisters in 2023. When thinking about this book, right off the bat I found the pacing to be perfect. I love a thriller that isn’t too fast in the build up, and I think Hays did a really great job in building up suspense to both of the deaths that the story centers around. There were a few moments that left me scratching my head that I don’t think ever got resolved. One of them being Ciro, and the other being Lorna’s pregnancy (was she actually pregnant? Was it it Helen’s pregnancy test? I wasn’t quite clear). Half the time I felt like Ciro was untrustworthy and I would’ve liked a bit more fleshing out of his character. I really loved the multiple twists at the end! But I did have to suspend reality pretty hard to believe that Sarah would seamlessly become Renata and that Lorna would actually kill someone to get away from her life. Overall, I really liked this. I love rich people behaving badly and this book nailed that on the head.

I loved this one! Such a twisty and juicy follow-up to THE CLOISTERS. I love rich people behaving badly, and SALTWATER is a perfect entry to the genre. The lavish descriptions of Capri made this book for me -- a perfect book heading into summer!

ARC review for Katy Hays sophomore novel Saltwater publishing March 25 2025. The story follows the Lingates, their assistant and their secrets as they return to the scene where wife, mother and sister in law died year after this. This year there is to be an unraveling of secrets.

I struggled getting through the first half of this book but it really picked up towards the second part. The main idea is that everyone has their secrets so you don’t really get to fully know any character (except Helen) which led to my being not overly invested in anyone. That said, the twists and turns were definitely ones I didn’t see coming!

This is more of a family drama book than thriller, though it is a murder mystery that spans decades.

When Sarah Lingate is found dead below a rocky cliff, it is ruled to be an accident. Every year thereafter, the family gathers together to prove that it’s true. But, 30 years later, at their annual get-together, a necklace belonging to Sarah is sent to them and this causes some minds to change.

With a surprising twist, or two, this book will keep you intrigued until the end. It’s a bit meandering and confusing at times, but definitely worthy of 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the advanced reader copy.

This book had an intriguing premise, but I found it hard to follow at times. The complex family dynamics and numerous suspects made it challenging to keep track of the story. While the suspense was there, the time line back and forth also left me more confused than captivated.