Member Reviews

I like a good mystery, but this just didn’t hold my interest. The back and forth between the past and present didn’t flow. I also didn’t find it to be very suspenseful; something I definitely want in a mystery book. Thank you for allowing me to review this ARC.

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Saltwater is the thrilling investigation into the unexplained death of a wife, mother, and playwright. While I thought this book had an intriguing plot and setting and it came together in a satisfying conclusion, I personally found the flashbacks and many points of view challenging to follow. I’d recommend this to anybody looking for a twisty mystery and who enjoys multiples points of view.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for providing a copy of this book for my honest review. I rate this book 3.5 stars, rounding up to four.

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Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Slow burn, family drama, all set in the beauty that is the Mediterranean Sea. I think we are all fascinated by the one percenters of the world, and this peek under the tent was no disappointment. My one qualm was the pace of this story at times, but lack of "filler" made it all work. Some of it felt a little too surface level but overall, I really enjoyed it. All I wanted to do was book a flight to Italy after this. Some of the characters were unlikeable, but not so unlikeable that I didn't appreciate the story.

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This is the best thriller of 2025! Saltwater is the perfect combination of The Fury, The Villa, and Daisy Darker and is better than all three. Hays slowly unveils twist after twist and just when the reader is sure where the novel is going, a previously hinted at truth is revealed. Some of the best villan monologues, red herrings, and bait and switches in modern crime fiction. Be aware of every detail, because this book is masterly crafted and no plot element is wasted. highly recommended.

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At first glance, the Lingate family seems to have it all - power, money, prestige…But swimming in a sea of luxury comes at a price, especially when your family also has secrets.

Katy Hays’s Saltwater transports readers to the shores of glittering Capri. Here the island’s breathtaking natural beauty stands in stark contrast to the elaborately constructed, artificial world of the elite, a world where everyone is expected to go to any length necessary to keep up appearances. Tired of endless rivalries, unspoken rules, and twisted deceptions, Helen and Lorna decide it’s time to exit the stage while they still can. Now they just need to figure out who they can trust in order to make their escape.

Hays’s pacing is on point throughout much of the novel, keeping events moving along smoothly while still offering needed context and building suspense. The switching perspectives helps with this pacing, but sometimes it feels like it does so at the expense of creating fully fleshed-out characters. While I can appreciate wanting to add a twist or two to keep readers guessing, the final twists feel more like impossible reaches.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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This book captivates with its intricate plot and well-developed characters, drawing readers into a world brimming with emotion and suspense. The author's skillful storytelling keeps you on the edge of your seat, making it hard to put down. A compelling read that lingers in your thoughts long after the final page.

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I think a lot of people will really enjoy this one. A mystery where Helen’s mom disappeared many years ago and now they are back in Capri and someone else disappears. But not only that, the way Helen is treated by the family is just bizarre and very controlling.

Personally, I didn’t really enjoy the writing style of this one. It went back and forth from past to present, which doesn’t bother me usually, but something about the way it was done made it a little confusing and hard to follow. It just felt a little chaotic.

The story itself needed a bit more suspense too. I think a lot of people will like this one more than I did. For me, it just wasn’t my favorite read, but it is still readable.

Thanks to netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Set in capri, Italy. The story flips back and forth between past and present. It’s about a rich family with secrets that end up with a mother/wife dead and the family’s Assitant gone missing who turns up dead. I felt it started a little slow but then it picked up very quick, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the ending and definitely wasn’t expecting it to end the way that it did.
Thank you random house publishing group-Ballantine for the arc through NetGalley. This book comes out 3/25/25 and it is a must read!

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A twisty Patricia Highsmith style story!

Helen's mother Sarah is found dead in the early 90's in the cliffs of Capri. Part of the powerful and well known,Lingate family, the death is big news but ruled an accident. Helen has wondered what transpired that night, and lived almost a half life in the shadow of her mother's absence. It's now 30 years later and the family has gathered for the annual vacation on the island. This time, there is enough planning and scheming that the secrets that have been buried will rise up.

It's a very, very slow burn, but the end is stupendous! #randomhouse #saltwater #katyhays

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The Lingate family has it all….money, exotic vacations, exquisite houses, family in fighting, brothers who don’t see eye to eye….and wives who can’t be trusted
OMG I never saw the ending coming. What a surprise! It’s a thriller, a mystery, a family saga.
Great setting and well depicted characters. Character developed was well done! This would be a great bookclub novel. Kudos to Katy Hays.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this roller coaster story.

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I've been loving an Italian setting this summer. Capri is ideal for murder and mystery. I love rich people behaving badly, and this book definitely had a lot of that! I enjoyed the twists and turns, and I was happy with how it all played out. While at times, I found some of the characters hard to follow and wondered if they were really important to drive the story, I enjoyed the read!

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Saltwater is a challenging read. The story told in present and past voices builds the intrigue and mystery as it is intertwined among aristocracy and the common folk. It definitely holds surprises as it twists and turns to the end.

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I am calling this now… this is THE book of the summer.. of the YEAR!!! Katy Hays was a new to me author and MANNNN she did not disappoint! I looooved this book and am so thankful I was able to live in this world for a little while.

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Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a slow burn full of family drama inside a very rich family.

With picturesque descriptions of Italy's Island of Capri, endless drama and jealousy, and death, this really drew me in.

The best thing about a slow burn mystery is crazy twists at the end that you never saw coming. Katy Hays really tricked me, not once, but twice, and I love her for it. The surprises at the end were so shocking to me, I finished this book with my jaw on the floor.

I definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a great mystery about a crazy family willing to do whatever it takes to "protect" their own.

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Set on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy among the rich and not-so-famous, is the Lingate family who comes once a year to visit their beautiful villa and swim in the salty sea. The terrible secrets these family members carry to maintain their lifestyle are deadly.
I was surprised at the lengths some of them would go to uncover the lies and harm the ones they are supposed to love.
Great book.

#Saltwater
#KathHays
#NetGalley

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I absolutely loved this book! I couldn’t put it down from the beginning. The multiple POVs and going from the past to the future really helped set the storyline. So many twists I didn’t see coming and the end!!! I truly was not expecting it.

Couldn’t recommend this one enough.

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This is a fascinating look at a family and all their secrets from 1992 to the present. Initially, Sarah Lingate's dead, bloated body is found in the sea and no one knows anything, Now in the present, her daughter Helen awaits her best friend, Lorna as it appears they hatched some plot together. But Lorna has apparently disappeared and that worries Helen as "the plan" involved both of them and Lorna wouldn't do this to her. Hays reveals lots of duplicity that leads to blackmail, extortion, and murder which always proves that families can be messy--especially wealthy ones!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

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I was invited by the publisher to read this book. I have to admit I was very happy when I learned of this book - I enjoyed the author's previous work, The Cloisters, and I was excited to see another book of intrigue coming down the pipeline. Also, as a side note, I really like the cover - it is very eye catching. As for the book itself, I wound up flying through the book - it isn't terribly long, but it just kept my attention from start to finish. I liked how the author had multiple characters in this book and presented convincing reasons why each of these wealthy people could have committed murder in picturesque Capri. There are tons of characters in this book to root for, and dislike! And the twists in the book were engaging, and nothing was very obvious about how everything would play out - especially the last twist!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This was a really good book! I’d didnt see most of it coming and that’s just how I like my books. It was surprising and fresh, the characters were great and the plot was a new twist on an only story. I loved that the author took a common trope and turned it on its head. Brilliantly done!

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📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Katy Hays’ new novel Saltwater might bring us the the most intriguing death since Natalie Wood. From the glitz and glam of Bel Air to the grandiose villas of Capri overlooking cerulean colors of the Mediterranean Sea, mystery follows the Lingate family. Decades after the death of playwright Sarah, her daughter Helen returns once again to the island off the Amalfi Coast with her very twisted cast of characters that make up her family in what seems to be their very own version of Clue. Written from multiple perspectives spanning the decades, Saltwater provides an absolutely gripping family saga worthy of a modern Greek tragedy. Beautifully written and absolutely captivating, Hays gives us an unputdownable read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

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