I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley.

The mystery of Sarah Lingate’s death has haunted her family for thirty years. Found dead below the cliffs of Capri in 1992, Sarah left behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen, and a legacy of suspicion surrounding the old-money Lingate family. Though Sarah’s death was ruled an accident, every year the family returns to the villa to reinforce that claim—until the thirtieth anniversary, when they arrive to find a chilling reminder: the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.

The story promises suspense, but it leans more heavily into family drama than a gripping mystery or thriller. While the picturesque setting of Capri is beautifully described, I felt the slow pacing and predictable plot points detract from the tension the book could have delivered. I also found it difficult to connect with the characters, who come across as selfish and money-driven, making it hard to stay invested in their outcomes.

For readers looking for an atmospheric family drama set in a stunning location, this book may appeal, however, those seeking a tightly woven mystery may find it lacking in the overall intrigue.

Pack your summer 2025 beach bags, friends. We’re heading to Capri!

SALT WATER is a story of old money extravagance, tightly held family secrets, and slow, simmering, rage. Within these pages Katy Hays immerses readers in a suspicious death of a playwright in1992 and a strikingly similar death of a young woman 13 years later.

Despite the backdrop of deaths, the island of Capri comes alive with its breathtaking beauty, sparkling blue waters, and ominous cliffs. Told in multiple POVs we meet various characters and it's difficult to determine who is friend or foe.

The story leans more suspenseful family drama than page-turning thriller but mystery fans will appreciate a few surprises along the way.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-enjoy a strong sense of exotic place
-like your beach reads with a touch of darkness
-are eager for beach read season

RATING: 4/5
PUB DATE: March 25, 2025

Many thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for the electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed “The Cloisters” the first book by Katy Hays but “Saltwater” did not meet my expectations. There is something wrong with this novel that is told from three different points of view in two separate timeframes. While set in the vividly described location of the Isle of Capri the story lacks pace which makes it a slow read. And, as I read I realized there were three unreliable narrators. Nobody tells the truth and each want to separate themselves from the family but the reasons they stay are weak. While I never deliberately try to determine endings, about 2/3 the way through it became plain to me. This should have been a better book.

Thanks to NetGalley for advance copy. Italy, Capri, family drama, two dead women years apart – all great, but this really took a while to get going. It got very good about 3/4 into the story. It took me a while to get there, but once I did, I finished it in one sitting Would have been more intriguing with more character development, but overall a good read.

Listen folks, all I have to say is WHAT A WILD RIDE! We’ve got all the sultry, summery, sloshed vibes and a gorgeous Mediterranean setting to boot. While I admittedly struggled to suspend my disbelief at times, if you like a bit of a slow burn mystery with some absolutely unhinged twists at the end this book is written for you.

This book has more twists and turns than the roads on the island of Capri. So many elements—mystery but is it murder, suicide, or accident? Old money versus new money, rich versus poor, family versus everyone else, and let’s not forget money. Did I mention money? So much money. To live with or without it, that’s the question. And who do you trust? So many questions.

I didn't find this to be a particularly involving mystery. A gentle ribbing of the wealthy elites, perhaps. A rather silly case of mistaken identities. The back-and-forth between decades did nothing for me except to at times confuse me as to the cast of characters. All in all, not one I would recommend.

Old money, family secrets, murder and drama – what’s not to love? And it’s set in Capri, yes please! I did enjoy this book but it was very slow going for a thriller. It took a while for me to really settle into it. There were too many characters to keep track, but Katy Hays did a good job of corralling them. Once I settled in it was a fun read. The last twist was a surprise. It’s a terrific look at greed, and the power money can have over people making them in to horrors.

Also, the cover is stunning.

Thank you Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review.

Saltwater is set on the island of Capri, and centers around the wealthy Lingate family and a mysterious death years ago. The main character, Helen Lingate, is controlled by her father, uncle and aunt even though she's over 30. Helen's mother Sarah was discovered dead in Capri in 1992 when Helen was 3 years old. Her father, Richard Lingate was considered a suspect but the case was dropped. Now the family has returned to Capri for their annual visit and mysterious events are happening: Sarah's necklace shows up in the mail, the assistant is missing, and the rest of the family seems to be blasé about everything.

While this novel was a bit slow in the beginning, the ending was worth the wait. Jaw dropping twists that will leave you speechless.

Thank you to Ballentine and NetGalley for the ARC.

I wanted to read this book because I planned a trip to Italy and loved reading about all the places on the amalfi coast. The plot was a good one and the ending brought everything together perfectly with many twists/turns and shocking revelations!

This book! I love it! The cover is beautiful and really caught my eye. This books definitely gives off summer/ spring break vibes.

Saltwater by Katy Hays promises an intriguing mix of family drama, mystery, and suspense set against the stunning backdrop of Capri. The novel hooks you with its premise—a decades-old unsolved death, a wealthy family shrouded in secrets, and a luxurious villa where nothing is quite as it seems. But while it has all the elements of a thrilling summer read, it doesn’t quite manage to hit the highs that it sets out to achieve.

The story revolves around the Lingate family, whose matriarch Sarah Lingate tragically died thirty years ago in what was ruled an accidental fall. Her daughter, Helen, now grown, returns with the family each year to the same villa in Capri to somehow keep up appearances and maintain the family’s image. However, this year, things take a dark turn when Sarah’s necklace—thought to be lost forever—mysteriously appears, reigniting the questions surrounding her death. From there, the suspense begins to build as long-hidden secrets bubble to the surface, and Helen finds herself caught in a web of suspicion, paranoia, and family manipulation.

One of the things I enjoyed about Saltwater is its setting. The island of Capri is practically a character itself—lush, glamorous, but also eerie and isolating. Hays captures the glittering, postcard-perfect beauty of the island while layering it with an unsettling tension that lingers throughout the book. You can almost feel the heat of the Mediterranean sun and the dark shadows lurking beneath it. That sense of atmosphere kept me hooked, even when other elements of the novel started to lose steam.

As for the characters, this is where the book stumbles. The Lingate family, while clearly dysfunctional and full of secrets, never quite feel fleshed out. Helen, the protagonist, spends most of the novel either brooding about her mother’s death or trying to escape her family’s clutches, but her motivations are sometimes unclear, and it’s hard to truly connect with her. The other family members, from the overbearing father to the unstable aunt, often felt like they were ticking off boxes on a checklist of thriller stereotypes.

The pacing is another area where Saltwater falls short. The mystery surrounding Sarah’s death is intriguing at first, but the plot drags in the middle, losing some of the tension that should keep a thriller moving. There are moments when the story picks up, especially when Helen starts digging into her family’s past, but the payoff doesn’t quite deliver the knockout twist you’d expect from a thriller with such an elaborate setup. By the time the truth is revealed, it feels more like a slow unraveling than a shocking revelation.

That said, the book isn’t without its merits. The dynamic between Helen and Lorna, the family assistant, added some much-needed tension and mystery, especially as it becomes clear that Lorna has her own hidden agenda. And while the ending didn’t blow me away, it did wrap things up in a satisfying enough way that you’ll be left with some lingering thoughts about the cost of family loyalty and the weight of long-buried secrets.

Overall, Saltwater is a solid beach read—enjoyable if you're in the mood for a slow-burn mystery with a gorgeous setting. But if you’re looking for a truly gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller, you may walk away feeling like it didn’t fully live up to its promise.

4.5/5

"Salt Water" by Katy Hays is a riveting thriller set against the luxurious yet treacherous backdrop of Capri. The story masterfully delves into the complexities of family loyalty and long-buried secrets, centering on the haunting mystery of Sarah Lingate’s death. The tension builds as the Lingate family’s facade begins to crack with the unexpected reappearance of Sarah’s necklace. The novel’s ultimate strength lies in its intricate plot and well-crafted characters, each harboring their own dark motives. Hays skillfully keeps readers guessing until the very end, making "Salt Water" a compelling read for fans of suspense and drama.

I was blown away by this family drama-meets-murder mystery… and my jaw was on THE FLOOR for the last few chapters. Twist after twist that I didn’t see coming at all!!! The book is broken into two parts, and each contains many chapters from multiple POVs and multiple timelines (so I was never bored). The first half had STRONG character development, and while some of the characters are unlikeable, I was still rooting for a few. The second half is extremely climactic and downright shocking. There were a few aspects of the twists that probably wouldn’t hold up in real life under some scrutiny, but they were explained in a passable way. Regardless, I loved every minute!!

I highlighted tons of passages and quotes in this book — I hope I can get a physical arc and annotate to my heart’s desire!! The descriptions of Capri were beautiful, I was immediately transported back to my honeymoon and the day we spent there.

Incredible book & I am now running to my library to place a hold on Katy Hays’ first novel!

Thank you NetGalley & Ballantine Books for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book held so many family secrets and dynamics, just wow! It was a refreshing twist on a thriller and I put not put the book down, Author Kathy Hays created an incredible piece of fiction with this novel.

Mysterious & atmospheric.
Completely lose yourself in the story.
Fabulous & transportive surroundings.
As good, possibly better than the author’s first—both wonderful settings.
Unfortunately not a fan of the cover—doesn’t do justice to the power of the story.
Shocking, but satisfying, final twist.

With thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Random House Publishing for this e-ARC.

I'm sorry but I just COULD NOT get into this one. I had to start it quite a few times before I finally was like okay, I think I got the gist of the beginning. But it was really boring to me :(

Overall I think this book had a really good story to work with. I also enjoyed the multiple viewpoints and going back and forth between present and past to tell the story. It was pretty easy to follow and I genuinely didn’t guess the ending. However, I think the pace was a bit slow, and probably could’ve done without some of the characters being quite as involved in the story as they didn’t all seem to have a real purpose.

I loved the first half of the book. I thought that the family was creepy and culty. There were a few nights where. I had nightmares about them coming after me. However, the book went a bit off the rails for me in the second half. Overall the second half felt extremely long and dragged out, it felt like all the action and story was building up to the end of the first half, and once we got there and still had more books left, the pacing felt off. Also, the twists at the end were extremely repetitive. The first half is a 5/5 star book, and the second half brought it down to a 3/5. I still had a really good time reading it though.

Saltwater has all the makings of a great novel. In the past, Helen's mother Sarah was found dead under the cliffs of Capri. Leaving behind her daughter and a family who everyone thinks is involved in her death. Each year the family returns to Capri, to prove their innocence. The mystery resurfaces years later in this twisty thriller.

Positives
A beautiful setting
Detailed family history and family drama
Murder mystery
Rich people behaving badly
Lots of twists until the very end

Negatives:
The pace was off to me, eventhough at the end of this book I enjoyed it and thought it was well-written. I did not feel that way while I was reading.