I uploaded my review to Goodreads and Amazon on release day.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Katy Hays for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Saltwater coming out March 25, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really loved the first book I read by this author, so I was excited to check out this book. I really loved the setting in Italy. It’s a beautiful country. I definitely love psychological thrillers. I think the first half of the book was amazing. I loved it. I think there ended up being a little too many twists for me. I get having one big one or two. I can see how it’s compared to White Lotus. However, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. A lot of the characters weren’t very likable. I would check out more books by this author!

Thank you so much to Random House for the gifted book and PR box!

Title: Saltwater
Author: Katy Hays
Pub Date: March 25, 2025

This was the perfect book to read while craving warmer weather! It's been COLD here lately, so this was a very welcomed "trip" to the much warmer (and much deadlier) island of Capri!

The timeline alternated between 1992 and modern day with newspaper articles/media releases mixed in for a fun variety! The story was told from several perspectives and I didn't trust ANY of them! They all had secrets and hidden motives for everything it seemed.

While the pacing was slower at some times than others, it still held my interest. When the final twist were revealed, I was WAY more surprised than I anticipated being! I think the ending really made the book for me!

As far as believability goes, some things were definitely a STRETCH, but I'm happy to suspend reality when I need to, especially when reading fiction!

Overall, this was a fun one that I can see many adding to their spring break reading list!

Set on Capri, Hays’ sophomore effort is about the Lingate family, the heirs of a ruthless oil magnate that the author has said she modeled on the California oil tycoon Edward Doheny. In 1992, Sarah Lingate, a Pulitzer-prize nominated playwright, who had just completed a roman a clef of the powerful family that she married into, died on the island, her mangled body found beneath the cliffs. The authorities deemed her death an accident, but the family has remained under a veil of suspicion. They make an annual July pilgrimage to Capri seemingly as a homage to the late Sarah, but really as an attempt to control their public image.

On their latest trip to Capri, thirty years after Sarah’s death, the now-spiritualist widower, Richard, and his daughter, Helen, who was only three at the time of her mother’s death, and Helen’s boyfriend, Freddy, are accompanied by Richard’s brother, the materialist, Marcus, his wife, Naomi, and Marcus’s assistant, Lorna. Lorna had been a high-end escort (although she wouldn’t define herself as such), and she befriended Helen when she was working behind the counter of a bakery. It was Helen who recommended Lorna to her uncle who was seeking an assistant.

Helen “wasn’t allowed a world outside the family,” and the trust that her mother had left her had been dissipated by Richard. Helen tells Lorna that she wants to get out of the family’s grasp, but lacks the financial means. Within days of their arrival on Capri, a package arrives containing a distinctive necklace that Sarah had worn the night that she died and a typed letter demanding ten million in euros or threatening that information would be provided to the police. Lorna is tasked with taking the money to Naples, but then she disappears, leaving behind her clothes, medication, jewelry, her passport and a computer with a hard drive that has been wiped clean. With the investigation into Sarah’s death reopened, the family fractures under the intense scrutiny.

Replete with blackmail, extortion, breach of fiduciary duty, and love triangles, Hays has crafted an intricate and highly bingeable suspense novel exploring themes of privilege, family legacy, freedom, and parental abandonment. In it, she ramps up the intrigue and unknowns, interweaving stories of the present characters with those who came before them. Thank you Ballantine Books and Net Galley for an advance copy of this masterful and propulsive novel.

3 1/2 stars!! Set in Capri, I was very excited to read this book. It fell short for me. It is a novel about the rich and how they can get away with lies. Even if those lies involve death. There was definitely a cast of characters and quite a few POV's and it did jump back & forth in time lines. It did get confusing. I felt that it could have been written smother so you could follow it better. It starts with the death of Sarah Lingate. Each year her family returns to where she was found dead and to honor her. Her daughter Helen, now in her 30's was just a toddler when her mother died and she is raised by her Dad, Richard. He has a brother Marcus, who is married to Naomi. Secrets keep this family together. Helen really wants to know what happened to her mother. She brings Lorna Morena with her and she happens to be an assistant in the family business. Together they have a plan to try to scare the family into telling the truth about her mother's death. Until Lorna is missing! There is a a great mystery here but you have to read a lot of words to get to the good stuff. The twists that I did not see coming were well worth sticking with it until the end.
Thanks to #netgalley, #ballantinebooks & @heykatyhays for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book had me from the beginning! I enjoyed every bit of it and the cover is stunning. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the ARC.

It’s a story of the all-American, affluent – messed up – family.

The word “rich” was used often. It was to describe a family that had so much money, they had to cover up their secrets to a large extent. They wanted to take whatever was reasonable to make a good path for themselves with no worries of those who were poor.

The story took place in 1992 on the beautiful island of Capri just 15 miles from Naples. I had to take a look on Google to find this place surrounded by beautiful blue water, huge rock forms and cliffs. If a person fell or was pushed, it would mean death, most of the time.

The characters followed what one would expect from the wealthy class – people in their own realm when everyone else is there to serve them. The author did a good job of making it believable like they owned the world because of their inheritance of old-money.

It was slow in revealing how some of the clues would eventually lead up to a death investigation. While none of the characters would be on my friend’s list, I could see how it worked for this story. The last part moved more quickly when everything came together, some of what was predicted from concealed hints. This would be a good beach read for those who crave dysfunctional family dramas.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of March 25, 2025.

I found this book to be surprising in so many ways. Initially, I thought that the plot was slow and annoying. The characters are all unlikable but I guess my final rating indicates that I don’t have to like the characters to really enjoy the story and especially the twists. The Lingates are wealthy snobs who vacation every year on the Italian island of Capri. The story is told in basically two timelines, present day and going back 30 years to the mysterious death of Sarah Lingate, wife of Richard and mother of Helen who was only three years old at the time of Sarah’s death. Other obnoxious family members are Richard’s brother, Marcus and his wife, Naomi. In the current timeline, the family is joined on Capri by Marcus’s assistant, Lorna and Helen’s boyfriend, Freddy who are also unlikable. Everyone in this story is deceitful, conniving and hiding secrets, some of which are revealed slowly and some that “slam” the reader surprisingly in the end. The book is an easy enough and fairly entertaining read even though I didn’t think I would end up liking it. There are lots of little clues to the twists along the way and I think Helen sums things up best towards the end when she notes that people see what they want to see. This is probably even more true for obnoxious snobs who only care about their wealth and “use” all the people around them. Overall, this is an entertaining mystery/thriller with really good twists that aren’t over the top. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. Opinions are my own.

It’s been thirty years since Sarah Lingate went missing and was found dead at the base of the cliffs on the island of Capri. Deemed an accident, the Lingate’s have had a cloud hanging over them ever since. Holding their heads high and proclaiming their innocence, they have continued to travel to Capri each year. Sarah’s young daughter has now grown and the family embarks on their yearly trip, taking along a trusted female assistant (but can she really be trusted?). When the assistant goes missing in the same way as Sarah, all eyes are on the Lingate’s and Sarah’s case is reopened. Everyone has an agenda, all is not what it seems and as the secrets unfold, the family unravels. Is anyone safe? The final twists are good ones, but too little too late for me. The story takes too long to develop and the characters are extremely unlikable! Hays does bring the island of Capri to life, but the book was just OK. Thank you to Thorndike Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Katy Hays’s Saltwater is a slow-burning, atmospheric thriller that rewards patient readers with a suspenseful and deeply satisfying payoff. Told through multiple POVs, the novel gradually unspools the long-buried secrets of the Lingate family, whose annual return to Capri is haunted by the decades-old death of Helen’s mother.

Like in The Cloisters, Hays creates a lush and immersive setting—in this case, the shimmering beauty of Capri serves as the perfect contrast to the toxic, guarded dynamics within the Lingate clan. I could practically feel the salt air and walk the lavish grounds, even as the unease crept in. The characters are fully fleshed out and morally ambiguous, which I love. Each one is flawed, unpredictable, and quietly fascinating.

The plot may feel slow to those looking for a high-octane thriller, but I enjoyed the steady unraveling of details and the way the author trusted the reader to absorb the tension organically. Some twists I saw coming, others caught me off guard—but none felt cheap or unearned.

This is a well-written, moody novel that expertly balances character-driven storytelling with psychological suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book. My review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.

Not going to lie, this one took me a few tries to get into, and honestly I can’t say exactly why. I absolutely loved the setting and if I had the money I would be booking a trip tomorrow. Of course I’d hope to heck my trip would be a little less exciting, lol. Saltwater is a mystery that spans decades. The story kicks off with the death of Sarah Lingate, her body discovered at the bottom of the cliff in Capri. It’s ruled an accident…but is that the truth? Every year the family returns to the scene of the ‘accident’. It’s now the 30th anniversary of the event, only when they return to their villa this time they are met with quite the surprise: the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died. Helen, Sarah’s daughter who was only 3 when the incident occurs, is determine to discover the truth about what happened. The story is told from multiple POVs and jumps back between the present and 1992. While this is certainly a solid slow burn mystery/suspense story, I didn’t totally love it, which I think was mostly due to Helen. Just something about her that I never connected with. 3.5 stars. I’d like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Saltwater.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1SQZSQKZWFINF/ref=pe_123899240_1043597390_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Thank you PRHAudio for the ALC!

I love books set in Italy, though the pacing of this one a little bit too slow for me. It made it hard for me to stay invested unfortunately. The author has a beautiful writing style, but I just didn’t connect with the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

I was not ready for this book!! I mean 4 (5?) murders, intrigue, lies, adultery, illegitimate children? This one has it all. And you don't even know what is going on most of the time! It's a slow start, but about halfway through it really takes off!

The rich Wingate family has been going to Capri every year for years, even though 30 years ago one of their own was found dead under mysterious circumstances. But tradition is strong and the gossip cannot win, so each year they return.

Now the dead woman's child, Helen, who was only three and left behind in California when the accident happened, has had enough of the strict control the family has on her and every facet of her life. So she decides to break away with the help of a new friend, Lorna, her uncle's assistant. But things do not go as planned and Lorna disappears with the money they had planned to share. A few days later her body is fished from the sea and with a sense of deja vu everything begins to unravel. Who pushed her into the water? Or was she pushed? Where is the money she was collecting the last time she was seen? And where are all the secrets she had so carefully hidden away? And why did she have a pregnancy test in her bag?

As the whole story unravels, there are surprises and then there are SHOCKS. In the end, when the dust settles, you wonder just who is at fault and who wins?

Not my usual genre at all so I sure people who read these types of books might have a different or stronger opinion. I liked it, lots of twists & turns, some I maybe thought would play out & other things I did not see coming.
It moved quickly for me, I really disliked many of the main characters. Loved the setting of Capri.

This is my second Hayes book and her writing style is very poignant and paints such a luxurious picture. The setting for this book is Capri, Italy and that was a great landscape for this family and her writing style.

We follow a wealthy family on their annual vacation, which is sort of a memorial to a loved one, Sarah, they lost at this destination. The narration switch is between three people and one of them is a family employee, Lorena, who is traveling with them and they’ve said she should be part of the family, but it’s hard for her to fit. We learn Lorna has disappeared while on this trip and as we get deeper into each chapter, the pieces begin to form of why she went missing, and what exactly happened, as well as uncover some family secrets from the original death.

Perfect for fans of White Lotus and Agatha Christie. 🌊🔎

Sarah Lingate was found dead in 1992 below the cliffs of Capri. Her death was ruled an accident and the case was closed. She left behind her husband and three year old daughter, Helen. The family visits Capri every year and on the 30th anniversary they are in for a surprise of their life. The necklace that Sarah was wearing when she died was in a box for Helen. Now the investigation is opening back up – what really happened to Sarah?

I found this book really hard to get into. It was filled with a lot of in depth details that kind of weighed the chapters down. I really wanted the chapters to fly with mystery and suspense, but it felt like it was taking so long for the set up. I think it was part a pacing issue and partly an issue with the dual timelines. I don’t mind dual timelines, but it has to be done well, and here it got a bit messy.

I will say, I did enjoy the twists – and there were a few of them. A few of them I did see coming after some of the other ones were revealed, BUT some of them were a bit shocking. That part of the book was enjoyable. Once those started happening, it was easy to get through the pages. So while I did struggle with the beginning of the book, the book did eventually pick up, and it was pretty good.

Saltwater by Katy Hays

I found the first part of this story, while not exactly chaotic, rather hard to follow. The gist of the story is that daughter Helen Lingate, the poor little rich girl of the extremely wealthy Lingate family, is eager to separate herself from her clan.

The family vacations every year on the island of Capri around the time of her mother’s death. Helen has become close to her uncle Marcus’s
assistant Logan and considers her a close friend, of which she has few due to family restrictions on her.

There is a lot of drinking, partying and lounging on Capri during this week. Helen and Logan comprise a plan to help Helen gain her freedom from their clutches. So much talk of money! The second half settles into more of a story of interest to the reader, to find the truth of what really happened to Helen’s mother, but all in all, I cannot find any reason to give more than three stars to this novel. Even a few hard to swallow twists and turns at the end didn’t change my mind.

This was my first @NetGalley #ARC and I ate this up! What a great thriller! Rich people behaving badly, a beautiful setting, family secrets, and the twists just kept coming! This would make a great beach read for vacay or for this summer!

this is definitely going to be the beach read of the summer (I think this is actually the first novel I’ve read this year). what’s not to love? murder, mystery, wealth, intrigue, control issues, agency… plus the glittering island gem that is capri. two underestimated women go about trying to solve a murder in the past and insuring their futures. it’s dark, it’s twisty, there’s more than one surprise at the end. I finished it in a night. go pick it up and start working on your tan.

Just so you know up front, I might come back and make this a 5 star rating. This book was so atmospheric and the sense of doom, mental claustrophobia, and foreboding was persuasive! The story was like a Greek tragedy, but taking place in Italy. So much plot! Character development might have been the outlier here that keeps it from being a 5 star read. Most characters were pretty surface level. All the connections seemed too convenient and the reader never seemed to get to know them more than what was needed for the story. But, the drama kept me hooked and turning pages! Oh and for once I truly appreciated and enjoyed those extra chapters at the end that helped to tie everything up! Guess that means there is always an exception to the rule!

ETA: I've seen the alternative title (Vipers) and cover and wish that was ours. It truly does a much better job of matching the tone and feel of the book. The Saltwater cover is way too bright and cheerful.

I love stories about rich people behaving badly, and this book delivers. It’s a great beach read with White Lotus / Perfect Couple vibes.

Katy Hays writes really vivid locations - in Saltwater, you can see the waves pounding against the cliffs and smell the salt air. Hays always sets a perfect mood for her books.

This book follows multiple POVs and takes place during two time periods. In the past, we follow the days leading up to Sarah Lingate’s death at the base of Capri’s treacherous cliffs 30 years ago. In the present, Sarah’s daughter and the rest of her family arrive for their annual visit to Capri. The arrival of a mysterious package suggests there may be new evidence in Sarah Lingate’s death.

Thus begins a twisty thriller filled with deception, blackmail, and truly dark secrets.
Everyone in Capri knows that some families are so rich they can get away with anything…

Ultimately, I feel like this book went one twist too far. But I couldn’t put it down, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for in a fun summer read.