Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

What a fascinating, intricate tale! It is not so much a mystery thriller as a psychological study.
Fascinating premise which while not totally believable is very entertaining. A well written, though perhaps a little wordy, debut novel that takes one on a totally wild chase with an ending that most would not expect. The characters drive the story and they are mostly dysfunctional alcoholics. I found myself caring about them even though none were very likable. I found it a compelling read.
4 stars may be a bit much but I definitely liked it more than 3.

Ava leaves her family's vineyard to go to France after a falling out with her twin sister Zelda. Ava gets revenge by leaving her sister (who has neber been the responsible one)behind to care for their mother who has dementia. She comes home after receiving a letter informing her of her sister's death. After coming home Ava starts receiving letters from her "dead" sister and Ava realizes Zelda is playing one of their favorite games, the alphabet game, and Ava must solve the mystery before it's too late. A totally dysfunctional family and completely detestable characters will suck you into this story and won't let you go until the very end.

Twins Ava and Zelda Antipova were born into a toxic family. By the time they were born, the family vineyard Silenus Wines produced a small yield of mediocre wine and profits were dwindling. Parents Nadine and Marlon fought constantly. Ava and Zelda were subjected to constant and sarcastic verbal abuse. One day, Marlon packed up and left. The twins were saddled with Nadine who was exhibiting genetic markers of alcoholism and starting to suffer from early onset dementia.

Ava was the straight laced twin. Ever the student, she excelled in school. Her room was decorated in white, her clothing was traditional. She had a loving boyfriend, Wyatt, despite being emotionally and physically absent. By contrast, Zelda was wild and reckless. Her room had a bohemian, gypsy atmosphere.

As mother Nadine's health deteriorates, she is plied with more and more alcohol and meds. Nadine refused to eat, misremembered things and was highly critical of her daughters. The fate of Silenus Vineyards fell on their shoulders.

Ava had enough. She runs away to Paris and cuts off all lines of communication with Zelda, leaving Zelda alone to care for Nadine and run the winery. Ava receives word that the barn at home has been bolted from the outside and burned down. Questioned by police, a drugged Nadine says that Zelda was in the barn. Ava leaves Paris and rushes home.

As kids, Zelda set up elaborate puzzles and games for Ava to solve. Ava starts to receive clues and texts from Zelda. Is this a masterful scheme to exact revenge for being abandoned two years earlier, by Ava, after Zelda's betrayal? Zelda always had a talent for deception and a way of wrapping people around her finger. Ava must step out of her comfort zone and confront the family history leading to Zelda's disappearance or demise.

"Dead Letters" by Cait Dolan-Leach did not pique my interest at first. Suddenly, however, I was caught up in a web of unfolding events. Letters and texts kept arriving from Zelda and the cat and mouse game led to a surprising conclusion. A good debut tome from up and coming author Cait Dolan-Leach.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Dead Letters".

Dead Letters

This book was one that I’ve had around for awhile...I had heard mixed reviews, so ultimately I pushed it back some on my to-read list. I totally understand why some readers were disappointed. Dead Letters was marketed as a mystery and thriller. It was definitely more mystery and minimal, if any, thriller. Now, I'll be the first to admit I love a great thriller, but I also love a book that can keep it simple and still hold your attention. This was for sure the latter.

Ava Antipova had run away from her family, her life, and her relationship and moved to Paris. At the beginning of this book, she learned that her twin sister Zelda had died in a fire at their family vineyard. Burned in the barn next to the house they had grown up in. Immediately, Ava wondered what her sister Zelda was up to? She hadn’t sensed her death, it couldn’t be true. Ava headed back to her home to handle the situation. As soon as she returned, she started to receive messages from her supposedly dead sister, in a puzzle format. A to Z, each letter corresponded to a piece of the puzzle, the puzzle of where was Zelda now? Ava learned that a lot has transpired over the two years, while she was gone. As Ava sifted through the clues Zelda left, she had to live in the house she so desperately wanted to escape and she had to face the demons she had run from. In the end, Ava was changed...now what about Zelda?

Dead Letters was for me one of those books that I spent time frustrated with most of the characters, most of the time. Growing up with plenty of alcohol in my household, I got the alcoholism references. Maybe a little too close to home. I know many people who elect to escape their lives via the alcohol bottle. Don't get me wrong, I love a good drink, but one or two is enough for me! I have been there and done that too many times to mention, in my younger years...I choose to do my life differently now.

The characters - Ava was so self-absorbed and repressed! Zelda was so manipulative and strange! Their mother, holy moly, their poor mother - I guess she was clueless right? Marlon (aka Dad) what a joke, but maybe the life drove him away? At lastly, I didn't and couldn't forget Wyatt...yummy, but what a fool for these two! Poor guy, what's the rest of his life going to be like? Even though I couldn't really find a character to like, besides Wyatt, I still cared - I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to see how the story ended. I felt enough to stick with it, and I'm glad I did.

Here’s the thought that keeps creeping into my mind a few days after finishing the book - what if the ending was a scam? What if Ava got another email shortly after the birth of her child? And it starts again...A to Z…Hmm...I would definitely be willing to go for another ride with these characters. It would also be interesting to see a Hollywood spin on this story. Just saying, it could happen!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and Caite Dolan-Leach for allowing me to experience this twisted world in exchange for my honest opinion.

This novel has very mixed reviews on Goodreads however, I really liked it. It was a story about a family and their turmoil throughout the generations and a mystery. Ava and Zelda are twins that are always in competition with each other. Zelda's disappearance is a tangle of confusion from the very start and Ava is committed to seeing the outcome through to the very end.

This was a very entertaining read and I enjoyed the family dynamic that was woven through it. Each character brought something pivotal to the story.

This book threw me through a loop. I thought I knew where it was going and I was totally wrong. Ava and Zelda are twins who seem to feed off each other in an unhealthy way and also support each other in while growing up a broken home with alcoholic, psychological abusive parents. They have a falling out over a boyfriend and Ava escapes to France to go to graduate school and build her own life. The sudden death of her sister Zelda in a suspicious fire brings her home to her families' failing winery/farm and back into Zelda's manipulative games. As Ava unravels the clues her sister left her, she learns her sister's secrets and hidden life and is left wondering, is her sister still manipulating her beyond the grave or is she still alive?

I found that I disliked most of the characters in this book since they seemed selfish and destructive to others and themselves a lot of the time but the mystery of Zelda's death pushed me through the story. There were so many moments where I wanted Ava just to run back to France and stop being manipulated by her sister but it also built the tension that got me through the book. It may not be for everyone but I enjoyed reading it and would recommend mystery and psychological thriller fans to give it a try.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

I received a advanced readers copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

Intriguing novel. I have to admit I did find some of the characters' motivations difficult to fathom and their behavior was odd; however, I was extremely gripped by the plot and couldn't put it down once I'd started, and kept being surprised and excited by the twists. A shaky start but overall, an excellent read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Random Publishing and Caite Dolan-Leach for this ARC. I loved this book. The characters all intertwined nicely,and the story was one I have not read before. Such an interesting ending, I never saw coming. I was hoping for sisters to reunite, but then the ending would not have been as dramatic. Definitely worth reading and sharing with others. Wonderful book by a great new author I will be following. I will be reviewing on Goodreads, Amazon ( when ready for it) and for my reviews for my independent bookstore. I'm suggesting they really need to order this one for their shelves !

DEAD LETTERS is the story of two sisters who are also twins -- Ava and Zelda Antipova. Unlike many twins that have a number of similarities, Ava and Zelda are as opposite as can be. Ava is lighness and goodness while Zelda is darkness and wildness. Due to this dichotomy and inexorable bond between the two young women, Ava left home a few years ago to run away from her twin Zelda and life with her as her twin. She was always overshadowed by Zelda. The story now jump starts with the death of Zelda and Ava compelled to come home.

Things become more complicated when Ava begins to receive clues and letters from her dead sister. Ava begins to suspect that Zelda is not really dead and is just playing a prank on her. Her suspicions become muddled when Zelda's clues give her a more complete picture of her life and "last days". DEAD LETTERS is a good story of sibling story and mystery read.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Dead Letters is about twin sisters, Ava & Zelda. Ava gets news that Zelda is dead so she has to return home even though she's sure Zelda is still alive and just playing games. Communicating through emails, social media, and letters Zelda sends Ava on a scavenger hunt to try and find out what really happened. It continually reminded me a lot of another book, and without spoiling anything, this wasn't my favorite, but you might enjoy it

Another debut mystery which you may want to investigate is DEAD LETTERS by Caite Dolan-Leach. This thriller features identical twins, Ava and Zelda Antipova. Zelda, the wilder twin, supposedly dies in a barn fire in upstate New York and Ava returns from her studies in Paris to deal with the family vineyard and her mother's dementia and alcoholism. Soon, Ava is receiving messages from Zelda, who loved mind games and appears to be sending her sister on a scavenger hunt to confront their dysfunctional past. The sisters were estranged due to Wyatt, a high school love, and he reappears in the story along with their father, Marlon, as Zelda's manipulative messages continue to surface.

With starred reviews from Library Journal ("riveting") and Publishers Weekly ("a smart, dazzling mystery"), DEAD LETTERS is especially recommended for fans of Gone Girl.

Next up is Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach. I am really into dark twisty books lately, it seems. I need another one like Julia Claiborne’s incredible novel, Be Frank With Me or something like Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt to break up all of these mysteries!

Here’s the scoop on Dead Letters:

Ava Antipova has her reasons for running away: a failing family vineyard, a romantic betrayal, a mercurial sister, an absent father, a mother slipping into dementia. In Paris, Ava renounces her terribly practical undergraduate degree, acquires a French boyfriend and a taste for much better wine, and erases her past. Two years later, she must return to upstate New York. Her twin sister, Zelda, is dead.

Even in a family of alcoholics, Zelda Antipova was the wild one, notorious for her mind games and destructive behavior. Stuck tending the vineyard and the girls’ increasingly unstable mother, Zelda was allegedly burned alive when she passed out in the barn with a lit cigarette. But Ava finds the official explanation a little too neat. A little too Zelda. Then she receives a cryptic message—from her sister.

Just as Ava suspected, Zelda’s playing one of her games. In fact, she’s outdone herself, leaving a series of clues about her disappearance. With the police stuck on a red herring, Ava follows the trail laid just for her, thinking like her sister, keeping her secrets, immersing herself in Zelda’s drama and her outlandish circle of friends and lovers. Along the way, Zelda forces her twin to confront their twisted history and the boy who broke Ava’s heart. But why? Is Zelda trying to punish Ava for leaving? To teach her a lesson? Or is she simply trying to write her own ending?

I can’t help it, I love a good murder mystery especially when the person who died is not dead. Say what? A good friend of mine read this in one sitting so I’m going to have to dig into this one soon. Like tonight!

I would put this book at right around 3.5 stars. It’s a intense story which kept me reading, but much like “The Good Daughter,” “Dead Letters” had some flaws.

But overall, I did like this book, and I enjoyed guessing t lo see if I could figure it out (I didn’t). It kept me plenty entertained, for sure.

The story revolves around Ava Antipova, who comes from an incredibly dysfunctional family of alcoholics (including her father who left the family and started again and her mother who was diagnosed with Lewey Body Dementia and is barely able to grasp reality at times), who own a vineyard in upstate New York. She has been in Paris for the past 20 months when she gets word that her estranged twin, Zelda, has died in a barn fire. When she arrives home, not only does it come out that the fire is being labeled as “suspicious,” but her sister may have faked her death. She must follow clues Zelda left for her to find out whether her sister is dead or alive, and why she had to resort to such a drastic measure.

Some reviewers have said it’s more of a “family drama” than a mystery/thriller, so they felt let down or mislead. While this novel really is a family drama on a basic level, there is a mystery right at its core – is Zelda alive or dead? – that I think pushes it over the edge into mystery/thriller territory. I was hooked on trying to figure in out, and the author does a great job of keeping up the suspense. I flipped my opinion with each passing chapter: “No she’s definitely dead….No way, she’s alive!…..Are you kidding me? She’s dead!”

I also loved that it was set in Watkins Glen! I live about 40 minutes away, and love visiting there – and the author really gave an accurate depiction of the region, IMO.

My main issues with the book were that I really didn’t like any of the Antipovas. Like, I actively hated each of them at some point. In the book, Ava admits that all four members of the family are alcoholics, but while she can acknowledge that, she doesn’t do anything about it, so the novel is essentially like watching an alcoholic friend destroy themselves slowly while they refuse to get help. It was frustrating. For girls that seemed to have so much potential, both sisters were completely unlivable in their own ways, and I found myself rooting for the whole damn vineyard to burn down; it was probably what was best for all of them.

Also, the ending sucked. It really did. Without spoiling it, it raised more questions than answers. While the Zelda puzzle is solved, not much else is. I actually had to reread the last chapter because I came up with a new question and thought I missed something.

Basically, if you like reading a good mystery, this one is good. You’ll enjoy trying to figure it out. But if you are looking for character development or redeeming endings, they’re not here.

Moderately recommended.

I'm still undecided whether I liked this book or not. It intrigued me at the beginning, but lost me toward the middle and end. I liked the concept of twin sisters,one living in Paris and one taking care of the mother who has dementia.The sister taking care of the mother dies in a barn fire and the other sister comes home to a game that the other twin has set up for her.
There is so much dysfunction in this family, that it's hard to really believe everything that is going on. I didn't find one character that I could like, not one. Which I think is part of the reason I became disinterested in the middle and ending. It has potential, but it's just not for me.

Fascinating book that kept me engaged. Great storytelling

A young woman dies in a fire at her family's home. Her twin sister, who is living in Paris, comes home to deal with the death and her unbelievably dysfunctional family. They are all alcoholics, her parents are unamicably divorced, she and her sister have had a love/hate relationship and not been in any kind of contact for two years and her mother has dimentia. Additionally her sister had also slept with her boyfriend. The novel tells of Ava's dealing with all of this while trying to maintain a degree of stability. It is further complicated by a series of emails she receives from her sister. Telling more would lead to spoilers, however this is a complex and engrossing book worth reading. Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for an ARC for an honest review.

This had a great premise and the way it was described as mystery/suspense, had me intrigued. But getting into the book, you realize that the genre is off for this story. This is more of a women's fiction and doesn't really hold up to the mystery/suspense category. Also, some books with unlikeable characters, the story is still so intriguing that those characters actually make the story. Not so in this book. The characters were so unlikable and unrelatable that it was really difficult to be engaged in their story. I gave this 2 stars on goodreads.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I really enjoyed the technique the author used to develop the plot and the reader's understanding of the characters. Since the twins were accustomed to playing tricks on each other, the outcome was not obvious until the very end. I look forward to other books by this author.

DEAD LETTERS was quite a read. Not what I expected, but SO glad I read this book. I hope others take the time to read it as well.

I had my eye on this release when it first popped on Netgalley at the end of 2016. I was excited to get to it in my TBR, but wasn't able to read it until after it had released. I was seeing it all over social media due to it being a Book of the Month selection and was chomping at the bit to get to it. Then I read it and loved it so much that I wanted to take time to write a thorough review. Then you know....life happens. Now after that long backstory, here's my thoughts, beyond "I loved it!" First of all, the book features twins (I am utterly fascinated with twins and love reading about them) and the setting is a family winery (hello, wine lover here) so I knew I was going to enjoy the story. But these twins are like no others I've read about and the setting is straight out of a Southern gothic novel, (return of a father who abandoned the family, mother sliding into dementia, family of alcoholics, decaying palatial home, etc.) The possible death of one twin brings the other home from Paris (another dreamy sigh) and sets her on a strange alphabet focused scavenger hunt to solve the mystery. Zelda's 1st letter greets Ava with “Ahoy, Ava! Welcome home, my sweet jet-setting twin! So glad you were able to wrest yourself away from your dazzling life in the City of Light; I hope my ‘death’ hasn’t interrupted anything too crucial.” The game teases out stories of the twins' combined and individual pasts to make you wonder what point Zelda is trying to make and if she is or is not actually dead!