Another fantastic book from Ruth Ware - Creepy, mysterious & hard to put down! If you’re after a good thriller then this book is for you! Loved it!

<i><b>One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for secret
Never to be told</b></i>

Hal (Harriet) works on the West Pier in Brighton as a tarot card reader; she is struggling to make a living following the death of her mother 3 years previously and has made some bad decisions in the meantime. After a particularly bad day, Hal comes home to a letter addressed to Harriet Westaway informing her that her grandmother Hester Westaway has named her as a beneificiary in her will.
<i>Is it a case of mistaken identity or can Hal pull it off?</i>

Hal mentions her mother often from the start of the novel and it shows that she still deeply misses her and has never overcome her loss of losing her. She's all alone in the world as she's never known her father and has always been informed she has no family. So when she receives the letter from a lawyer she feels this is a good thing for her and may be a turning point in her fortune; discovering a family she never new she had and paying of some debt and being able to pay the bills for once.

Once Hal arrives at the house after the funeral, she feels like there's something wrong - something that isn't being said. Mrs Warren the house-keeper takes an instant dislike to Hal and threatens her to leave before it is too late and she is not welcome.

I love the twists and turns in this book; this is my first Ruth Ware book but I'm certain it won't be my last. I loved the two points of view we get after Hal arrives at the house; it took me a while to figure out who it was but once I did it all fell into place. I didn't guess the ultimate twist at the end and was quite shocked when it was explained but it all fell into place.

This would have been a solid 5 for me if only Hal's situation in the beginning of the book had been resolved and not kinda just left hanging in the background with no mention.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House UK, and Vintage publishing for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ruth Ware is a fantastic mystery/thriller writer, so I jumped at the chance to read this.

I loved the character of Hal, she is interesting who I could myself rooting for, even when she was trying to con people. The Westaway family however, are all very mysterious and it’s difficult to know who Hal should trust.

As is often the case with Ruth’s books, the atmosphere and setting is almost like a character of it’s own. It’s fittingly eerie and brilliantly described.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy dark thrillers which will second guessing throughout.

When Harriet Westaway receives a solicitor's letter naming her as beneficiary to her grandmother's will it seems like the answers to all her financial prayers. The catch? Hal's real grandparents dies more than twenty years ago. Hal knows she could use her skills as a seaside fortune teller to claim the money as her own. Hal makes a choice but once she chooses deception she must keep it up at any cost.

I was so disappointed with this book, I was expecting a chilling, intense atmosphere which I really did not get until right near the end, and I mean right near the end. Dare I say it but I was quite bored reading this, at times it was a struggle to continue. On paper, I liked the concept and initially I liked this, then it tapered off before ramping up close to the end and here Ware threw in the chilling, intense atmosphere and it was intense and full of danger, if only this had been carried through the rest of the book. 

I did enjoy reading Hal's backstory and learning about her craft, it made for unique reading which was highly refreshing. We slowly learn the backstory of Hal's family and again it was really fascinating reading and the sense of unease creeps up on you slowly. 

Character wise, I thought they were all well written, some are more developed than others but it works for the plot so it is okay. Hal is the most developed character and as a result I was rooting for her more than the others.

I had high hopes for this book but I was let down by the slow pace and lack of an atmosphere. This turned into a very disappointing read. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an advance copy.

Amazing!!
This is a perfect mystery book that keeps you guessing throughout. I definitely didn't work out the truth which I'm super pleased with.
Ruth Ware has such a way with story telling, I can't wait to see what she does next.

A cracking read, a really intriguing story that flowed from the beginning and kept you guessing until the end, I seemed to read it at break neck speed as couldn't put it down, loved it

Hal is struggling. She is broke, she is trying to fend off loan sharks and she is alone since her mother's death. When a letter comes from a solicitor in Cornwall saying that she has been left a legacy it seems a gift from above. Reading the letter more closely she fears there may be a mistake but after a scary encounter with the loan sharks enforcer she decided to go to the funeral of her benefactor and see what is what.

The house in Cornwall is in a poor state but she is given a warm welcome from those who believe her to be their niece. The feeling of family is even more enticing than the chance to escape her debts. However there is one person who is very suspicious & that is the scary housekeeper- Mrs Warren- definitely echos of Mrs Danvers from Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca'!

When Hal realises she is not just a benefactor but THE benefactor, getting away without revealing her deception looks almost impossible. She wants to find out more about her mother and to find out who her father was.In a house full of secrets she begins to worry about her safety!

This was a gripping story told well. I couldn't put it down. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I loved this book which took me right back into the reasons I love crime fiction so much. All the way through I was incredibly impressed by the fact that although I knew I was reading a contemporary novel, nevertheless the setting and the prose were so reminiscent of an Agatha Christie old house mystery that my mind would deceive me into thinking I was in the past.

Hal Westaway lives in a small Brighton flat. Up to her ears in debt, she had to give up all hopes of college after the death of her mother in a hit and run accident and so she slid into her mother’ role as a tarot reader on Brighton pier. Pursued by thugs from the local loan shark, she is barely eking out a living when a letter from heaven drops in her lap. Well, maybe not heaven, but from a solicitor promising her an inheritance, and that’s as close as Hal is going to get to heaven. Because Hal’s talent is in reading people from cold and that’s what makes her tarot business tick over with repeat customers.

So when she gets the letter saying her deceased grandmother has left her money, she’s pretty clear that it’s not meant for her, but she can use the money and she reckons she can carry off an impersonation if there’s money in it for her.

Now Hal, or Harriet as she was christened, is not a bad young woman, merely pretty desperate. So to avoid the thugs, she sets out for the deceased’s family home, Trepassen House in Cornwall.

If she can convince the solicitor and the family of the deceased woman that she is entitled to a bequest, she will take the money and run as quickly as she can.

Trepassen House turns out to be huge, crumbling and very cold. It is a gloomy house of gothic proportions that fairly shrieks of ghosts and secrets. Trepassen House is ruled over by Mrs Warren, a woman with strong overtones of Mrs Danvers from Du Maurier’s Rebecca. Hardly welcoming, she shows Hal into an attic bedroom under the eaves which is colder than the grave her so called grandmother is buried in.

The others from the Westaway family she meets are hardly more welcoming, though her new ‘family’ are outwardly friendly though bemused by her existence. Sadly for Hal, who begins to have second thoughts about her deception once the size of her inheritance is revealed, it is clear that she’s going to have to stay around for a while whether she wants to or not.

A combination of unavoidable delays and atrocious weather maroons her in Cornwall and leads her into dangerous territory as she tries to find out what her connection to the Westaway family really is at the same time as carrying off her impersonation.

Ruth Ware manages to build up a magnificent suspenseful atmosphere which beautifully conveys the creepiness of the house and the menace that lies within it. The pace is slow but a beautifully paced slow so that the burn creeps up on you and you are on fire before you realise it.

Dark, creepy, gothic, contemporary, this is a story of families, secrets and horribly dark doings that should belong in the Victorian era but sadly are all too real and contemporary.

Sharply drawn, beautifully nuanced and with a heroine in Hal that you absolutely root for, this is a terrifically good novel with slight supernatural undertones and a definite gothic twist.

Verdict: Not to be missed. A dark and dramatic contemporary thriller with a gothic twist.

This was a really well written book. The characters are strong and there are definitely shades of Agatha Christie. Plenty of family intrigue and insight into their relationships.
What would you have done in Hal's position if that opportunity had arisen?

I've read Ruth Ware's first two books and whilst I enjoyed them, I think she's gone to another level with the fantastic The Death of Mrs Westaway. Despite being set mostly in the present day, it has a very gothic feel that almost belongs in a different era. I think the author did an amazing job at creating that level of atmosphere without having to take us back to Victorian times or the 1930s/40s.

Harriet Westaway, known as Hal, reads tarot cards on Brighton Pier. She's young and is just getting over the death of her mother, living in a small flat and owing money to the potentially violent Mr Smith. So a letter telling her that she is a beneficiary in her late grandmother's will is very welcome, except Hal doesn't have any family. Or does she?

Hal is a fantastic creation. She's clever and used to telling the people she reads for exactly what they need to know. So she knows that she could possibly pull off a deception - can she pretend to be Mrs Westaway's long lost granddaughter? She needs the money, after all.

Trepassen House in Cornwall, the home of the late Mrs Westaway, is the archetypal gothic dwelling. I could imagine creeping round it, peering into all the rooms trying to work out where I should be and getting completely lost. But the house is well past its prime and the lack of upkeep only adds to Hal's sense of unease whilst she is there. It makes it all so much more creepy. Not to mention the housekeeper, Mrs Warren, who has her own suite of very private rooms. She's rather unpleasant and Hal doesn't know why she seems to have it in for her.

There's nothing like a novel chock full of family secrets and the Westaways have plenty of them. Hal meets Harding, Abel and Ezra, the sons of the late Mrs Westaway. Can she trust any of them? Can Hal herself be trusted, given that she is trying pass herself off as somebody she is not, the daughter of the late Maud Westaway. It's all so deliciously dark, sinister and thrilling and despite Hal's deception I was rooting for her, hoping that she could escape Trepassen House and build a better future for herself.

I read this book in instalments and I have to say that I couldn't wait to read the next one. It's truly a gripping story and I didn't see any of what happened coming. It's full of twists and I delighted in each one. Ruth Ware has written such a compelling and addictive story and I highly recommend it.

A mystery that started off as convincing turned into something so conniving and unrealistic. It's well-written, though. I'm looking forward to reading more of Ruth Ware's works.

Of all the Ruth Ware books I have had the pleasure to read, this has to be my favorite. To be fair, The Lying Game is a very, very close second. The Death of Mrs. Westaway, though, feels just as intimate and comfortable yet more twisted in an 'ohhh, right' kind of way. With plenty of misleading turns that eventually deliver a satisfying ending. This would be a fab beach read for a summer holiday.

Hal is a character the reader swiftly warms to; her predicament is understandable. Possibly less so the deception she decides to try, but hey, she's a tarot card reader on Brighton pier so who am I to judge? Her life soon changes with the delivery of a letter telling her of a possible bequest from a mysterious grandmother she knows is not hers. Being hard up for dosh to pay back a shady loan, she decides to go to darkest Cornwall in winter to see what she can get. She has no idea that what lies ahead is a slow-burn gothic tale of secrets long buried awaiting her inquisitive search for answers.

The brilliance of this novel lies in the classic, old school style whodunit structure. It's cold, dark and creepy at Trepassen, the Westaway family's rundown estate, and that atmosphere drives this tale flawlessly. It reminds me strongly of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier with a crusty, ill tempered housekeeper to ratchet up the tension for poor Hal. I liked the slow reveal that seemingly lays the cards out for all to see but it is not as it appears. I loved the twist! Of all the books Ms. Ware has written, this seems the most plausible ending, which I greatly appreciate. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a likeable story with genuine characters and a great mystery. Well worth a read.

As soon as I started this book I knew I’d find it hard to put down.

Hal Westaway, who lives alone in Brighton following her mother’s tragic death receives a letter from a solicitor in Penzance telling her that her grandmother has left her a substantial amount in her will.

She doesn’t believe the letter is meant for her. Her grandparents are dead but she owes a lot of money to an aggressive loan shark but feels that this might be the answer to her prayers. Her day job as a tarot reader doesn’t bring in much money and she’s struggling with paying the rent and bills as it is.

She travels to Cornwall and Trespassen House and meets her relatives who are a mixed bunch some of which are enraged their mother has left almost everything to a stranger. The house is really creepy and surrounded by resident magpies which makes everything feel more threatening. She’s installed in a bedroom far away in the attic, with bars on the window, bolts on the outside of the door and with something threatening etched on the glass. The housekeeper, Mrs Warren seems to take an instant dislike to her.

There’s a story running alongside from the past and two girls who have happy and unhappy times at Trespassen house. It’s very cleverly woven into the story in the present day. Hal unearths lots of secrets, mystery and tragedies and you wonder if she’ll make it out of Trespassen House alive. A brilliant, brilliant read which I loved.

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

Harriet (Hal) Westaway is at her wits’ end. Since her mother died, Hal has eked out a living reading tarot cards and telling fortunes on the pier at Brighton. But she’s got nothing left and now a loan shark is after her. Then, out of the blue, a letter turns up from a solicitor offering her sympathies for the death of her grandmother and advising her that she is one of Mrs Westaway’s beneficiaries. But Hal’s grandparents died over twenty years ago. This isn’t possible. They’ve got the wrong person. But what if she were to pretend to be the right person?

As Hal makes her way to Trespassen House in western Cornwall for the funeral, her feelings are in turmoil and they only get worse when she meets Mrs Westaway’s sons and their families, not to mention their terrifying housekeeper. It’s so easy to be sucked into this life, to tell one more lie, but there’s something unloved about this decaying once grand house. And in its overgrown gardens and cold rooms, secrets refuse to stay hidden.

The Death of Mrs Westaway is such an atmospheric and moody read. This is largely due to the setting, which is wonderfully visualised by Ruth Ware. Trespassen House is remote, it takes trouble to reach it – and to leave it – and it affects everyone who has ever lived in it. This is a creepy and disturbing tale and it grips from the outset.

What I enjoyed more than anything, though, is the novel’s heroine, Hal. Hal is a fantastic creation. She is believable and is always very likeable. She is facing impossible choices and it’s hard to blame her when life has become such a struggle, through no fault of her own. Despite having very little, she is generous and kind to a fault, and when she does her tarot readings she believes that she must care for her clients, that she’s doing them some kind of service to move their lives along. The members of the Cornish Westaway family are also memorable but more than anything they are curious and I enjoyed getting to know them.

This is a psychological thriller and so we’re given twists and surprises but I actually found the mystery secondary to the setting and the characters. I guessed much of what was to happen but it didn’t matter because I was enjoying Ruth Ware’s writing so much. I’ve liked some of Ruth Ware’s novels more than others but The Death of Mrs Westaway is certainly one of my favourites and a real return to form after The Lying Game. I love atmospheric reads, especially when they’re set in this part of Cornwall that I adore so much, and The Death of Mrs Westaway is an immersive pleasure from start to finish.

Other reviews
The Woman in Cabin 10
The Lying Game

Hal is barely scraping by when she gets a lifeline in the form of a letter stating she is an heir. The only problem is Hal knows she isn't related to the family but could she pretend to be to get a little money. Hal decides to try and soon learns it's much more complicated than she could ever have imagined.

This was such a good read, a little slow to start with but once I got into it, I couldn't put the book down. The plot was clever with so many twists and turns. I couldn't be sure how it would end. As for the ending what a clever twist. I had figured out bits and pieces but not all of it and it was brilliantly done. A great story.

I loved Hal, yes she set out with bad intentions but you just want her to get her chance, that better life she craved. This book puts you through so many emotions but it all added to a brilliant read.

Harriet (Hal) Westaway is down on her luck and pretty desperate when she receives a letter from a solicitor in Cornwall, informing her that she has inherited a substantial bequest from her Grandmother and that her presence would be appreciated at the funeral.


Harriet would not think twice about this, were her own grandparents not dead for twenty years already. Deciding to go to the funeral out of curiosity, Hal vows to tell the truth as soon as she arrives. But she is not expecting a kindly solicitor or a welcoming family of “uncles” and cousins.

Hal is sidelined by the intrigue she has for her newfound family. For although she is not the Harriet Westaway they are looking for, she is still a Westaway. And there are things that she doesn’t know about her Mother’s life before her that she is determined to find out.

Despite her financial woes, Harriet’s main reason for deception does seem to be genuine interest in the Westaway family and its secrets. Of which there seems to be many ...

For this reason, I couldn’t help but like Harriet, though at times I wanted to shake or shout at her to stop what she was doing and think about the consequences.

The death of Mrs Westaway is another brilliant Ruth Ware novel that has something for everyone.

Written by Ruth Ware — Cornwall has proved a rich source of inspiration for many a writer. From Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca to, more recently, In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings and Robert Goddard’s Panic Room, its rugged coastline and windswept landscapes have provided ripe pickings for evil-doing.

Let’s add The Death of Mrs Westaway to that list. Yes, it might begin in Brighton, but the real drama happens in Trepassen House in St Piran, Cornwall. Central to everything is Harriet Westaway, better known as Hal, who scrapes a living by reading tarot cards, crystal ball and the occasional palm in her little booth on West Pier in Brighton.

Hal took over the role of Madame Margarida from her mother, after she was killed by a hit-and-run driver outside the door of their tiny flat. Ever since, she has been struggling to make ends meet, and at a particularly low point she borrowed money from a loan shark who is now applying pressure for the money to be repaid. Which makes an unexpected missive from a solicitor in Cornwall all the more welcome. Mrs Hester Westaway of Trespassen House has died, and Hal is mentioned in her will. Could a surprise inheritance be the answer to all her problems?

After a pretty scary encounter with the loan shark’s enforcer, Hal scrapes together her every last penny and buys a ticket to Penzance. The taxi from the station to Trespassen House leaves her almost broke and her unannounced arrival causes a stir. Mrs Westaway’s three sons, Harding, Ezra and Abel, and the curmudgeonly housekeeper Mrs Warren, are all taken aback by the newcomer and the tale she has to tell. She’s treated with suspicion and those misgivings are not without foundation because Hal is living a lie. She is the daughter of a distant cousin, not Maud, the Westaway family’s long-lost family member. She’s been surviving on her wits for years, but can she pull off such a great deception?

The answer to that question will keep you entertained throughout this cleverly plotted, utterly engaging book. You’ll come to love Hal. Small, tattooed and bespectacled she may be, but inside the mousy exterior beats the heart of a lioness – and she’s going to need all that courage to cope with what is to befall her. Death lurks around the shadowy corners of Trespassen, and why is ‘Help Me’ scratched into the dirty panes of Hal’s attic room?

Yes, there are distinct echoes of du Maurier’s Rebecca but Ruth Ware creates a tale that is very much anchored in the modern day, although this book has such an old-fashioned air about it that it comes as a surprise now and then when Hal pulls out her mobile phone or checks something out on Google.

You’ll never feel completely at ease while reading The Death of Mrs Westaway. Instead, Ware scatters sneaky kernels of doubt, meaning you’re forever mulling over the possibilities and that incessant yearning for the truth is always on the back burner as you read. As with The Lying Game, the author digs deep into the murk to uncover deception, lies and family secrets, in a compelling, creepy setting that has more than a tinge of the ghost story about it – probably best to have all the lights on as you read! Ruth Ware is a writer who is never afraid to tackle something a little different and in The Death of Mrs Westaway she’s really hit her stride. This is her best novel yet so go grab your copy right away.

Surprise bequests drive Vaseem Khan’s The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra and House of Spines by Michael Malone, while Cornwall is also the setting in Martyn Waites’ latest, The Old Religion.

Harvill Secker
Print/Kindle/iBook
£7.99

CFL Rating: 5 Stars

I really struggled with this book, I felt it lacked pace and tension, By halfway through I didn't feel like much had happened and I'd already worked out who Harriet's real dad was and who the person was that she called mum. I really wanted to love this book as the premise wounded interesting and I love a suspense novel but I just couldn't connect to the characters, even down to Harriet's nickname, 'Hal' it made me think of an American guy.

This is my honest opinion, thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Every once in a while a book comes along which surprises you. One which you find that once you start reading, you don't want to put it down. A book which casts  a spell, pulling you under and making you throw all other concerns, plans and duties aside until you have finished it. For me The Death of Mrs Westaway was one such book and, if I am being completely honest, I can't necessarily tell you exactly why.

It is not full of fast paced action. If anything, the start to the novel is somewhat slow as we are introduced to our protagonist Hal and the circumstances which see her make her journey from her home in Brighton to the far south west and a family she never knew in Cornwall. There are moments of menace, where you feel a strong underlying tension which is what ultimately leads Hal to make the decision she does, but other than this it is quite a quiet and maudlin existence she leads. And yet ... well in spite of this I felt compelled to go on Hal's journey with her, there was just something about the way her character was developing that made me want to read more. 

Young, and with a considerable talent for reading other people there was a heady mixture of vulnerability and yet quiet determination about Hal. Although she never quite came across as the most gregarious character, there was a fire in her. All of the supporting characters, Hal's family, the housekeeper Mrs Warren, are brilliantly drawn and the mistrust and uncertainty between them all clear to see. Even Hal proved time and again how adept she was at playing a role, one which fitted her circumstances well, and yet despite her deception, in spite of the yarn you know she is spinning, she is perhaps the only character you feel you can truly trust in the whole story. 

And what a story. From the very beginning I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about the old house, the family and ultimately the woman who can to leave Hal an inheritance she didn't feel she was entitled to. Ruth Ware has crafted such a finely woven tale that it is hard at first to see where the threads have been pulled together to make the whole. And yet pulled together they are as interspersed amongst Hal's story in the present you have that of a young woman who once stayed in the house, one whose past if far more harrowing than that which Hal has experienced. And this element of the plot is as fascinating as the present day for although you know the story is set a mere twenty something years earlier, it may as well have been in Victorian England, such is the feel of the style and the horror of the story. It is quite remarkable how the author has captured this classical spirit in what is still quite a contemporary tale.

This story is full of mystery, full of half spoken truths, a myriad of lies and old resentments which are slowly and surely uncovered. And it is this, if I had to define just one thing, that really made the book live for me. As I read I could see pictures forming in my head about who was who, what was what and how past and present intertwined, and I had to know. I just really, really needed to know. For me, of late, this is a rather rare thing indeed. More often than not, especially with a tale of this nature, I am somewhat indifferent. I want to know but I don't need it. With this book I needed to know. How it ended, who Hal really was to the late Mrs Westaway and just which one, if any, of her new found 'Uncles' was really telling the truth. I resented flying to Dublin (although I did get reading time on the plane), I resented stopping for dinner and I most certainly was not going to sleep until I had finished so a late night it was for me there then.

This book has that really classical literature vibe to it, even though you know it is set in modern times and the characters plagued by modern technology, Facebook and the like. Yet as you join Hal as she steps through the doors of Trepassen House you may well be setting foot back into the past, into a house, not a home, which has stood stock still in time, hiding secrets in a way that only a house of its age can. The imagery is perfect, the magpies and the superstitions attached to them, the tarot cards, the threat which is ever present and it makes for an oppressively atmospheric, chilling and ultimately intriguing and absorbing read that I absolutely loved.

The Death of Mrs Westaway had such an old fashioned, timeless feel to it that had me completely hooked right from the very start!
A brilliantly written atmospheric, captivating tale that had me so engrossed I couldn't put it down!
A very well deserved 5 stars!