A bit of a departure here for Ruth Ware with this christie-esque family mystery featuring an old house and a devious legacy.

Hal is very engaging as she makes some difficult decisions that may put her on a collision course with the law..But needs must in her situation, however she has no idea what she’s walking into…

The trademark twists and turns that have defined this authors previous books are still here but with a different feel and a really old school piece of storytelling. The group dynamic is one of the strengths here as Hal meets the family and we start to learn about the dark secrets that lurk at the heart of them.

It is a journey of discovery for Hal, highly intriguing and beautifully written. The focus here is not so much on the unexpected as it is on the relationships that Hal builds along the way. It is a hugely entertaining novel and has a strong emotional core.

I really enjoyed it. Especially the old house hiding it’s many many secrets…

Recommended.

When I spotted the cover of The Death of Mrs Westaway I knew I would enjoy it. I LOVE gothicky mysteries with spooky old houses and old family secrets!

The story starts with Hal (Harriet), who is struggling to make a living following the death of her mother three years previously. Hal had to give up her dreams of going to university and instead took over her mother's job of tarot reader on Brighton Pier. Falling behind on payments to the local loan shark, it seems like a dream come true when a solicitor's letter arrives to tell her that her grandmother has died and left her a bequest. Except Hal's grandmother died before she was born, didn't she?

Ruth Ware takes familiar tropes and motifs from the traditional/old school gothic mystery and puts her own original spin on it. There is a nod towards Rebecca, with the creepy Mrs Danvers-like housekeeper, but all references are done with an affection for the genre.

Hal makes a very likeable, if unusual heroine, who has suffered several setbacks in life. I loved the way she kept telling herself that she was a tenacious rat, not a little mouse, whenever she felt herself falter! Linking in Hal's job as a tarot reader, and the way she reads the cards to help her think through problems was inspired and I was became so engrossed in the story I completely forgot to try and work out who the murderer was.

The title makes the story sound like an Agatha Christie but it's a traditional gothic mystery. Exactly who was murdered and why isn't revealed until after a superb build-up of tension. There is a thread of historical (1994!) backstory running through the plot, giving an insight into the characters' past, but it doesn't dominate the novel.

The Death of Mrs Westaway should appeal to fans of Daphne du Maurier, Eve Chase, and possibly Mary Stewart, although there is no romance.

In conclusion, The Death of Mrs Westaway is one of my favourite reads this year. I absolutely loved it. More please!


Thank you to Ruth Ware and Vintage Digital/Harvill Secker for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed.

The following is my review as posted on Goodreads.

I quite enjoyed The Death Of Mrs Westaway. Ware and I didn't get off to the best start but I have to say the books have been getting better and better. This falls into that old fashioned Christie type of whodunnit that became more engrossing as the book went on.

Harriet or Hal as she prefers is our main protagonist here. A young woman who has recently lost her mother is struggling to make ends meet. She isn't earning very much working as a tarot reader at the end of a seaside pier. Meeting daily needs is becoming a constant and worrying chore so she becomes really intrigued when one day she receives a letter informing her that she is a recipient of an inheritance from her grandmother. Piqued and on the run from loan sharks who she's borrowed money from and finding it difficult to meet their extortionate interest rates, she sets off for Cornwall where this supposed inheritance is coming from. At the very least Hal wants to find out what's going on.

I found the storyline really engaging and like Hal's character although her need to do things her own way was wearisome at times. But Hal's family in Cornwall and the setting of Trepassen House was eerily evocative of whodunits of old. Many a time I changed my mind as I thought I had it sussed to then be thrown another curve ball. Ware adeptly kept the ball of wool tangled until the sinister end.

Overall a creepy evocative tale that kept me entertained. Recommended.

The Death of Mrs Westaway is a creeping, slow burn of novel with a young protagonist who I was rooting for almost from the first few lines. With her back story and by isolating her so completely from any kind of support network, Ruth Ware's created a main protagonist in Hal - or Harriet Westaway to give her her full name - whose actions you can understand and sympathise with even if you don't condone what she's planning to do by heading off to Cornwall to claim the bequest. And it's not as if staking her claim is going to be easy once she gets there.

Locked doors, bars on windows, creepy shadows and ominous magpies, a decidedly frosty reception from the housekeeper and the pervading cold and decay of a house past its best are what Hal finds when she goes in search of what she thinks may be a few hundred pounds to get herself out of her current financial problems. While the menace in her home town of Brighton exists in the more everyday form of final demands and making rent payments while trying to avoid a loan shark she borrowed from at a low point in her life, that in Cornwall feels decidedly old school and more akin to something from a Daphne du Maurier novel, despite the action only dating back to 1994/5.

What makes this novel work for me is that Hal is not as mercenary as she might appear; she does have a conscience and struggles with it once she realises this is not a random wealthy family but real people. She's also not as weak as she may appear and Hal has to draw on her inner strength and skills learned from reading the tarot cards, and the people who come to her for readings, in order to work out the family dynamic and who to trust as well as unlock family secrets and the deeper mystery as to why and how her mother's life, and now Hal's, are linked to this menacing and creepy house and a more sinister game than Hal's tarot card reading.

I finished The Death of Mrs Westaway over two busy days, so while it's a slow burn of a mystery, it's anything but a slow read. Ruth Ware kept me turning the pages to check up on how Hal was doing and see if she was right to answer the original letter summoning her to Cornwall. It often feels as if Hal is a sacrificial pawn and those who set this whole thing in motion weren't too concerned for her wellbeing, so the reader has look out for her and I was willing her to prove herself more than this and come out stronger for the experience. The clues are there to solve the mystery yourself before Hal does but it's well worth staying to the end to see how it all plays out. Decidedly creepy and something to make you shiver in the summer heat.

My first Ruth Ware book but, on this showing, it won't be my last and I'll be checking out her back catalogue.

A great fourth novel by Ruth Ward, who after the disappointing The Lying Game, in my opinion anyway, is back on great form with this creepy, almost gothic, chiller.
Harriet (Hal) Westaway is the heroine. A young twenty something struggling to make a living on Brighton’s West Pier (yes, it’s still standing here) as a tarot card reader. As her debts mount up, she suddenly received a letter inviting her to Cornwall as she may be due an inheritance from her recently departed grandmother. But, according to Hal, her grandmother had died years previously.
I was really glad to see that Ms Ware did NOT employ the irritating first person present tense that seemingly crops up in every new psychological thriller which I absolutely hate with a passion! . This is a straight forward third person past tense narrative, and all the better for it too I say. Her character comes across perfectly in the first third of the book and she becomes easy to relate to. You might, just might, think it a slow burner to start off with, but stick with it and the plot will draw you in and everything comes full circle, keeping you guessing until the end.
If like me, you were disappointed with The Lying Game, give this a read, you will be glad you did.

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I always enjoy Ruth Ware’s novels so I was pleased be given the chance to read an advanced copy of her new book.
When Harriet, or as she prefers to be called Hal receives a letter that could make her life easier she jumps at the chance. Despite feeling that it wasn’t intended for her. But the risk that she was in at home in Brighton was nothing compared to what she faced in the now dilapidated home in Cornwall. The house that she goes to is nothing like the image that she had seen on a postcard.
A family, united by the death of their mother, but the undercurrent of malice gets more evident as the novel progresses. It’s difficult to tell which of them, if any, genuinely welcome Hal into their lives. Especially when the will is read.
I loved the way everything was described. The way the house had fallen into disrepair through neglect. Most of the rooms were cold, dark and unwelcoming, Hal’s bedroom especially. I had a vivid impression of a home that wasn’t full of happy childhood memories where everybody was loved and visitors made welcome. Instead this was a home where children grew up in fear of their mother and the housekeeper Mrs Warren. The mother only appears through memories and diary entries but they were a clear image of a woman who wasn’t able to show love easily. Mrs Warren does appear. It did feel a little strange that the family accepted her rudeness and lack of respect. But then I started to wonder what she knew.
I was a little dubious about the storyline involving tarot cards. I have always thought I would be too scared to attend a reading of any kind but the way it was described showed a different way of approaching it. I still wouldn’t do it, but I now think about what the cards reveal slightly differently.
I liked Hal a lot, she’d had a tough life and lost the only parent she had too young. I ached for her to be able to be close to her new family but not knowing who was a threat. For that reason I won’t reveal my thoughts about the other characters. Make up your own mind.
Recommended.

I enjoyed the Death of Mrs Westerway. Hal received a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance - surely this is a mistake, but she’s also desperate for money. Hal finds herself at the funeral and quickly realises something is very wrong.

This book is a slow burner gradually building with a tension that keeps you intrigued until the end. It’s well written and thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and the author for the chance to review.

Well that was a creepy read! It is odd but somehow I always associate the creepy aspect with historical novels, after all we are too aware of the present in modern times to get spooked by an old crumbling house complete with scary housekeeper, aren’t we?

Ruth Ware is one of those writers who really knows how to create an atmosphere and so even though the greater part of this book is set in the present and that in the past only dates back to 1995, I was drawn into a world of the improbable with barely a question.

Hal (Harriet) Westaway is broke. Not the sort of broke that afflicts most twenty-somethings on a regular basis but the sort that means she is in danger of losing the only home she’s ever known, and perhaps not without damage since she’s in hock to a loan shark. She returns home one night to find a letter, one from said loan shark (or one of his mates) and one from a solicitor in Penzance who claims to have a bequest from her Grandmother who has recently died. Only problem is that Hal’s grandmother wasn’t Hester Westaway and she certainly didn’t live at Trepassen House before she died.

Of course we take a trip to Trepassen House for ourselves and find a property that is almost a character in its own right. It’s the full gothic experience complete with barred windows and secret messages and of course the very creepy housekeeper. Not quite what Hal is used to. Ok she may be in dire straits money wise but she plies her trade in reading Tarot cards on Brighton pier and her home is the only one she’s ever known. That’s not to say Ruth Ware doesn’t impress on her readers the difference of this seaside pier in the winter time, having its very own atmosphere. Safe to say she’s slightly out of her depth in this situation. Hal’s mother died and it’s her business Hal has inherited but her mother wasn’t one to mince her words, always reminding Hal:

"Don’t fall into the trap of believing your own lies."

This story despite obviously being set in the present, something the author embraces rather than tries to disguise, has an old-fashioned quality to it. The sense of danger is only all too imaginable when you put yourself in the shoes of a young woman with no money even if she is someone who is not an out-and-out innocent. Normally I find myself getting highly irritated by characters who do stupid things – I’m sat tutting and shaking my head saying ‘well what did you think was going to happen?’ but somehow this author had me bought into the storyline so that, under the circumstances, the decisions seemed plausible. There are shades of Daphne Du Maurier and Patricia Highsmith but fear not this story is an original.

I can’t leave this review without stating quite how brilliantly Hal is portrayed. This definitely isn’t a one-dimensional character, she is made of shades of grey with all the complexities that real people have, something she is never more aware of than when she is reading the tarot cards for her eager audiences.

I highly recommend this book which is perhaps more suited to an autumnal evening with the rain lashing down, but fear not, I was chilled despite lying in the sunshine devouring every last word of this masterpiece.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to the publishers Random House UK who allowed me to read an advance copy of The Death of Mrs Westaway which is published today. This unbiased review is my thanks to them and of course Ruth Ware for the thoroughly entertaining read.

First Published UK: 28 June 2018
Publisher: Random House UK
No of Pages: 400
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
Amazon US

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware was a slow burner but well worth reading for its thrilling climax. The Death of Mrs Westaway has many twists and turns throughout it and whilst I guessed some there were many I didn’t.

Harriet Westaway, Hal, is in dire need of some money when she receives a letter informing her of a substantial inheritance from her recently deceased grandmother. It seems like all her prayers have been answered.

The only problem is she knows her real grandparents died more than 20 years previously. She decides to take a chance and use all her skills as a con woman to convince people she was the intended recipient.

When she starts the deception, little does she realise she can't stop after all if she does she risks everything including her life.

The Death of Mrs Westaway begins with the following rhyme that those of a superstitious nature will recognise:

“One for Sorrow Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy Five for Silver

Six for Gold Seven for a secret never to be told.”

The Death of Mrs Westaway is set out in split narrative form, it is partially focused on Hal and partially in the form of a series of diary entries from an initially unknown character.

The first diary entry is on 29th November 1994 and the person writing it is watching magpies. “Seven. Seven for a secret never to be told. Well, the secret may be right, but the rest is wide of the mark. I’ll have to tell, soon enough. There’ll be no choice.”

When I read the blurb, I wasn’t expecting to like Hal, but I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading and realised Ruth Ware had created a character the reader could easily empathise with.

Hal lives alone in the attic flat of an apartment complex named Marine View Villas, a grim and depressing place to live despite its name.

“There were no windows on the stairwell, and once she was past the first flight, it was almost pitch black. But Hal knew the steps by heart, from the broken board on the landing to the loose piece of carpet that had come untacked on the last flight, and she plodded wearily upwards thinking about supper, and bed.”

When she arrives into her flat she is greeted by numerous bills each a final demand for payment. She also greeted by an ominous note from people she owes money to. She is at her wits end trying to figure out how she is going to survive and pay her bills when she has no money.

“She had to pay the rent- that was non-negotiable. And the electricity was high on the list too. Without a fridge or lights the little flat was barely habitable. The gas…well it was November. Life without heating would be uncomfortable, but she’d survive.”

Hal is at her lowest ebb when she realises there is a letter in among her recycling. The letter in question is informing her of the death of her grandmother and informing her she named as a beneficiary in the will. She is pleasantly surprised to see the words ‘substantial estate’ but she also knows there has been a mistake as her grandparents have been dead for years.

However, when he financial situation becomes direr she realises she has no real choice but to pretend to be the Harriet Westaway named in the will.

Hal has nobody to turn to as her mother was killed in a hit and run accident a few days prior to her eighteenth birthday and around the same time she lost touch with her friends as she had nothing in common with them anymore.

“The person she was now was not the girl she would have been. The girl who had given her pocket money to the homeless, frittered away pennies in the pier, whiled away Sundays eating popcorn in front of bad films as she was gone. In her place was someone hardened in order to survive.”

Hal feels like she has no other option but to use the skills she has honed in her job as a ‘psychic’, palm reader and tarot reader to fool the people who think she is their family. She is able to read things from people without even realising until after what it is that gave her a clue. The one thing she won’t do is pretend to contact the dead and profit off the grief of others. She tells people what they need to hear not what they want to hear.

Hal sets off for the funeral of her ‘grandmother’ out of desperation. On first meeting her uncles Harding, Abel and Ezra she quickly comes to the conclusion that they have a sense of entitlement and maybe what she is planning to do isn’t so bad. Once she gets to know them though she changes her mind but its to late to go back and the family are hiding secrets of their own. Like what happened to Mrs Westaway’s daughter and why is the housekeeper Mrs Warren so openly hostile towards Hal?

The Death of Mrs Westaway is eerie and suspenseful, definitely a must-read.

Four and a half solid stars!!
Having read and enjoyed Ruth Ware's 3 previous books I was delighted to receive a digital copy of this title ... and it didn't disappoint. Very well written as ever by Ruth Ware the story was a slow burner which intrigued me from the beginning. Just over half way through it took off like a rocket and everything was put aside to finish it. Just when I thought I knew what was going on it shot off in another direction. This is my favourite book so far ... can't wait to read the next one!!
Very many thanks to Netgalley/Ruth Ware/Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for a digital copy of this title. All views expressed are my own opinions.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a real page turner and kept me hooked from start to finish. I loved the character of Hal, I felt she was well rounded and very likeable. I liked Harding and Mitzi but was unsure of Abel and Ezra though I think we were meant to feel that way. And Mrs Warren scary lady. I had worked out most of who had done what and who was keeping secrets but it certainly did not dull my enjoyment of this book.
This is my third book by Ruth Ware and certainly will not be my last. I really enjoy her style of writing and how she draws you into the story. Very well done.

Oh my! What a deliciously dark, almost gothic, read from the devious mind of writer Ruth Ware!! Having adored her first two books, I sadly have to admit to being disappointed by her last book The Lying Game, but with The Death of Mrs Westaway, she has redeemed herself totally in my eyes! I think this is her best book so far!!

Imagine living on the breadline, having to choose between eating and keeping warm and being in so much debt that you don’t think you will ever be able to crawl out of the very deep hole you have dug for yourself. And then unexpectedly there’s hope! A letter from a solicitor saying you’re a beneficiary in your grandmothers will! This is what happens to Harriet Westaway and you’d think she would be punching the air with joy, wouldn’t you. The only problem is that Harriet’s grandparents died years ago. But desperate times call for desperate measures and Harriet decides to travel down to Cornwall to try to pull off the mistaken identity and get that cash! But once there, the inheritance isn’t quite what she was expecting and it looks like others may be suspicious of this interloper that no one knew existed until now. Can Hal use her fortune telling skills to fool the Westaway family or will they lead her into more danger than the trouble she is already trying to escape?

The Death of Mrs Westaway became my obsession whilst I was reading it! I physically couldn’t bear to part with it for one second! As soon as I began to read it I was transported into the pages and became a fly on the walls of the most extraordinary house, one that was almost a character in itself with its darkly foreboding presence. Harriet (or Hal as she’s known) herself was an intriguing young woman. Her fortune telling “act” was far from the fraudulent trickery that I was expecting as she had an unusual attitude to her clients and the payment she received for using her “gift”. And once out of her natural habitat, it was interesting to see how her character developed once dropped into the dysfunctional Westaway clan!

There were twists and turns galore in this shadowy mystery that brought to mind one of my favourite books “Rebecca” at times. It’s just so gloomily atmospheric and the claustrophobic storyline is central to the narrative with the once beautiful house now falling apart, a far cry from its magnificent heyday, as it decayed around its now deceased owner. Despite this, I fell in love with the place and found myself drawn to the house that I was able to perfectly picture in my head due to some wonderfully descriptive detailing.

I thoroughly enjoyed every single page of The Death of Mrs Westaway. I hadn’t a clue where it was heading so that when I eventually did discover the truths hidden in its pages, I felt a glow of satisfaction at how well the plot threads had been woven together to provide that perfectly executed ending.

Highly recommended!

This book is so well written it's easy to become immersed in the lives of the Westaway family and their many secrets hidden in the big old creaky house. There's even an ancient, grumpy old housekeeper to add to the whole Agatha Christie atmosphere! A brilliant story with very believable characters throughout. I would love to see this adapted for TV.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

When Harriet, or Hal as she’s known, receives a letter from a solicitor to let her know that her grandmother has died and left her an inheritance she doesn’t know what to think – mainly because her mother’s parents, the only grandparents she knew, died years before, leaving her and her mother with nothing.
On any other day, Hal would have called the solicitor and told him he was mistaken. But this isn’t any other day. It’s the day the loan shark she borrowed money from to pay the bills breaks into her flat and threatens her. It’s the day she feels broken and beaten down by life. So, it becomes the day she decides to pretend to be someone else.
Before she has time to think about what she’s doing, Hal is on a train and attending a funeral. Next, she’s met her long-lost family and is sitting down to hear the will being read. It’s then that things start to go wrong, really wrong. The family aren’t what Hal expected and the inheritance she receives is more unexpected still. Now, Hal has a decision to make – does she tell the truth or go along with the lies she’s told. What she doesn’t realise is that the decision she makes could be the difference between life and death – hers.
It’s all so lovely and complicated and twisty and turn-y, I really didn’t know what Hal was going to do or what would happen when she did. Once again, for me, Ruth Ware has written a brilliant thriller that has left me wanting more. The characters are great, the plot was well thought out, and I found I couldn’t put the book down. It’s a far cry from the last book of Ware’s I read, The Lying Game and a return to form for one of my favourite authors. I enjoyed every minute of it – a great read!

This was very much written, intentionally or unintentionally in the style and setting of an Agatha Christie. A large family in a big, old house with lots of secrets, illegitimate children, long lost ones turning up and an inheritance that turns siblings against each other. The twist in the story was actually very good, although at times it was a bit confusing trying to work out who Hal's mother and father actually were, a few red herrings on the way. But it was a good read, not entirely memorable but enjoyable.

A death, an inheritance, a tarot card reader who is down on her luck and appears to be a victim of mistaken identity... a complicated family history and a big, creepy house in Cornwall with a mysterious housekeeper...all make for the perfect mystery. I can't imagine how long Ruth Ware must have taken to weave the plot of her latest book as everything unfolded so unexpectedly but then also so naturally.

I never like to give much of the plot away with suspense novels, but we know that Hal is struggling to pay her bills and one day receives a letter informing her that she is the beneficiary of her Grandmother's will. The problem is she doesn't have a Grandmother and he Mother has recently died in a car accident. After some thought, Hal decides she has nothing to lose but to make the journey down to Cornwall to maybe get enough to pay her debts. What she doesn't realise is that life is about to get a tiny bit complicated and her ability to read people (honed through her job as a tarot card reader) takes her deep into the Westaway family history.

I’ve read all of of Ruth Ware's books and in my opinion this is by far her very best. Unlike her previous books, it reminded me of books I have read by Jane Morton, beautiful imagery, subtle revelations and set somewhere I would like to go myself. It had everything- mystery, family, subtle, slow building suspense, love, betrayal and many secrets. I also learned a lot I didn’t know about tarot reading and how tarot readers make their living - not necessarily by deceiving people but by making them ask questions and search their own hearts in order to find the answers they need. I personally found this aspect of the book really absorbing and I would like to read it again to go through these parts.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the fact that I did want to know the outcome but I was never tempted to race ahead because every page held something I either needed to know or wanted to know. I truly did escape from life for a couple of days.

A definite highlight of the year for me.

I am a bit of a fan of this author having read and enjoyed several of her previous books so I was quite looking forward to this, her latest release. And I wasn't disappointed. It actually reads quite a bit like an Agatha Christie book, although there is no main detective. But we have a family and a big house, a death and a will. A will that serves up quite a few shocks. In true Christie style, we also have identity issues and deep dark secrets from the past.
The action revolves around Harriet "Hal" Westaway who currently works as a tarot reader on the pier in Brighton, having taken over the spot from her mother who recently-ish died in a hit and run. She is not having a very good time of things as she is in a bit of a pickle financially. So, when she receives a letter telling her she is a beneficiary of the will of one Hester Westaway, recently deceased, allegedly her grandmother, even though she knows she really isn't, she decides to take her place at the table so to speak and travels to the family home in Cornwall, Trepassen House, and there meets her "relatives". But before long, she realises that maybe the means to the end she so desperately seeks may not be worth all the danger that goes with.
I absolutely loved this book. Start to finish. Even though I knew what Hal was doing was wrong, I rooted for her. I wanted her to have that lucky break. Even more so as I learned more and more about the rest of the Westaway family. How Hal learned more and more about her "mother" and her "family", all of whom appear to be hiding something. And then there's the housekeeper...
The plot is a bit convoluted at times and there is actually quite a lot going on all at the same time so I did have to have my wits about me and slow my reading down so that I could stay on track. It was not a book to whizz through as there were so many small hints dropped in every so often, some of which definitely put the cat among the pigeons. Or should that be magpies! But I managed to stay with it all the way, holding the confusion in my head until such time as it could be explained. Which it all was, very satisfactorily. With an ending that brought the whole book together very nicely, leaving me completely satisfied at the end.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Hal (Harriet), recieves a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She quickly realises that the letter has been sent to the wrong person. Could Hal pull off claiming the inheritance as her own? Or will she be caught out.

If there is one thing for certain, it's that Ruth Ware knows how to write an eerie story. Hal is down on her luck. Her mother was killed in an accident outside their home, three years ago. Her mother earned a living reading tarot cards in a booth on Brighton pier. Since her mother's death, Hal has taken over the booth. Hal's bills are all outstanding and she owes a fortune to a money lender. When the letter arrives telling her about the inheritance, all Hal is hoping for is enough money to clear her feet.she travels to the family home, Trespassen House, in Cornwall. The family welcome her with open arms and that makes Hal feel uncomfortable. As secrets emerge, Hal life could be in danger. Is there anyone she can trust?

Once I got into this book I did not want to put it down. There are many twists in this well written book and a few surprises too. I had no idea where this story was going and the plot just seemed too thicken. I loved everything about this eerie tale. I do recommend it.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and the author Ruth Ware for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Twenty one year Harriet (Hal) Westaway was alone in the world after the death of her mother Margarida in a hit and run accident. Hal did not know her father, all her mother divulged was she was the product of a one night stand with a Spanish student. After her mothers death Harriet took over their tarot reading booth on Brighton pier and became Madam Margarida. Hal was in debt to a vicious loan shark who was threatening to break her legs if she could not pay him back. Hal was contemplating moving when she received a letter from a solicitor in Cornwall, apparently she had received an inheritance in the will of Hester Mary Westaway.

Hal knew her grandparents had died before she was born and knew she had been wrongly named in the will. Hal knew it was wrong but she decided to attend the funeral of Mrs Westaway and hear the reading of the will. The solicitor organised a room for Hal in the family home called Trespassan House looked after by the formidable housekeeper Mrs Warren. Trespassen had once been grand but was now a ruin in need of repair.

Hal was greeted by her mothers 'family' Harding, Able and Ezra who although shocked were keen to embrace her in the family. The next morning at the reading of the will Hal found out Mrs Westaway had believed she was the child of her daughter also called Margarida Westaway. Apart from a few cash legacies Hal had inherited the vast Trespassan Estate. After being taken in so readily by her 'uncles' she felt guilty and unable to admit they had traced the wrong Margarida. That is until Able gave her a photo of her mother with the rest of the Westaway siblings. Her mother had never mentioned she was a member of a large family and Hal decides to find out what happened with devastating consequences.

The Death of Mrs Westaway was a dark book in the style of Agatha Christie. Especially with the foreboding presence of Mrs Warren who knew how to keep the Westaways dark secrets. This story went at slow pace which I appreciated because of the two characters with the same name. The book was very atmospheric, you could sense the isolation and Hal's mounting unease, unsure who to trust in the house. The Westaway brothers were interesting characters, and I enjoyed reading about the simmering sibling rivalry hidden barely under the surface.

The ending of this book was stunning. It was so good when the truth was revealed I gasped out loud and fanned myself like I had 'the vapours'. I recommend this book and look forward to reading her back catalogue.

This is an interestingly constructed story. It is a murder but not requiring a detective! The woman who has an unexpected inheritance believes it has come to her mistakenly but that doesn't stop her accepting it then investigating how it came her way. The family relationships are well constructed and the story is well written. It certainly kept me reading!