Member Reviews
First book I’ve read by @trishasakhlecha and I really enjoyed it.
We meet the Agarwals who are gathering for a family reunion to celebrate their parents anniversary on a private and remote Scottish island.
It’s a dark and twisty thriller. A story of privilege, buried secrets, grief, love, greed, family dynamics and murder.
With short chapters and multiple POV’s it’s easy to follow. The well developed characters are interesting and believable and a brilliant atmospheric setting. Full of mystery and suspense to keep you engrossed.
It’s a fast paced page turner you can’t put down. Definitely recommend this one. It’s well worth a read.
With thanks to #NetGallery #RandomHouseUK @cornerstone for an arc of #TheInheritance in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 13 February 2025.
The short prologue gives a sense of what is to come and raises the questions of who has been murdered and who did it? The setting is a remote and secluded Scottish island where a successful and very wealthy business man and his wife have gathered together their three grown up children, Aseem, Myra and Aisha, and their partners. An announcement is expected on changes to the family trust on the forthcoming retirement of the father.
The story is skilfully told through the eyes of Zoe, Aseem’s wife, and Myra, the eldest sister. This alternating perspective provides a good momentum to the story and introduces alternative interpretations of the events and conversations as they unfold. There is a growing sense of unease and tension between the family members as secrets gradually get exposed. There are exciting plot twists through to the end. Once started this was a very hard book to put down.
A very slow book.
A dysfunctional family meet up on a small Scottish island the eldest daughter and separated husband bought, they are celebrating the parents 40th anniversary and waiting for the father to announce his retirement and they all get billions to share, lots of arguments and lots of secrets but nothing to keep you interested and no interesting characters, but a good twist at the end.
The cake making was confusing as they first did royal icing then rolled fondant then made the cake only to cover it in butter icing!!! Totally unnecessary chapter
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and give my honest review.
I didn't love this, but I did like it, sure. I wasn't on the edge of my seat as I sometimes am with thrillers. But I really enjoyed the this strange family who all seem to be harbouring secrets from each other...Not quite my cup of tea but happily recommend to those who enjoy an isolated island slow burn (excuse the pun)
4.5 stars
Trisha Sakhlecha is a new to me author but when I read the blurb, this sounded right up my street and I was interested to see if I would discover a new favourite author. And I'm so happy to say that I loved this book!
First off, I'm a sucker for a book set on a private island or somewhere that is cut off from the rest of society and this definitely had that, with the entirety of the book set on a private island off the coast of Scotland. This setting did add a lot to the story, however I do think it could have played into the plot a bit more than it did.
As soon as I started this, I was immediately hooked. The writing style really drew me in and the pacing flowed well.
I liked the characters and I was fully invested in them and the story throughout.
I absolutely raced through this one, I didn't want to put it down and when I did I was thinking about it (which is always a sign of a good book!)
This is a book that was packed to the brim with rich people drama and I was HERE for it. And then you add in secrets, mystery and family drama you have me hooked.
This is an author I will definitely read more from, I loved it!
Think of television's "Succession", but Indian style.
Two generations of the wealthy Agarwal family meet up on a s3cluded Scottish island to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Mama and Papa.The majority of the action takes place over a view day's, but with frequent recall of earlier events. Over this period of the celebration, cracks appear in the seemingly close relationships between the parents and their offspring. This is described throughout any through the viewpoint of Maya, the eldest child and her sister in law Zoe.
This book gives gripping insight into family life. It shows how past happenings can have devastating and lasting effects on everyone. Some of these have resulted in grudges that are only now coming to the fore.
Trish Sakhecha has written an inciteful story that may make some readers want to examine relationships, past and present, within their own family. The descriptions of the rugged Scottish scenery re stunningly graphic. Not only that she keeps us guessing right up to the very last page. Recommended.
When Myra's family all come to her Scottish holiday island to celebrate Papa and Mama's wedding anniversary, They appear to be a united family but beneath the surface, cracks are starting. They are all hoping that Papa will retire and sell his business to his rival as they all need the money for their own businesses and lives.
Told by the women, the story unfolds, especially when there seem to be some strange things going on.
This Indian family drama is played out and I liked the insight into the Asian family dynamic. The ends came together at the end.
The wealthy Agarwal family, headed up by Raj and his wife, Shalini, are celebrating their wedding anniversary on a remote Scottish island, with their three children and their partners.
The prologue tells us that someone is dead, but who is the victim and who is the killer? All of the characters are unreliable, self-absorbed, driven by greed and have their own agenda. There are lies, secrets and terrible parenting! I found the pace to slow for my liking and as I didn’t like any of the characters, it was hard to know who to root for! More family drama than thriller.
2 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.
This book had me invested throughout. With that being said, I do think because majority of this book is building up to the death with only a small part at the end from the death it makes the ending feel a bit rushed. Which kind of took a little bit of enjoyment out of it for me.
There was so much build between the characters. Who dislikes who. Motives that could be possible. But the ending just didn't work for me. I needed a bit more of that part of the story.
What a book. A family, an island, previous history with locals, new relationships. A family gather to celebrate an anniversary on a private island owned by the daughter. A body is mentioned in the prologue but whose and why. Twist and turns throughout, it kept me guessing to the end.
The Inheritance is a gripping novel by Trisha Sakhlecha. It’s set on a remote island off Scotland when the Agarwal family come together for the first time in years to celebrate Shalina and Raj’s 40th wedding anniversary and Raj’s retirement as he is about to sell the family’s petrochemical business for £300 million. They are also to discuss the family finances as the proceeds from the sale are to be split between the surviving three adult children, Myra, Aseem and Aisha. There was another child, Ishaan, who died tragically in childhood.
The story is told from Mrya and Zoe’s viewpoints. Myra is the owner of the Kilbryde, the two thousand acre Scottish island with three beaches, two lochs, six bothies and an eleven bedroom house. She is heavily in debt due to the costs involved in buying the island and subsequent renovation of the properties. She is also struggling with the end of her marriage to Owen and other loss. She is heavily relying on her share of the family inheritance to get her finances back on an even keel.
Zoe, married to Aseem, was originally best friends with Aisha while they were at University and then she met Aseem and fell in love. They kept their relationship secret for two years as this is a tradition Indian family where the parents are quite controlling and like to arrange marriages within their own culture. Zoe has come from a very poor background into this family of immense wealth. Her and Aseem live in Delhi in his parent’s mansion since Raj’s stroke four years ago as Aseem has been running the family business since. Once they get their share of the inheritance, Zoe is keen to move back to their own place in London.
Aisha, youngest of the siblings and twin to the late Ishaan, has been living in Los Angeles and generally keeps her distance from the family. She’s late for the family gathering and then turns up with Gabe, a new boyfriend, who the family are immediately suspicious of as they are convinced he is only interested in Aisha’s share of the inheritance.
As the book progresses we learn of more and more family history and secrets. This all happens at a good pace and kept my attention and curiosity going through out. A great read.
With thanks to NetGalley and Cornerstone for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
An extremely enjoyable book. A wealthy Indian industrialist and his 3 children get together on an isolated Scottish island owned by his eldest daughter. The father is about to sell his company and retire sharing out the proceeds of the sale to his children. Each wants their share for different reasons but will their father still want control over them? The plot starts slow introducing the characters and how their parents control their lives. The latter half of the book speeds up with unexpected results. Once I started reading the last 50% I couldn't put it down and ended up reading into the night. Once starting the book the reader must continue to the end even though it wasn't the ending I'd hoped for.
This was a good read well worth a look . Look forward to your next book . Very interesting read. The plot was really good .
What a thriller! Atmospheric, family drama, in-fighting and a huge fortune at stake- what more could you want.
Brilliant!
“On a private island off the west coast of Scotland, the Agarwals gather for a much-awaited family reunion. They’ve all got secrets that they would die to protect. But only one of them is capable of murder.”
A family reunion, £300 million pounds at stake, an isolated setting and toxic family drama…. This book contains pretty much all of my favourite book tropes, I was absolutely obsessed with it!
Seeing as I have about a 5% success rate when it comes to 5 star reads, 2025 has gotten off to an excellent start!
The writing was just *chefs kiss*. It was incredibly addictive and the twists just kept on twisting!
It’s a must read IMO!
Excellent - I'm reading more and more of this kind of book - claustrophobic environment, chraracters in conflict, dark secrets and a slow reveal until the climax!
This is a story that's as old as the hills - siblings eager to get hold of their inheritance from aged parents. But, it's been upgraded to be genuinely contemporary with a rich Indian family, a big business, social media influencer, a troll, people escaping from their past and that old family dynamic of a cloying mother- it's got the lot!
The writing is great - multiple perspectives, which makes it pacey and keeps you on the page plus lots of little clues scattered along the way to keep you guessing until the final reveal - I won't say any more, no plot spoilers here
Final verdict - great read, but don't read it in little bits. If you can find a day, then start and finish on the same day - it's worth it!
Not as riveting as I'd hoped. Rather slow going too. However the overall story was quite good and I liked that the ending was different to expected.
None of the characters were very likeable but somehow that wasn't a problem as I was still invested in seeing how it all turned out. I really liked the setting. Some holes in the plot and slow pace brought it down for me but I'd give the author another go
Sounded really good in theory but then I lost interest as soon as all these rich people were having rich people's oroblems and the plot wasn't really plotting. DNF for me.
A fantastic thriller! I was invested from the start. Told from the perspectives of the various characters, this story is fast paced, intriguing and hard to put down. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
When I saw this book cover I knew I had to read it without even reading the blurb. I was not disappointed as the story is thrilling, action packed, and kept me reading until the very end. A family from India that holds on to Indian traditions but the significant others to the children are not as happy to follow them. Each sibling has a secret and none of them want to let their parents down. The setting is a remote island that one of the children is fixing up. The island has a history all of its own. If you love secrets and characters that are cut off from the modern world (for the most part) and family drama, you will enjoy this book! I highly recommend this read.